What to Expect at Home

You will probably have a feeding tube for 1 to 2 months after surgery. This will help you get enough calories to help you gain weight. You will also be on a special diet when you first get home.

Your stools may be looser, and you may have bowel movements more often than before your surgery.

Activity

Do not lift anything heavier than about 3 pounds for:

• 2 weeks after laparoscopic surgery
• 6 to 8 weeks after open surgery

You may walk 2 or 3 times a day, go up or down stairs, or ride in a car. You will need time to rest after being active. If it hurts when you do something, stop doing that activity. If you have large incisions, press a pillow over them when you cough or sneeze.

Make sure your home is safe as you are recovering.

See also:

• Preventing falls
• Bathroom safety - adults

Your doctor will give you a prescription for pain medicines. Get it filled when you go home so you have it when you need it. Take your pain medicine when you start having pain. Waiting too long to take it will allow your pain to get worse than it should.

Other self-care

You will be using a feeding tube when you go home. You will probably use it only at nighttime. The feeding tube will not interfere with your normal daytime activities. Once the cuts are healed, you will start having clear liquids, and then your diet will slowly progress. See also: Diet and eating after esophagectomy

You will need to do deep-breathing exercises when you get home. Ask your doctor or nurse to show you how.

If you are a smoker and are having trouble quitting, talk with your doctor about medicines that you can try to help you quit smoking. Almost every city and town offers stop-smoking programs that you can join.

You may have some skin soreness around your feeding tube. Your surgeon will tell you how to take care of the tube and the surrounding skin.

Change your dressings (bandages) every day until your doctor says you no longer need to keep your incisions bandaged. Wash the wound area with mild soap and water. See also: Surgical wound care

You may remove the wound dressings and take a shower if sutures (stitches), staples, or glue were used to close your skin. Do not try to wash off tape (Steri-Strips) or glue. They will come off on their own in about a week.

Do not soak in a bathtub, hot tub, or swimming pool until your doctor tells you it is okay.

Follow-up

After your surgery, you will need close follow-up:

• You will see your surgeon 2 or 3 weeks after getting home. Your surgeon will check your wounds and see how you are doing with your diet.
• You will have a radiological test to make sure the new connection between your esophagus and stomach is okay.
• You will meet with a dietitian to go over your tube feedings and your diet.
• You will see your oncologist, the doctor who treats your cancer.

When to Call the Doctor

Call your doctor or nurse if:

• Your temperature is above 101 °F.
• Your incisions are bleeding, red, warm to the touch, or have a thick, yellow, green, or milky drainage.
• Your pain drugs do not help ease your pain.
• It is hard to breathe.
• You have a cough that does not go away.
• You cannot drink or eat.
• Your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow.
• Your stools are loose or you're having diarrhea.
• You are vomiting after eating.
• You feel a burning sensation in your throat when you sleep or lay down.

Alternate Names

Trans-hiatal esophagectomy - discharge; Trans-thoracic esophagectomy - discharge; Minimally invasive esophagectomy - discharge; En bloc esophagectomy - discharge; Removal of the esophagus - discharge

References

Maish M. Esophagus. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 41.

Update Date: 2/10/2011

Updated by: Shabir Bhimji, MD, PhD, Specializing in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland, TX. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.