My Dad's Story

by Cathy Weeks

The Recovery

January 22nd, 1996 - August 1996: This was the hard part of the recuperation. People who get open heart surgery usually go home within 4 days or so of surgery. People who have an esophagectomy and gastric-pull up spend that amount of time in the ICU alone. My theory is that with open-heart surgery, you go home with all the same parts that you started with. Not so with an esophagectomy, however, where your stomach is stretched into a vertical position in your chest.

The stomach is much less efficient in this shape; in fact people get their stomach stapled to get the same results. Dad lost weight. Lots of weight. He had to re-learn to eat.

The first few weeks at home were difficult. Dad vomited what little food he ate, and this problem was exacerbated by his coughing (his stitches were irritating his throat). His appetite was non-existant. On February 5th, 1996, Dr. G. performed an endoscopy, and discovered that his stomach was producing copius amounts of mucous, and that it was sort of "clogging up the system." He couldn't eat, because there literally wasn't room in his stomach for food. Dr. G prescribed a drug to "dry" him up, things went a little better. Mom also got him to eat every hour or two, even if it was just a couple of bites. Dad felt less like coughing if he was busy, so often, as soon as he'd eaten, he'd get up and leave the kitchen and go *do* something.

Dad was on the J-Tube for much longer than most people who have had this surgery. The liquid food used for it cost around $300/month, about equal to the monthly rent on my apartment. After surgery, he was taking 4 cans of the liquid food per day. On March 3rd, 1996, they switched the liquid feedings to nighttime only, while Dad slept. On March 9th, they started "weaning" Dad from the liquid food, and decreased the amount to 3 1/2 cans. The schedule went like this:

March 16th: 3 cans,
March 23rd: 2 1/2 cans
March 30th: 2 cans
April 6th: 1 can

On April 25th, they finally removed the feeding tube, satisfied that Dad was eating enough by mouth.

Dad started out at 185 lbs, and now he weighs 145 lbs. Keeping his weight *up* is something of a chore, but I think my Dad likes being slim without having to try for the first time in his life.

Dad went back to work on April 15th, 1996, just a few hours a week at first, then eventually went to full-time, though his energy remained low for a long time. His dental practice is a bit slow these days, but is doing ok.

When he was diagnosed with cancer, my brother Paul's boy scout troup had just made plans for a week-long camping trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota the following August. When Dad was a boy, he had gone on a camping/canoeing trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota and Canada, so this trip was something of a milestone for him. So while Dad was recuperating, he worked toward gaining the strength that was necessary to get through and enjoy this trip. All summer, he walked or swam nearly every day, and in August of 1996, they went, and did just fine.

Entry 8: The Story Continues: The Waiting Game.

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