Home from the hospital

Hi everyone,  I am home from the hospital.  Had the surgery on Wednesday and they let me come home late Thursday morning, since they managed the whole surgery laproscopic. I am extremely sore and as of yet, can't seem to get comfortable, had to sleep in the recliner, since laying flat in bed just hurts too much.  As it turns out, although it never showed up on any of the tests the doctors did, I had a paraesophogeal hernia.  It was so big, my entire stomach had been pulled up into my diaphragm. Guess that explains why it always felt like the food was getting "stuck" every time I ate...it was. The doctors had to pull my stomach back down and put it back in its correct place, then they sutured the opening closed as much as they could, including putting in a mesh that will help it close the rest of the way over time. Obviously this is something that developed over time, since the hernia had been let go for so long. Fortunately for me, it never incarcerated or I most likely wouldn't be here to keep you all updated. I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks for another check up, so hopefully this will be all it takes and all of my symptoms will be gone.  I'll update again then.  Happy New Years.

One Week left..

One week from today--10:30am!!!!  I'm nervous and a little scared, but hopefully it will mean they'll fix this and I can go back to living my life.  These last 2+ years have been hell...I can't go out to a restaurant without fear I'll either have to run to the bathroom to throw up, or God forbid, don't make it to the bathroom.  I'm afraid to eat, since I know eating means pain, but how do you avoid it this time of year?  I have to truly plan my entire day, since once I take the pain medication, I can't drive (Not sure how safe that is since, its like being drunk on alcohol)...so something as simple as going to the grocery store has to be well planned out in advance....meaning I can't eat until I am done with whatever is planned, since once I do the pain meds are a necessity....no spontaneity for me these days. All I want for Christmas this year is to have this surgery work.  Unfortunately, there are no guarantees and the doctor isn't sure this will help...so please, say some prayers for me.

May you have a blessed and merry Christmas (or holiday season, if you believe something else).
I'll update after the New Year.

Surgery Scheduled

After waiting and waiting, I'm finally at the point I could either scream with frustration or bawl my eyes out.  I saw my doctor this morning and he doesn't have any answers.  The bravo test came back completely normal, which amazes me, considering the amount of heart burn I had to deal with during the test...but, normal is normal.  So, now what?  Although he isn't sure it is going to help and after all of this, I may still be at square one, he offered to schedule the surgery.

The surgery will be between Christmas and New Years, so, so much for my holiday and I'll be in the hospital when my family has its annual get together and my sister is in town from out of state.  The surgery will be laproscopic, unless he needs to convert to open.  He is planning to fix the hiatal hernia, fix the abdominal hernia (although he isn't convinced I have one...I'm still asking then what is it that keeps popping out when I sneeze or cough), he'll look for more adhesions, since I had them before and then look around for anything else that could possibly be going on. 

So, needless to say, there are a lot of IFs, but hopefully this will help and I can move on with my life, otherwise, I don't know what else I'm going to do.  Can you say FRUSTRATION.  Cross your fingers, say some prayers for me please.  I need some type of resolution. 

Happy Holidays,
I'll update again, when I can.

Getting somewhere...maybe?

Well, it appears I may be coming up to some type of resolution.  After my last upper GI on the 24th of October, the doctor seemed to be at a standstill, since it didn't show much.  The hiatal hernia appeared to be small and he still isn't sure this is the cause of all of my problems.  The pain is constant at this point, although still at its worst only after eating.  Which of course, leads me to not want to eat.  The nausea has seemed to calm down a bit over the last week, but its still there and I'm still vomiting an average of 1-2 times a day (mostly bile, since I haven't been eating a whole lot).  The worst part, at least to me, is that now every time I vomit, my abdominal hernia decides to pop out too.  There is nothing worse than throwing up, then having to lay on the bathroom tile and push it back in, only so I can throw up again.

As of yesterday, I am now scheduled for another EGD, only this time they are doing a bravo test to go with it.  A Bravo test, is basically a little capsule monitor that the doctor attaches to your esophagus during the EGD to monitor how much acid is coming up from the stomach. It transmits to a little receiver that I will have to carry around for 24 hours and then return.  Fortunately, the capsule just falls off and passes normally, so they don't have to remove it afterward..Once the doctor gets these results they will decide exactly what they are going to do next.  Looks as though they will be scheduling me for surgery at the beginning of December.  This kind of sucks in terms of the holidays, but maybe I'll actually be able to enjoy the food and festivities without the pain, if this works.  They are planning to fix both the hiatal and the abdominal hernias and depending on the results, might do something else too, but they said they would explain that once the results were back....so I'll keep you posted. 

Still waiting it out.

I'm still waiting to hear something. According to my doctor's PA (Physician Assistant), the upper GI only showed a small hiatal hernia, which he doesn't believe is causing my problems.  I am so frustrated and tired of this.  My patience is running thin, especially when I have nights like I did last night.  Eating dinner is actually scary these days. Seriously starting to consider going on a liquid diet, but not even sure that would help.

Last night we had pizza for dinner.  I ate one slice, that's it and ended up doubled over, threw up twice, with my incisional hernia deciding to pop out at the same time.  Its really sad when you have to lay on the bathroom floor to push a hernia back in, just so you can throw up again.  What will it take for the doctors to start treating me as a priority?

WAITING, WAITING, WAITING

Not much to post for the moment.  I am scheduled for an Upper GI next Monday and this waiting is torture. I honestly can't remember what it feels like to not be nauseated.  I've lost 8 lbs. in the last two weeks, since I truly don't want to eat.  I've been passing a lot of time researching exactly what a hiatal hernia is and what will need to be done to fix it.  Although, at this point, I still don't know what kind I have, since there are different types:  a sliding, a paraesophageal or mixed, which means a little of both.  I'm sure I'll find out after the upper GI.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but at least I finally have a doctor that cares and is actually getting some place with a diagnosis.


As I have said before, if your in pain, feel sick and your doctor is ignoring your complaints or treating you poorly, find a new doctor.  No one deserves to be treated like its all in their head.  Especially, when in my case, they are now finally realizing its not.  I actually do have a medical condition that needs to be corrected.

Onto Another Week

Onto another week..hopefully getting closer to a solution:

My appointment with my family practice doctor went well last Monday.  Although my kids have gone to her in the past, I decided it was time to go and I’m glad I did.  I think in this world of “specialists,” we forget how important it is to have someone behind us, that can handle everything from a “general” perspective.   She actually offered to act as my voice…getting in touch with the surgeon and other specialists that are handling my care when I have a question or need something and I can’t get in touch with them.  She is working with my other doctors now on pain management and coming up with a better solution to make me a little more comfortable in the mean time, until they figure out what is going on.  She’s actually on my side..it feels like I’m not quite alone anymore. If you’re not seeing a family practice doctor, I recommend it. 

She ordered a ton of blood work, which I had done Monday afternoon.  My surgeon’s office requested for her office to order a list of stuff, that unfortunately had not been checked in a couple of years.  When you have bariatric surgery, they are supposed to check everything from vitamin levels in the blood, for anemia, etc.  Plus she added a few extra tests, like for my thyroid and to check me for celiac disease.  The results aren’t back yet, as of this morning, but I’m not truly surprised….they took over 12 vials of blood and actually had me drink orange juice before I was allowed to leave.

My appointment with my gynecologist went okay too.  At least she didn’t yell at me J.   With everything going on, I had put off seeing her, getting a mammogram and a pap smear.  And yes, I know it’s important, but I can only handle so much.  She’s convinced the cyst that was showing up on my other tests is completely normal for my age and nothing to worry about.  I do have to go have a pelvic ultrasound done, which I’ll schedule for sometime this coming week, but it’s just her way of being thorough for the surgeon, since he was the one that insisted I go see her.  As for the pap and mam, I have to go back in December to see her and she’ll get me caught back up then for my yearly visit.

The EGD was Friday and unfortunately, I’m still sore from it:  sore throat and my jaw actually hurts, where its turning black and blue, since he must have had a hard time getting the tube down my throat…ugh.  I saw the surgeon before the test, but not afterward…he did talk to my husband though, while I was in recovery.  He said I have a very large hiatal hernia, which will definitely have to be taken care of surgically.  He isn’t quite sure why it was ignored by my old doctor, but it is big enough to be causing a good amount of my problems.  But, as usual, he isn’t done with tests yet.  He told my husband he wants to schedule me for a lower gi now, so that is to come. He needs to be sure he fixes everything within one surgery, since I have such a high rate of adhesions. So tests, tests and more tests, but at least he found something.

October Doctor Appointment and Current Symptoms

It’s now October of 2011:

          Current list of symptoms I am dealing with:

Abdominal pain/spasm (constant, but worse after eating, and when severe, gets hot to touch).

Back/Shoulder pain (when abdominal pain is at its worst).

Nausea (constant with occasional vomiting, with green bile and no food, OR undigested food).

Feel Full/Bloating during meals/ OR Feels like the food gets Stuck —occasionally, feels like I will get sick if I eat another bite.

Blood sugar levels too low or too high, occasional (causes the headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, shakiness, sweating).

Fever…usually around 99.

Heartburn—very occasionally.

Metallic taste in mouth OR sour taste—constant.

Hiccups—occasionally.

Muscle cramps in legs and feet, occasionally, mostly nights.

Chest Cramps- occasionally..feels like a spasm in my middle chest.

Insomnia---constant (when I lay down, it feels like my heart will pound right out of my chest).

Alternating constipation and diarrhea—constant.

Plus, I still have the hernia.

                                     

This Week:  I am scheduled for another EGD with a biopsy.

My new surgeon will be performing this test/surgery. According to the surgeon’s PA (Physician’s Assistant), the last EGD results from June, preformed by the Resident, showed I had Intestinal Metaplasia.  Neither the resident or my old surgeon explained any of this to me, so I will admit I got scared until I talked to my nurse friend, whom explained it to me.  So the new doctor needs to confirm and treat it, if possible, before this gets worse.

This Week:  I see my family practice doctor.

She is going to do a complete blood panel and will now be working with my new surgeon to figure out what is happening to me.  The blood panel needs to be completed, since the PA also explained that neither my old surgeon, nor any of the residents had done a complete blood panel on me since 2009 and that if I am deficient in any vitamins, have mal-absorption or anemia, it could be contributing to my other symptoms.)

This Week:  I have to see my OB/GYN as well.

          Although they do not believe any of this is related, one of the

Resident’s CT Scans, showed I have a cyst on my ovary, which no one bothered to tell me about either, needless to say it needs to be checked out.