One week from right now I will be on the operating table for stomach surgery for the second time. Last year’s surgery was a disaster and it is not an exaggeration to say that they almost lost me. When my internal sutures burst it was the worst pain I ever felt and I cried like a little girl.
Not only did the surgery not help, but it made all my symptoms worse. Regurgitation in the middle of the night occurs almost daily. The good nights are the ones when I wake up before I inhale it. I don’t remember when I last slept a full night. It has been a long tough year.
My new doctor seems compitent - I wish he had done the first op. I genuinely believe he is going to fix me. Believe it or not, he thinks he can do this laproscopically and I will be out in two days.
But I confess that I’m still apprehensive (this is “tough-man’s” code for terrified.)
And so, I am asking for all the prayers and good thoughts and spells or charms (or whatever else) that you can offer me. Hopefully this time will be easier and even better, hopefully this one will fix me.
Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that you have had to suffer like this for so long. I have had reflux and experienced that “inhaling stomach acid” sensation on rare occasions; can’t imagine how awful it would be to have it happen constantly. Here’s hoping that this next surgery will allow you to make a full recovery.
The original diagnosis was severe hiatal hernia - more than 50% of my stomach was in the chest cavity instead of in the stomach cavity. This causes the symptoms described in the OP - regurgitation, constant burping, indigestion all the classic symptoms of GERD, but more severe. Due to the constant exposure to stomach acid, I have developed Barrett’s Esophgas, which is simply the body’s attempt to deal with acid being exposed to tissues that are not designed to deal with it. Left alone, it can become cancerous (but a very low rate of Barrett’s progresses to cancer, especially if treated.) Also as it turned out, the stomach had become attached to the heart after being exposed to it for so long.
My new doctor says that I never had a hiatal hernia but instead a para-esophageal hernia. One of the key differences is the esophagas itself is too short, this being the prime cause for the other issues and the likely cause of my sutures bursting after the first op. He says that the two are very similar but must be treated differently and that most Drs will not know to look for the latter. Apparently another common symptom of this is that the stomach become trapped between the esophagas and the heart - the heart rubs against it constantly, scar tissue is formed and the stomach attaches to the heart.
My current Dr. has really given me hope, he really seems to know what he is doing and has done more than 500 of these repairs.
Thanks all who have given me their good thoughts, prayers and all the other good stuff. It means a lot to me.
I just came back from a bar that I frequent with my director on Tuesday nights. Each of the wait-staff came over and gave me a hug and wished me luck and offered support, prayer’s etc.
One young lady almost made me weep when she looked me in the eyes with her cute little earnest face and then whispered in my ear: I’ll pray for you - 'cause maybe God don’t [sic] need people like you here on earth, but I sure do.
Tomorrow I’m off - the operation takes place a good 3 hours drive away. I’ll work most of the day and then drive up, so I can be there first thing in the morning for the OP.
I should post again by Monday, so I’ll see you guys on the flip side.
