Long awaited updates... The 3rd surgery rundown...

My dearest apologies for making you wait so long, but I've been having a hell of a time lately.  My pain is still cranked up to a standard of 8 out of 10 most days, so the updates are slow to come.

Basically, on September 25th I had my 3rd (and hopefully final) surgery.  The doctor attached the little blind pouch of my stomach to my small intestine and used that attachment spot to make a larger stoma (the stomach exit).  My front Vagus nerve was severed to prevent the problems that I've had with stomach acid, and specifically to try and prevent future ulcerations. 

I also had a feeding tube inserted.  Since my teeny, tiny tummy is too small for a tube, i had it placed into my jejunum (the second part of the small intestines after the duodenum).  So, now I have a three pronged port protruding right below my bra-line on the middle of my abdomen.  Thankfully, the PEJ tube was only in case i had further complications.

I woke up in a fairly good amount of pain.  I was hooked up to a constant morphine pump with and "emergency button" for when i needed more.  Most of that day is rather blurry, but I do remember having several bouts of the hiccups.  OMG. PAIN.  Hiccups are one of the worse things ever with a PEJ tube.

I did the usual post surgery routine.  Walking.  Vital checks.  Reporting to the nurse how much i could pee.  You know the drill. ...except this time, the day after surgery i was given soft foods.  Not liquids.  Real actual pureed foods! Whoohoooo!  Everything was pretty much smooth sailing in the hospital and i was released on Thursday the 29th.

Pureed foods have been good to me.  I haven't been brave enough to venture any farther than that, though.  The tube hurts like hell still.  After I eat or drink, the tube twitches and pulls as foods move through my digestive system.  ...it pulls strong enough that you can see it.  Sneezing hurts.  Coughing HURTS.  Hiccups hurt a lot still.  Any kind of quick involuntary movement hurts and make the port on the end of the tube seep a thin brownish-green fluid...  Eeeeeeeeeewwwww.  This was thwarted by folding and taping the tube, essentially putting a kink in it to seal my juices in!

So now I've been walking around with a tube folded and taped to my gut.  It's interesting.  It still hurts like crazy all the time.  My stomach is great.  No problems with pureed food or drinks.  The PEJ tube hurts constantly.  I cant wait to get this thing out.  Hopefully soon...  I miss sleeping on my side...

Third time's the charm.... Right?!?

A lot has happened since my last post a month ago... I was keeping liquids down half of September.  Around the 15th or so, random things would come back up.  The thicker the liquids, the more likely they would revisit me.  Soon after, the protein shakes were a no-go.  I would still try, but alas, my angry tummy said NO.  It steadily got worse.  More frequent and less staying down...

By September 24th, I was tired and weak.  I was getting dizzy and having this horrible headache.  I was going to the bathroom once, maybe twice, a day.  That was it.  I was toast.  It was a Saturday, but I couldn't take it anymore.  I called my surgeon's office almost in tears.  The surgeon called me back and said he'd reserved a room for me at the hospital.  Get there now.

I was assessed as clinically dehydrated and borderline malnourished.  My blood counts came back high enough to clear me for surgery.  I was declared NPO (nothing by mouth) and gave the IV tech a difficult time finding a vein for basic fluids.  The surgeon said that we might as well do this as soon as possible... At 9pm Saturday night, I was told that surgery would be 7am Sunday morning. 

For some reason, I was scared.  I mean, I already had two surgeries, no big deal.  This time, it was a big deal to me.  Cue emotional freakout..

EGD number 6? 8? I dunno anymore...

So, puking leads to EGD's, apparently.  Went to the hospital on September 13th for my upper scope thing at 7:45am.  My surgeon was replaced with a doctor i do NOT like since her patient "stupidly ate breakfast" and couldn't have an EGD.  Really?!? You called her stupid?  Yay, professionalism.  I was thinking about objecting to this doctor, but as i was lying on the table waiting for my doc i heard behind me "My patient stupidly ate breakfast so no go, I'll do this one.  start sedation." and of course, lights out.

I woke up to a nurse explaining my procedure results.  Wheres the doc?  Oh, she's busy.  WTF?!?!  I always have my surgeon explain my results...  Oh, I have an ulcer?  Why?  How? Oh, you don't know.  *sigh*

Sooo...Ii stopped into the doc's office on my way home from the hospital and made an appointment for the next day to have MY doc explain results.

He explained that a pulling or pressure on my stomach at the stoma point has caused an ulcer.  Could be causing some of my ejection problems.  Now i have to take ulcer meds 4 times a day along with the usual nighttime meds for acid.  Yay.

I was put on a full-liquid diet until the ulcer clears.  Yay, soup!  *grumble*