Great news

[Dlove0723]

I've had the surgery you had and didn't work for me!!! I ended up getting mine removed!!! I've had the surgery but now I'm dealing a list of other things from after surgery!!! I'm sure glad things worked for you!!! Hoping I can get something that will work for me!!!

[Jimmerjay]

Sorry to hear the surgery never worked D ,keep your chin up , it's a long road but you're never alone ,good luck !

[Hidden]

An oesophagectomy is a major operation by any standards. Am I right to think it was because of achalasia? There are bound to be some occasions when they do not go as well as expected, but I do hope that it is possible for things to stabilise for you.

[Dlove0723 in reply to Hidden]

Yes it was because of achalasia!!! The problem lm having now is trying to digest my food without having major stomach pains and things like that!!! They think I have dumping syndrome but they really don't know!!! I feel like a test dummy at times!!!

[JosephR in reply to Dlove0723]

I am in the US so we call it an esophagectomy. I had mine done open with 2, 7 inch incisions and it was done for end-stage Achalasia. My esophagus was about one week before a chance of rupture.

Keep your head and spirits high. Everyone is different. You had nerves cut that are used for digestion. You had your GI tract moved around. I needed a gastric bypass 8 years after my esophagectomy. I was making too much bile and my surgeon diverted the bile lower in the tract. I have shiny new teeth the bile are through my old ones. No feeding tube for years 5 pounds heavier than post ok. YOU might have a fight on your hands. Contact me if you need to talk. Not just an esophagectomy/Achalasia patient but a GI Registered Nurse on top . Bless you. Hang in there. It is 0200 Boston time forgive the typos.

[Hidden]

After an oesophagectomy the system does have to get used to food travelling through the system more quickly, and I think this must especially be so if you have had achalasia. Food may be reaching the lower part of your system in a relatively undigested state, and that can lead to lots of insulin being generated. If you feel clammy and a bit dizzy an hour or two after eating, and then take something sweet ( lemonade / dextrosol) and feel better very quickly, it is likely that you are suffering from these insulin spikes. There is more information on factsheets from the OPA website

opa.org.uk/pages/factsheets...

and a guide to life after this surgery opa.org.uk/downloads.html

If it happens within 30 minutes of eating and you get cramps, nausea, fatigue, bloating etc (they are not all compulsory!) it might be the effect of rapid water movements into the bowel. Do not take liquids with your meals. Having a lie down after eating may help.

You can normally help things with managing your diet. Eating little and often; staying clear of sweet and artificially sweetened foods; trying low GI index food as if you were diabetic; and keeping a food diary to work out what causes you trouble.

There may be times when you are tempted to want to turn the clock back and wonder whether the surgery has been worthwhile, but everyone seems to go through a transition stage where they gradually work out how to eat again with a shortened digestive system. It is very frustrating, but most people do manage to attain a reasonable quality of life, and certainly better than you would have been experiencing with the end stages of achalasia. So it will get better!

[JosephR]

Bumps could be tissue irritation. Often the vocal cords become partly paralysed so they do not vibrate and just do nothing. Usually you can't feel them or see them. If you have seen TV dramas where the MD is putting a tube down. That tube goes between the vocal cords right around the male Adams apple. I would have your GP send you to an ear, nose and throat and/or GI specialist.

Have you been put on any new medications? Do you have red bumps on your skin or feeling anxious and sweating. Those could be examples of an allergic reaction. Talk to your GP set up plans now. I hated to eat post ok I went from 210 pounds to 105 pounds that is where the 3 feeding tubes came from