After surgery, you will also need to focus on analgesia, diet, and rehabilitation exercises.
What can I do after surgery? What can’t I do?
1. In the early postoperative period, you will need to do coughing and sputum to promote lung reopening in the thoracic cavity on the operated side.
2. It is important to resume normal physical activity as soon as possible after surgery to help clear the airway and improve blood flow to the lower extremities.
In the early stages, you will need to change positions with the assistance of your healthcare provider and get out of bed at the right time and in the right amount of time to exercise.
There are no rules as to when you can sit up and get out of bed, but it depends on the surgery, your physical condition, etc., as determined by your primary care physician.
3. When you start moving around, you should start by sitting in a chair close to the bed. After you can slowly get out of bed, you will need to perform daily rehabilitation exercises under the guidance of your physician to promote lung reopening and airway secretions on the operated side. It is best to walk with the assistance of a nurse for the first few days and to keep your arms active.
I want to remind you in particular that while you are actively exercising, you need to take care to protect the drainage and nutrition tubes that are left in place on your body and never let these tubes come out.
4. Postoperative wound pain is unavoidable, which can make you resistant to postoperative coughing and sputum exercises. However, if postoperative airway secretions are not drained in time, they can lead to airway obstruction, which can lead to pulmonary atelectasis, lung infection, and even sepsis. Rest assured that your doctor will give you continuous treatment with anesthetic analgesic pumps and analgesic medications to minimize symptoms and help you get through this phase as quickly as possible.
Good nighttime sleep is good for postoperative recovery. If you have insomnia due to postoperative pain or discomfort, it is recommended that you talk to your doctor about this and you will be given oral sleeping pills to help you sleep if necessary.
5. The time to remove the stitches is determined by how well the wound is healing, usually 1 week to 3 weeks after surgery, and discharge from the hospital is about 2 weeks.
How soon can I eat after surgery?
Surgery for esophageal cancer cuts out most of the esophagus, the gastric cardia, and part of the stomach. The stomach was made into a tube and lifted up into the chest cavity. Therefore, you may have to go through a period of fasting. During this time, you will need to follow your doctor’s instructions closely and not eat or drink through your mouth without permission.
1. Stay in a high-slope position after surgery, not flat on your back, to avoid reflux, vomiting, and aspiration.
2. You should never block or remove your drainage tube without medical approval. Your doctor will evaluate whether to discontinue any type of decompression or drainage based on your daily vital signs and changes in chest and abdominal drainage.
3. If recovery from the procedure is going well, your doctor will take you for an upper gastrointestinal tract imaging at 1 to 2 weeks. If it is confirmed that the anastomosis is indeed healing well and that the contrast passes through the anastomosis and stomach relatively smoothly, your doctor will tell you that you can start to resume drinking through the mouth.
4. Resumption of diet should be gradual, starting with a small amount of water, transitioning to a crumb-free diet, then to a liquid, semi-liquid diet, and probably a long time before returning to a general diet.
What should families do after surgery?
Today, we emphasize the concept of rapid recovery from esophageal cancer, which requires a multidisciplinary approach and integration of multiple tools to allow for more optimal treatment. During this period, it includes the active participation of not only surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses, but also patients and families.
For the family, you need to assist your loved one to reach the goals according to the rehabilitation plan set by the surgeon.
1. Recovery of gastrointestinal function after surgery requires the patient to get out of bed as soon as possible. After surgery, family members will accompany and help their loved one through the rehabilitation exercise program.
2. Family members should monitor their loved one’s mental status, symptoms of discomfort, and pulmonary rehabilitation exercises on a daily basis under the direction of the health care provider, and keep a record of objective indicators. If any abnormalities are observed in the ill loved one, they should be reported to the physician, who will assess them through further consultation and give appropriate disposition if necessary. For example, patients sometimes feel the itching of a foreign body in the nose while asleep, which in turn subconsciously pulls slowly, causing the nutrient tube to be torn out. It is important for family members to keep an eye on their ill loved one at night for any abnormalities that may set the stage for postoperative recovery.
In summary, family members play an important “logistical” role during the postoperative recovery period until full discharge from esophageal cancer, keeping in touch with your commander to further identify problems and communicate them in a timely manner can lay a solid foundation for future post-discharge recovery care.