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Recent surgery and upcoming procedures
As some of you may know, I was just recently in the hospital for a week. After a week I am finally able to go home today. I had post surgical complications going on. My esophagus was reconstructed and rotated in the middle of May and my body is having a really hard time adjusting to everything that was done. I had a lot of motility testing done that showed that I have slow movement (to very little movement naturally) in my esophagus and also in my stomach. The doctors gave me a medication to help with relaxation of the muscles of the GI tract and I also had to get my G-tube (stomach feeding tube) replaced to make up for the calories that I can’t take in orally or if I have days when I need to give my esophagus a break and just have to do clears or liquids.
This seems like a big setback, but I am glad that the doctors are now going to be following me that are part of the motility team that works directly with my surgeon that reconstructed things. There is no more compression and no more areas of narrowing as there was before which is AMAZING news, but there will be a lot of upcoming procedures done to the bottom of the stomach to open up that area as much as possible to allow food to be pulled down by gravity quicker.
Has anyone dealt with motility problems? were you placed on a feeding tube in case you need supplemental nutrition because of your condition? Anyone ever have botox injections into their stomach to help with releasing food easier? This is also something that is on the horizon for me in the near future. My follow up is already in two weeks.
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4 Replies
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Brittany I am so happy to hear that you are being discharged! I bet it felt a lot longer than a week being in the hospital. It’s always a roller coaster ride after an extreme surgery like yours but for the most part it sounds like it was a success and then some! I’m hoping for your month free of hospital stays as you mentioned previously.
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Colleen,
It definitely felt longer than a week. It helped pass the time when I was able to get on my laptop, get some writing done and work a bit. Definitely better for my mind instead of just sitting there all day. It’s always extremely slow on the weekends!
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Oh Brittany, I am so sorry to hear of your post surgery complications. I am so happy to hear that you are being discharged.
You have been through so much, I am sure your body is just overwhelmed, to say the least. I hope that your meds for motility will help. I have been on a med for Gastroparesis in the past, but I had a bad reaction to the med. I am not on meds to help the slow emptying of my stomach. I do have stomach issues as I get full fast and have nausea often. Thankfully, its been better this year than previous years, but still some days, it pops up again.
It’s interesting as I knew a few other PHers who had issues with Gastroparesis as well. I am glad to hear that the motility team is on your team.
Hugs to you and prayers that you will be able to tolerate more and without complications. I hope that you get home and can rest better. Please keep us posted.
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Jen,
I know of a few people with PH and heart conditions too who have struggles with their GI system or slower motility. A lot of my friends have struggled for years with finding a good “diet” or meal plan that works well for them. Did you have to make any changes to your diet or do you make changes to your diet when you have “off days” with this? They sometimes will use anti-nausea medications but I am allergic to that. They actually started me on a prescription anti-histamine to help with the emptying by relaxing the GI muscles. So far it has given me a little less pain but they are going to have to really follow me closely now that they know the severity of it. And the risk of aspiration just makes me super nervous having weaker lungs already!
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