Had my surgery yesterday - Raphael - Part 2 of 3 - Closed

 Had my surgery yesterday - Raphael - Part 1 0f 2  Link:

 

https://www.healingwell.com/community/?f=45&m=1560802&g=1560802#m1560802

 

Posted by mariex800 on 9/15

Hi Rafael and everyone.

Rafael, it is so good to hear that you are doing so well.

Keep it going, my friend. You are making so much progress.

Hopefully, in no time that we will out run this disease and back to our normal life :D

Hey - I woke up today - feel some burn throat and sour mouth -but the burn seem to be lite compare to the pre-surgery. Before surgery, my burn was so bad - that it hurt so much.

I had a follow up with my USC Dr. this morning.

He told me that my burn and sour/bitter tast will eventually go away in 2-4 weeks time.

He would like me to continue with the PPI med for about a month and wean off from it.

He say I am doing very well - as if I didn't have the surgery.

Today my energy level is so good even though I haven't started the soft food yet.

My incision cut seem to be a lot better except the one in the middel close to the belly button. That one seem to be the biggest cut. The incision pain seems to be so little that I don't need the pain med anymore. I walk a lot everyday and getting some sun energy -out door. Today, I feel like I can run many miles because I don't seem to have the surgery pain compare to those 4 or 5 days ago. Get plenty of rest and walk a lot help me a lot and a lot of good people up here help a lot a lot too :)

I loose like 6 or 7 pounds from 146 to 139 -about there... this week.

I don't want to lose any more pound because I will be very weak...

My dr give me the green light to start soft food. I am going to get myself a NewYork Juicy stake right now. Just Kidding!  Actually, going to costco to get me some simon fish and cook it into soup -soft thing for now. Some fish - easy for the digest system and see how thing goes...

Overall - I am happier with the lite burn now than the burn that I had before. Hopefully in time, it get betters.

I am hoping and wishing everyone heal and feel better in time :D

Take care, all.

Thank much everyone.

Marie

kitt, thans for starting this new thread.

Hello every one nd thanks for posting yesterday in the other thread.

The burning that I have been feeling is not acid coming up. My sore throat seems to be just a sore throat. The burning I feel has manefested its self to the burning/inflamed pain I felt in weeks 3 and 4. For some reason I have taken a step back again, starting some time late last week. Today has been the worst so far. Its very demoralizeing to be stuck in the same spot and not feel any progress.


My mom called me this morning and told me that my dad who is 73 years old was in the hospital since late last nite. They ran some tests on him late yesterday and have concluded that he has had several small strokes. The left side of his face is a bit droopy and he has lost some mobility in his left limbs. He had been complaining of head aches and had been verry sleepy for a few weeks now but didnt want to see a doctor about it. yesterday evening my oldest brother forced him to go to to the ER and thats what they found. He is doing better today and is on blood thinners to get rid of several small clots in the vessels of his brain. They say they can get rid of the clots but the mobility may not come back 100%. It was his fault because he has diebeties and has lost his routine of cheking it and was going at it by how he felt. He would just drink a Coke when he felt his blood suger was coming down and then after a few hours would shoot insulin to bring it down. We didnt know about this and I have told him that he will be going on a new routing schedule for his diebeties. Other than that he is healthy. I spent all day at the hospital and I feel worn out and sore. It didnt help the inflination eather being on my feet all day.

My recovery seems to not be as I had hoped or imagined. I'm going to try and see if I can be seen by the surgeron sooner than october 1st which is when my appt. was for.

Thanks to every one following my recovery and for all the well wishes. You guys really are great and this forum is something I look forward to every day.

Rafael

 

Hi Rafael,

Sorry to hear your dad is in the hospital. Hope your dad is doing alright.

Hey take care of yourself also.

Bill, I did loose a lot of weight at one point because of reflux. Then, I ate a lot and it took quite a little while for me to gain some pound back.

Mary - great to hear you are back to work. I know you will do just fine.

Take care all.

Marie.

I just noticed today that I have lost a huge amount of muscle mass. I'm down to 185 pounds from 217 when I was weighed right before the surgery. I still have a bit of a belly though and I think I look funny because I'm skinny but I have a little belly.

Still feel the same as I did a few weeks ago. I need to call my surgeon. Over all I feel better but i'm worried that something else might be going on with my recovery.

My disability was extended untill November 16 so that will give me a total of 3 months of recover time. I'm 1 day in to week 6.

Take care every one!
Rafael

Marie-
2 weeks is still very early in the recovery. Things are still probably very swollen yet. It's not uncommon to have to still use the PPIs for sometime until things fully heal. Even after things are healed I have been told it can be hyper sensitive to normal acid levels for sometime also.
I am concerned about an incision still looking like it is bleeding after 2 weeks. The itching I had with all my surgeries. Drove me crazy. I think you should get a hold of your surgeon and let them know about the incision still bleeding. Remember they really work us over with this surgery and things are going to be sore in there for quite some time. They did a big change to your GI system and your body has to adjust to it's new design. It is deceiving because the small incisions will heal, but there is still pain because the inside stuff takes longer to heal.

Rafael-Glad to hear you were able to extend your disability. Sure wish I didn't use all my FMLA prior to surgery for all the testing I had. Use as much time as you need to and makes sure you are fully healed. I didn't and sure wish I would have. I made it through my first night back to work. The guys sure let me have it for being gone so long. Even gave me a "New Guy" sticker for my bump cap. They are just so nice!

Take care,
Bill

 

Hi Bill,

Bill, did you get a chance to see your dr regarding to loss weight thing?

Did your dr. suggest you any med or advice or any diet food, etc.

Hope everything going well :)

Am loosing weight right now too. I am on soft food right now.

Wow, when I was on soft food, when I forgot about my surgery thing, I swallow food too fast, wow - I feel the pain slow go down. Now chew into liquid format H20 type of thing in order to go down comfy and smoothly*whew*

This time after surgery, I did feel relief after taking the PPI.

Before surgery, I took 40/40 protonix, it doesn't seem to do anything much.

This time after surgery, I took 20Nexium and it did relieft the burn and throat phlem thing. I think I need to take 20/20. I gonna follow up with my dr next week.

The belly incision still bleed - I accidently bump into a crib when I wasn't careful.

It itch like crazy; I put alcohol and some other med on them. On one hole - there is something sticking out - I think they forgot to cut the threat of something. Still hanging around -look kinda weird

Thank much, Bill.

Take care.

Marie 

 

Hi Rafael,

Your is already 6 weeks... wow- timez really fly!

Glad that you are doing much better :)

How is your dad, by the way?

Hope he is doing much better.

I just pass 2 weeks.

Lately, been sneesing a lot- guess musta be that time of season that my allergy kick in.

Wow - it hurt when I sneeze. I felt my stomach -like jellow - it moved itself. I guess the inside still kinda swell.

I hope my reflux is just some swell inside - hope in time it will subside and all the reflux will ease up...

I guess I am kinda loosing my mind with all this reflux still going on after surgery.

I am just crossing my finger. Hopefully - nothing wrong with the wrap.

I gonna see the dr next week.

Take care of yourself and your families

Thank Rafael.

Marie, sneezing is defenitly a challange. And yes, time does fly when you look back but when your going through it it seems to drag a bit.

My dad is doing much better. My niece who is a Doctor saya that the damage to his brain isnt severe or permanent. She says that since the strokes were minor the brain will regenate its self, though it will take some time. He will never be 100% again but we will take 90% with great happyness.

Kitt, thanks for the link. I'll troll around there nd read up on the desiease and see if I see any sings of the ilness. The doctor saw him on Thursday did some tests on his memory. he askes questions and had him remember things. He was aked later and passed with 100%. He said that its normal for him to loose long term memories because of his age. But were happy just to still have him with us :)

I am doing very, very well. I cant believe how drastic my progress was from just a few days. My palps are 100% gone now that I dont feel the "inflamed burning" in my esophogus. I went from filling very bad on Sunday to feeling waaay better on Tuesday. I feel very energetic and want to start walking faster on the treadmill but ridong in my pickup or walking too fast still makes it hurt inside. I have been able to hold my 11 month old for a few minutes at a time with no pain at all. He weighs 27 pounds.

I also hope to loose another 5-10 pounds or so. My target weight is 175-180. I then want to start to do cardio and light weight training and get some muscle mass back and hopefully end up at 185, in good health.

I'm still going to take my time though and recover easily for another couple of weeks. I'm going to use the last week or so of my disability to finish some light projects around the house tha have been bugging me. This will also help me guide my self back to work mode.

Marie, I had a long hard recovery for the first 5-1/2 weeks. Your at week 2. Keep that in mind and take it easy. I'm proof that recovery some times takes longer than others but it does get better. It sounds like you might be on the same track as me as far as having a slow recovery. Just keep focuesd and dont over do it.

Thank you to every one who has been so suportive and so hepfull in my recovery. I'm not singning off, but now that I feel better I dont plan on spending as much time on the computer. I want to start getting out more and start the road to getting my family back to how our life was before my life took this path. I will defenitly be around to share my knowledge of this desiease with others who might be going through what we all here have in common.

Be well.

Rafael

Rafael-
It is very good to see you have turned the corner. That is how it seems to be with this surgery. One day you aren't sure it will ever heal and then it is better. I am still praying for your family and Dad that he will recover completely.

Marie- I also had a stitch that didn't get buried all the way under the skin. It took about 4 weeks or so for it to fall off. Of course I couldn't resist pulling on it and made Michelle mad several times because of it. If you have the time try to hold something like a pillow to your belly when you sneeze. It really does help stop some of the pain. Same thing for coughing too. At the 2 weeks mark you should have just about gotten all the swelling you will have and I am not srprised you feel reflux. While it is swollen things can get by the wrap easier. If it doesn't go away in the next few weeks I would recommend talking to the surgeon about it. Odds are it will subside though.

Take care,
Bill

 

Bill,

It helped a lot of with the pillow - good idea.

I have this aweful  taste (bitter or)when drinking water -not sure if it is acid taste. - I wonder if those are the left over that sit on top of the wrap - Yuky taste - can't make of it -either acide taste or ... The taste is so aweful - weird. :) I don't think I ever experience that weird taste prior to the surgery.

Bill -

if a  loose wrap, can it be tighten?

I read on some other post from the internet, that they need to undo everything and redo that entirely. Wow - that doesn't sound simple at all.

I thought they just go in and tighten the threat or something.

I am gonna to talk to my dr more this week regarding to my clear throat every morning and evening. Once, I took the ppi-nexium, it clear it way somewhat!

I hope it is just a swell. Crossing my finger. :)

Rafael -

way to go - I am so happy for ya. Stay the course - Happy & continue to heal well, friend :)

I can't wait til my turn - I promise my family once I am back to normal, I will spending more time with them -my baby boy+girl. They are my life. While I was young, I spent way too many hrs at work - 6 or 7 day a week at work, over 40++ hrs. I remember there are many times I was at work til next morning 6AM the next day. My boss and I were IT - so we did system upgrade & system migration, etc. It was a fun project but it required way way way too much times.

I remember going home seeing moving fuzzy object on the way driving home *Laff* That was the young-wonder yr!

I didn't have a life back then-but pretty much work & work - trying to make a lot of money to support my family. I changed job a few year ago, now, it is pretty decent. Now, I can spend way more time with my family. Well - now that I am older - *Laff*

Take care everyone.

Thank all.

 

Post Edited (mariex800) : 9/28/2009 10:36:52 AM (GMT-6)

Marie, alot of us go through that. When I was in San Diego working in the Union I would work as many hours as I could get and would only spend a full day with my family on Sunday. I did it because I wanted my wife to be home with my son. It was well worth it, though I suferd from this since then.

Marie, try and not let your thoughts run away with you. Try and keep from imagineing the worse. It helps to dustract yoursefl with something that makes you happy. It will help take your mind off of every little thing you feel might be going wrong with your recovery. Try to remember that there is a reason why they give us 8-10 weeks for recovery.

I though mine was too tight and though about getting it dialted. Its still a bit toght and I can feel it dialate even by just drinking water. But I rather have itthat way than over stretch it and then have issues.

Stay positive.
Rafael

Your welcome Jules. But I'll still be around. I feel responsible to stay around and share my experience with as many people as possible. This is a great community and there are people here who I have come to respect very much and care for.


I over did it a bit this weekend. There was a lot of family fun and excitement. My 4 siblings and I got together on saturday at the oldest ones house and had a blast. We celebrated my Moms 72nd birthday. on Sunday one of my other brother had a get together for my 5Y.O niece. I'm very sore because I hardly rested this weekend. A bit of the "burning inflimation" came back and a few palps as well. But still enjoying life and family!

Good nite.
Rafael