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GERD & Acid Reflux
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Posted 12/10/2009 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
Well the date is quickly approaching.... December 22nd....surgery day. My little GERD free present to myself. I just hope I don't have to return it. turn


I'm finding myself feeling very figgety. I'm glad the day is coming, but I'm scared of the process. I don't do pain well. I have some serious phobias of the hospital. I've always had anxiety of the unknown. If I know what to expect, I can deal with things better.

I know some of the things that will be done for the preop testing:

1. Chest X-ray (no big deal)

2. Ultrasound of gall bladder (done before)

3. blood work (hate it, but done it many times)

4. Questions galore



Am I missing anything? confused



Okay, surgery is at 8:00 Tuesday morning. I have to check in at 6:30. (yawn)

I know I have to report in and get decked out in my air conditioned gown. blush

After surgery, I'll be in recovery and pain. I know I'll be sleepy. Is there any nausea?

Someone said something about a respiratory therapist coming. Why? What do they do?

How sore are you by day two...three?

What kind of pain medications did you receive? How did you take your regular medications you were on before the surgery?

How was your energy level by week 2?

I'm sorry I'm so full of questions, but it helps me deal with the unknown. Please don't leave any details out, but stay family oriented, please. wink



I'll open up my email so I can get any private messages if you want to send them.



Joy
Posted 12/10/2009 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Joy-
The only preop stuff I had to do for either of mine were bloodwork both times and a ekg the first time, Oh and can't forget the urine test. That is all I had to do besides the usual thousand questions. I believe the respiratory therapist had something to do with asthma. The only respiratory stuff I had was using the spirometer.
I have never had any nausea with any of my surgeries. Both times I had morphine in a pump on my IV I could use when needed for the first 2 days. I was then switched to oral pain meds, pills both times. I resumed my normal meds by the 2nd day and as far as energy goes.....it takes quite a while for that to return. Remember this is major surgery and your body will need time to heal.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 12/10/2009 2:54 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you, Bill. I forgot he mentioned the EKG.
I just want to know if I'd have enough energy to work at the school. I mostly talk and do some walking around to see if they are working and understanding. I can sit and let my parapro do the walking around, though. I'm supposed to get a student teacher for 15 weeks during that time, so I'm not going to have to do that much.

Joy
Posted 12/10/2009 4:44 AM (GMT 0)
Joy-
t really depends on how much they have to do and how your body responds and heals. I tend to heal a bit slower and know it was about 4 weeks before I had much energy, well the first time anyway. The last time I was still in the hospital at 3 and 1/2 weeks because of the holes in my stomach.
If you can stay seated for most of the time you may be alright though. Remember twisting and bending may be a bit challenging for a while.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 12/11/2009 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Joy,


You will do fine for the pre-op. In general, the purpose of a preoperative evaluation is to determine if you are healthy enough to undergo an operation. Not minimizing surgery but surgery is really nothing more than a controlled injury, and your body responds to surgery just as it would to any other stress. You will find that you may feel very frightened or anxious both before and after surgery. This is your body’s fight or flight response in action. This is where your cheering squad comes in and cheers you on and makes you smile.



Other organs are involved in the stress response as well, and it is for this reason that much of the testing is done. It is important to know that the function of your heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are adequate. You have already mentioned the pre-op testing which is pretty much the same for most major surgery.


Most of this testing will be done prior to your arrival at the hospital, so that the results are available before you enter the operating room.



I can answer most questions about pre-op but will leave to Bill and the others in the Wrapped Club to give you the blow by blow. Please remember each person recovers in their own time frame.



So as one of your cheer squad I am sending you off with good vibes and lots of gentle hugs.



Kitt yeah
Posted 12/11/2009 3:44 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Joy!

Rooting for you here in freeeeezing cold South Dakota.

Actually today was about 20 degrees but the sun was shining and it felt wonderful !!

 Did you plan to schedlue this surgery around this time of year Joy or is that just how it worked out ? I think you should be at peace...this time of year is a wondrous time to celebrate!! You will be blessed !!

love, Anne

Posted 12/11/2009 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, ya'll.
I'm trying my best to be informed so I won't freak over something unknown. I don't like surprises too much. I'm ready to get it over and done with.
I've never noticed this before, but my reflux seems to have gotten worse lately. I actually feel it come up in the back of my mouth. I'm burping and belching something fierce. All I ever did before was cough. My voice is sounding a little horse, too. I hope this doesn't affect the surgery.

Anne, I tried to set it up so I would miss a minimum amount of work. We're on vacation from the 19th to Jan. 5th. I though it would be great to do it during my time off.

Another question... when did you have to do a follow up? How many are needed and when?

Joy
Posted 12/12/2009 4:08 AM (GMT 0)
I don't have any preop tests. I did have a nurse call me today for the ton of questions they ask. But no actual tests. Is that weird?
Posted 12/12/2009 4:34 AM (GMT 0)
They've already done just about everything for pre-op. They will draw blood and maybe do chest x-ray when you get there.
I was given dilaudid for pain via demand pump. I could never find the darn button, couldn't remember to push it. You have a right not to be in pain, so yell if they ignore you.

I was never told about the arterial line they put in my wrist to monitor blood pressure. I'm still having pain and weakness from that. Ask the anesthesiologist! I had mine because my op was a long one.
Posted 12/12/2009 5:11 AM (GMT 0)
The nurse I talked to explained everything step by step. She didn't say anything about an x-ray or drawing blood. She just said they will start an iv. I guess I'll find out on Monday.
Posted 12/12/2009 6:53 PM (GMT 0)
well all i am worried about is if i dont get out on the next day i am trying to not focus on it but i had all my tests done back in sept so just hope they dont put me on morphine as it makes me sick that i am worried about . i go in for 7am on the 23rd so you will have it done and getting over it good luck to you . i did not scedule mine for this time i should have had it in nov . they could only fit me in then never mind
Posted 12/12/2009 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
Mookie and Baby -
Definitely go in with your list of meds you are taking and the ones you don't tolerate!!! They may not look at your chart for lists you gave them in the past. If something upsets your stomach, makes you nauseous or whatever you have to tell them in advance!!! If you find you have nausea ask for something for it. You don't want to be throwing up and wrecking your wrap. Especially when you are expecting to be thrown out prematurely.

Nurses are not doctors. They may not know what goes on in the OR unless they actually work there. They may not tell you anyway because they don't think you need to know. I'll bet they failed to mention the pneumatic leg boots! So ask, ask, ask!
Posted 12/12/2009 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
What are pneumatic leg boots?

I'm having a lot of stomach distress lately...gas, bloating, belching, burping, phlem and twinges.
I've never felt so bloated! I've always got an upset stomach when I faced a stressful situation. I guess I'm just stressed.

Today, I got up at 7:35, got ready and went to help out with my school's Breakfast with Santa. I was in charged of the Arts & Crafts. When I got home I thought I'd relax for the rest of the day. Nope. My niece comes up to me and says, "I need a costume in four hours". >:(
So I start cutting and sewing up a storm. I'm fussing the whole time that she should of told me weeks ago. She whines, "don't fuss at me. I forgot". I just finished it 10 minutes ago with 30 minutes until time for her to leave. Whew!
In two hours I have to take my father to the church to pick up my niece's car. She's going home with her mom after the play.
Tomorrow we go to my sister's church in SC to see her in a play. She's singing a solo. :)
This is one busy weekend!
I'm bushed!

Joy
Posted 12/12/2009 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Joy-
The leg boot things are to help keep blood clots away. As a rule most people over 30 get them as a precaution. Alcie is the first person I have talked with that had the arterial blood pressure monitor for this surgery though. Mine redo was almost 5 hours and I didn't have one.
What they do for the pre op largely depends on the doctors preference and your age. My surgeries before I turned 35 I only had blood drawn for pre op. After 35 I have had an EKG with all but one and that was the longest surgery to date, my Nissen redo. They didn't do anything but a blood draw for that. My white cell count was a little high so they did a urine test also, but figured itwas from the ear infection I had a week prior. The only time I had a chest xray was for my lung surgery.

Babygirl- It all depends on the surgeon. Some want everything checked and some don't. So I wouldn't say there is anything weird if they don't. Just your surgeons preference. Good Luck Monday!

Take care,
Bill
Posted 12/13/2009 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
I'll probably get them because I'm 41. :(
I bet they're uncomfortable. When do you usually get them before or after surgery? How long did you have to wear them?

Mookie, if I have to stay longer I won't like it, but I'd understand. It's better to be safe than sorry. I do live a long ways from my surgeon.

Joy
Posted 12/13/2009 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
The pneumatic boots are put on your legs to compress the blood back up to your trunk because you are in steep reverse Trendelenberg (tipped upward). They are only for during surgery.
The arterial line is standard in my large university hospital.
The chest X-ray is to check for air and fluid in the lungs and under the diaphragm. They SHOULD do it! It can be along with the barium swallow to check for leaks on the day after surgery. I couldn't stand up for that, but most people can.
I will be 65 in a few days, had a nastier surgery than most because of the paraesophageal hernia (stomach stuck in the chest - not a sliding hernia). Mine was necessitated by a car accident. 7 weeks out I feel so much better than I did even at 6 weeks. At my age and with my arthritis, fibro and polio, I recover poorly compared to a young person, but I'm very glad I got the operation!
Posted 12/13/2009 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
Are you talking about the boots that inflate and then deflate? I had those after my colostomy surgery but they took them off after a few hours.
Posted 12/13/2009 3:11 AM (GMT 0)
So you get a swallow on day 2? I hate the taste of the junk!
The first time I had a swallow the stuff it was so thick it turned rock-like in my intestines. It liked to have killed me as it moved through! The next time they did it thinner and I had no trouble.

Happy birthday, Alcie!

Joy
Posted 12/13/2009 1:23 PM (GMT 0)
Baby - Yes those are the boots.

Tater - The stuff should be thin and they won't make you drink too much. But if they keep you until you can eat a little, which for me wasn't until supper time, they will give you liquid something. It couldn't have been colace because that burns so bad you can't swallow it unless it's in milk. Thats a WARNING for the scrips they will give you to take home. You'll need someone to fill those for you right away because pain meds only last 4 hours including the hour it takes them to start working. I had Vicoden pills at home for fibromyalgia and just chewed them - awful taste, but anything to stop the pain - and I was 3 days past the surgery day. (I can't take most liquids because they all have sulfite for preservative. I can't take most IV pain meds for same reason.) No you probably won't be able to swallow pills! Don't try for at least a week. If you can't stand the taste you can mix in orange juice, or applesauce if it's allowed.

I had lowered voice pitch for a month because of all the stuff that goes down the throat - breathing tube, scope, bougie. Didn't have much throat pain. Pitch eventually came back up. Vocal cords get stretched.
Posted 12/13/2009 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
Seems there are a lot of differences as to what each hospitals do. I had my Nissens done at 2 different large hospitals, one was a large university teaching hospital. No arterial line either time, but I did have to use the boots until I was up and about quite a bit because they help ward off blood clots.
The pill issue has always baffled me. My first nissen was done wrong and extremely tight. So tight in fact I had to have it redone and that was after about 12 or 13 dilations, but I could swallow pills after both Nissens the second day with out much of a problem at all. I couldn't get the 12mm barium tablet to go by for 20 minutes, but that is MUCH larger than any pain pill I have ever taken.
Guess the one good thing about having bile induced diarrhea is I have never had a need for colace. So I can't comment on that one. But as for barium swallows.....Oh boy have I had them! I only had the one after my first Nissen. No leaks, but the radiologist said it was extremely tight. Put of as swelling at the time. years later I find out it was done wrong. I had one initially after the redo. This one was done with 3 different contrasts or whatever. One was very watery, but tasted just horrible and lingered for a long time too. Infact I had to drink 2 glasses of it because the machine broke half way through. I told them that was the last drink of that stuff or I was heaving! Ten came the normal thin barium and the usual thick barium. All was good, so we thought.
I had t return to the hosital for 2 leaking holes in my stomach the day after I was released and endured 4 more barium swallows with all 3 and 6 CT scans with 64ounces of a very nasty contrast also. This was in the next 3 weeks. I don;t ever want to have another CT of my belly or another barium swallow as long as I live. Don't much care to have an EGD with dilation again either since 9 of those 12 or 13 were in a 5 month span.
Ok sorry got carried away.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 12/13/2009 11:03 PM (GMT 0)
Bill
They made you swallow a barium pill? I just had watery liquid! I would have refused a pill anyway because I can't swallow large pills, never have been able. All the barium swallows I have ever had were liquid. They were looking at the esophagus after all! For the post-op one I only had to swallow a little bit. Maybe 1/4 cup.
Posted 12/13/2009 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
Alcie-
Sorry, that was for the one when they finally "discovered" I wasn't crazy when I told them things were still getting stuck after all the dilations. They couldn't get it to show up on a normal barium swallow so they used the 12 mm tablet. It should pass into the stomach within 30 to 60 seconds. Mine took 4 cups of water and just over 20 minutes. After that they really got to looking close at the laying down swallows and found that there was a "problem". I had only been saying that for almost 3 years at that point. Mine was done the way it was originally thought up, not fundus to fundus, but fundus to lower anterior stomach. Stops reflux, but isn't functional to allow things through into the stomach. My esophagus was at a 90 degree angle when I swallowed. All the EGDs that were supposedly normal couldn't see this because I was relaxed and sedated.
This first one i only drank about a half cup or so. With the redo they were so worried about the holes leaking I had to drink so much it made me sick. Plus they left me standing there unable to get to my pain button for an hour. Then left me laying on that hard table for the lay down pictures for another 45 minutes unable to get to the button. When I finally got back to my room and was shaking from the pain my nurse was a tad PO'ed. She got it under control and called the radioligist and ripped him a new one. She was very mean when she wanted to be.
I got to know them pretty well in the 3 weeks that followed.

Now you 3 remember I had a very tough case and a very inexperienced first surgeon as it turned out. I didn't ask how many he had done, just if he could do it. He did my gallbladder and this is nothing like that surgery.

Bill
Posted 12/14/2009 12:20 AM (GMT 0)
wow Alcie..you have been thru alot...you must be a very strong person !!!

Good for you ! Glad the surgery worked for you. I am wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

 Baby girl...good luck and my thoughts will be with you !!!

Joy, you are almost ready...woohoo!!!

This is a really busy time here at HW !!

I have a terrible cold and am feeling like a big baby right now!!

I dont usually get them and this nose blowing, and handwashing thing is really crazy!!

I do wash my hands alot

 normally but this is nuts !!Trying to keep the germs to myself though !!

take care all, Anne

Posted 12/14/2009 7:30 AM (GMT 0)
Anne-
You take care of that cold now young lady! Not sure there is anything much worse than a bad cold....utterly miserable feeling.

Bill
Posted 12/14/2009 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
Joy,

I was only in the hospital 1 night.  The therapist came to make me cough.  This is because they have a tube down you espophgus so they can measure how to wrap the stomach around it.  They only did this a couple of times.  Really, no pain to speak of after surgery.  But they sent me home with liquid pain meds, which I did not need to take.

My visit to the dr was about a week or 2 after surgery. 

After that I was free to eat anything.  Except he said steak and watch the bread.

Gas is a problem for some reason after this surgery.  So get some gas -x it will help.

Most pills I could take, but I have crohns and these are giant capsuls, so I emptied them into apple sauce.

The unknown is the scariest part.  If you have a great surgeon and I am sure you do, you will have no problem.  Just remember, don't eat more than 1/2 cup every 2 hours or so.  No carbinated drinks for at least a month to 6 weeks.

it will soon be over

luck and hugs

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