In my case most of the esophagus was removed and the stomach was brought up and attached to the remaining esophagus. Some of my stomach was removed as well. I think about 10-20% of the stomach was removed and about 80% of the esophagus (this is an estimate, as I don't recall the exact % of each). So, it seems the stomach is more like a tube and up in the chest more. You can research this online. There are pictures and detailed information on surgery for adenocarcinoma surgery. That's what many of us have, but there is also squamous cancer and I don't know much about it. I think the tumor is generally in the upper part of the esophagus, where adenocarcinoma is usually lower in the esophagus. Probably other differences, I don't know what they are.

I believe it is considered major, major surgery as it's basically removing an organ(?) the esophagus and our body is learning to adjust. In theory the only time you wouldn't eat is when you have surgery and you have to wait for some days until they can check to make sure there are no leaks from the reconnection. But, often a feeding tube is inserted, partly because radiation can affect eating for some (temporarily) - it did me. And, again, just the adjusting to eating after surgery.

If I recall an earlier post of yours, your brother has a tumor in the neck area too? So, that would be a little different in how it is handled. Mainly, his questions will need to be posed to his Oncologist Dr. and surgeon (if one is involved) and they will tell him what the plan is for his treatment. His surgeon will tell him the approximate time to expect to recover from his operation (if he has one). It's probably somewhat different for everyone. My surgery was almost 5 years ago. I hope he does well with his treatment and surgery if he has it. Brenda

I was fortunate in that my diagnosis was made at a time that the tumor was confined to the lower esophagus and no lymph nodes were involved.

I had five weeks of radiation therapy every day and chemotherapy once a week concurrently. Then I was allowed to rest for six weeks prior to surgery.

My surgery was similar to that described by Brenda, although no feeding tube. After three days in ICU and four more days in a regular hospital bed I was given a swallow test to see if there were any leaks. No leaks were found and the last tube up my nose was removed. I went home on the eighth day eating liquid and solid food. My bladder catheter was removed on the second day after surgery when I proved I could get up and make the bathroom with all the tubes wrapped around the IV cart. The chest tube came out about day four.

After I got home, I had to force myself to eat, six small meals a day. It took about four months after surgery for my appetite to begin to return and then I began to regain some of the 27 pounds I had lost. Today, at about 8-1/2 months after surgery, I have regained about 19 of the 27 lost pounds.

I had to take various anti nausea drugs from about two weeks into radiation until today. If that situation arises, I will elaborate.

My Stage 3 adenocarcinoma EC three years ago received the standard chemo/radiation, then esophagectomy. 1/3 of my stomach and the whole esophagus were removed and the rest of the stomach pulled up and attached to my throat. I spent four months mostly in the hospital on a feeding tube following the surgery. It took about half a year to begin to return to normal. 8 clean PET scans later, I've regained my former life. For me, however, a total loss of appetite is a huge problem and I've dropped from 135 down to 108. I have to battle every day to make myself eat at all. Perhaps it's analogous to losing your taste buds in terms of never feeling hungry.