Trying again to be patient Post-Nissen

Good to know. Thanks, Bill. I'll remember that and ask him what he thinks.

I have more confidence in the surgeon than I do in the GI but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks, again. :)

Post Edited (halloweenbaby) : 10/2/2011 3:39:40 PM (GMT-6)

I just talked to the nurse in that dept at the hospital where I'll have the procedure and she says the room I'll be in is equipped for NF dilation. She said also that my GI has dilated "tons" of tight Nissens. I have my list ready and had one more night under my belt last night of 3 hours sleep and then laying there with my esophagus burning and filled with hot thick stuff rolling back into my mouth. I hope he can help. It felt as if nothing I ate yesterday went down at all. It was a bad pain night.

I'll let you know what happens.

Kitt, I've tried SO hard to be positive. SO hard. It's beyond the point of being positive and patient. I can hardly swallow this morning because my throat and tongue are so burned and painful. My current GI is going to have to offer me some kind of relief or we'll be moving on to someone with more experience and knowledge.

I was doing what I'm doing now BEFORE the surgery but I only did it when I woke up about 6 am or so. Now it starts about an hour or two after I lie down at night and doesn't stop till I get up. When I do get up it lessens but continues through the day.

Not sure what it is but it is very physical and vocal. Hubby is super hard of hearing but hears "the stuff" backing up into my throat every morning when he wakes up. I used to wake him up when it first started getting bad in the night but I don't anymore. He has to have his sleep even if I'm not sleeping. It's very frustrating.

Hopefully it's just a bit too tight and he will go ahead an dilate it this morning.
It would be an answer to a huge prayer. My life is just not the same right now and I miss it.

Thank you so much for praying for me. This is the weirdest thing I've ever experienced.

Rita

Just got home about an hour ago from the hospital and my GI's watchful eye. My LIST was laying on my abdomen and he glanced at it and then picked it up and began to read and started to ask questions.

I brought hubby into the operating room with me and he was more exuberant with his questions and the list of stuff we both wanted the GI to know as I was.

The GI was very interested and said he thought a good look-see would tell him a lot of things. I still had some bad gastritis near the opening to the small intestine and he, contrary to what the surgeon said, wants me to continue on Dexilant until the gastritis clears up and then he said we'd talk about reducing/changing it when that time comes.

He also spotted a lot of inflammation/irritation just above the wrap where all the strictures had been prior to surgery. HE DID DILATE the wrap and is very hopeful this will help me. Said I should NOT have been experiencing all the unpleasant symptoms and pain and he'll be watching me closely and watch how this latest procedure does.

He was very concerned that the wrap doesn't prohibit or slow down the food entering into my stomach as slowly as it has been.

I'm very relieved at this point that at least something has been done to try to help.
I guess time will tell now and once again I'll be patient but he does want to hear how I'm doing.

Thanks so much to all of you for caring. Each and every one. . .

Hugs and hope!
Rita

Post Edited (halloweenbaby) : 10/3/2011 2:32:51 PM (GMT-6)

Rita,

Hallelujah !  Your Dr. listened and responded.  I am so proud of you for placing that list on your abdomen.  I cannot imagine the pain and frustration you have been going through as I know I would have caved in  and crashed way before this if I had been through all you have.

I do hope that this procedure is the answer to your prayers and that you will start to feel better.  I am here and I am offering healing prayers for you Rita as I do so want you to feel better.

Gentle Hugs,

Kitt

Thanks everyone!

I'm going to do my best to take this last procedure one day at a time and be grateful that I'm better just today. I've become a little jaded in that so many people who had the surgery around the time I did and even after got so much better than I did and so much faster. I have to remember that I'm 64 years old and that my problems with all this "stuff" have been really bad and got much worse over a 30 year time frame. I didn't just get acid reflux and gastritis a couple of years ago. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this journey began for me a very long time ago.

I don't think I've ever mentioned it but my mom died of colon cancer when I was 19. My older sister (14 years my senior) came down with colon cancer only a few years later and then I went through an undiagnosable illness for nearly 7 years when I finally had ONE pain that sent me to the ER. It was my GB about to rupture and it was filled with gangrene. No specialist we could ever find was able to determine that my GB was bad and I came close to buying the farm on that one.

I had uncontrollable diarrhea during the 6 or 7 years before the GB was removed and continue to have it even now (just not as often) and my same GI tried every med in the book but nothing would ever control it. That's when I discovered that I could not tolerate Carafate. It has the opposite action on me - the diarrhea gets worse and it makes me nauseous and I throw up. I tried it right before surgery and did throw up and had stomach cramps and diarrhea so bad that it really scared everyone.

The GI has forced me to try it many times through the years and finally I gave in and tried it a couple of weeks ago again after surgery when the surgeon suggested it. Same things; diarrhea got really bad and I would have thrown up if it had been possible. I had to go to bed and take Zofran for several days. Carafate burns my esophagus and stomach so much it's hard to believe it's even a medication and not a punishment of some kind. lol We're all so different.

There are several meds that have the opposite effect on me - even Pepto Bismol in the recent past before surgery. I actually have diarrhea on Pepto Bismol. The GI just looks at me and shakes his head. I'm a real puzzle to him I'm sure because at times hubby and I don't even know what to think.

In short, I wish Carafate did work on me but it makes me very ill.

Thanks for trying to help.

Rita

Post Edited (halloweenbaby) : 10/4/2011 9:50:19 AM (GMT-6)