My sister had a resection of the esophagus on june 25th. The surgery went fine and we were told she would be up the next day. When they tried to take her off the pain medication she became very agitated so they sedated her. She has had to stay sedated ever since. She has developed a fever and her heart rate will not go below 140 most of the time. She has fluid in her lungs and they are draining fluid from around her lungs. Her bowels haven't woke up after medications and an enema. The drs say we shouldn't be too worried. Has anyone had this type of surgery that can give us advice?

You should PM Jan Dollar. Most of us here have had bowel surgery so you might not get a lot of answers about your sister's surgery. Jan is a 'retired' RN but she's far from retired. She might be able to give you some answers or at least direct you to somewhere that might have the answers.

So sorry about your sister.

kathy

I guess I am a bit confused. Does your sister have a j-pouch? I am just wondering how this relates to this site. In any event, it sounds like your sister is having some complications that can occur with any surgery and the agitation requiring heavy sedation is probably related to her respiratory status. Sometimes things get rocky in the early postoperative period and the recovery is not as smooth as you'd hope. But, usually, things work out.

Jan

Hi,

I was searching for any sites related to esophagectomy and this one came up. I guess it is the wrong site because I don't know about a j pouch. I can't seem to find any forums to ask about her being out for so long. The doctors are saying it is not normal that she should be awake but they don't know why she is not.

Well, she's not awake because they are sedating her. Sometimes you have to be persistent with the docs to give you full explanations of what is going on. They often heavily sedate when they are worried about the respiratory status (to prevent respiratory failure).

I'll send you a private message.

Jan