What to expect from gastrectomy for stomach cancer

A partial gastrectomy removes the affected portion of the stomach; a total gastrectomy removes the whole stomach. The surgeon reconnects the remaining digestive tract so food can continue towards the small intestine. Nearby lymph nodes may also be removed for examination. The approach may be open or minimally invasive, depending on the tumour, your health, and the surgical team.

After surgery, the stomach may hold less food, or there may be no stomach storage area. You may feel full sooner and need small meals, careful chewing, and advice from a dietitian. Nutrient supplements or injections may be recommended after total gastrectomy.

Before surgery, discuss medicines, smoking, nutrition, dental concerns, and the support you will have at home. The team may arrange blood tests, scans, and an anaesthetic review. Afterward, walking, breathing exercises, wound care, and prescribed pain relief support recovery. Introduce food and drinks in stages, record symptoms, and attend follow-up visits so weight, hydration, nutrition, and pathology results can be reviewed.

Contact your surgical team promptly for fever, worsening abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, inability to keep fluids down, a swollen or increasingly red wound, new discharge, or black stools. Seek urgent care for severe breathing difficulty, chest pain, fainting, or sudden confusion. Early advice can help identify dehydration, infection, bleeding, or a problem with healing.

Ask whether you need a partial or total gastrectomy, how the digestive tract will be reconnected, which lymph nodes may be removed, and how pathology will guide further treatment. Ask when to restart medicines, what foods to try first, which supplements are needed, and who to call if eating, weight, or wound symptoms change.