My 5 day countdown to DS in Mexico

[DSRIGGS]

Hi @Clematis . Hang in there hon. After the initial anesthesia wears off it makes the second and 3rd days feel like you go backwards a bit but that is pretty normal.

So sorry in the infiltrated iv. Those stink.

Are you on a PPI? I had terrible GERD after surgery and drinking or eating anything was very hard for me for a while because of irritation and nausea. Liquid carafate was a huge help for me as it coated/very much soothed myt stomach and it helped me get some liquids and a little food down. Liquids obviously were needed for hydration and getting a little food in helped the nausea.... The stomach likes to have some food in it.

Carafate could possibly help you with the cramping you are getting from liquids.... Gerd sometimes presents that way rather than just burning.

Hang in there. It gets better. BTW you have every right to be a little cranky. You just went through a big time surgery and that is hard on a person.

 

[VDLT]

Hope you are feeling better today! Sending good thoughts.

 

[duh_Mom]

Hey @Clematis, I was away this week on business and won't read or post on the boards from my work PC. I am home now and caught up on all the posts, so am a bit late on sending my congratulations. Sounds like you are doing great and it will get better, but damn it, why doesn't it get better RIGHT now.

It was days and days before I could even post so you are rocking it in my book!

 

[Clematis]

@DSRIGGS yes immediately after the stomach cramp I have a surge of heartburn. I'll talk to doc about it this morning

Hot water for tea - just the water without the tea - is marginally more manageable. I barely moisten my lips

I also had a reaction to the tape they used to close my eyes and hold the trach. I look like I've got the mark of Zorro. The bloody burned slashes across my cheeks and under my eyes are now just scabbing. I'm glad I got a hotel room with balcony over the bay tomorrow because I'm not very presentable.

Next up: barium. Quantos minutos bebir? I think that's how you say how the f--k am I supposed to drink this before Thursday?

 

[DSRIGGS]

@DSRIGGS yes immediately after the stomach cramp I have a surge of heartburn. I'll talk to doc about it this morning

Hot water for tea - just the water without the tea - is marginally more manageable. I barely moisten my lips

I also had a reaction to the tape they used to close my eyes and hold the trach. I look like I've got the mark of Zorro. The bloody burned slashes across my cheeks and under my eyes are now just scabbing. I'm glad I got a hotel room with balcony over the bay tomorrow because I'm not very presentable.

Next up: barium. Quantos minutos bebir? I think that's how you say how the f--k am I supposed to drink this before Thursday?

@Clematis definitely push the docs on something for the GERD (PPI and carafate if necessary....the carafate will help you get things down).

Regarding the barium thing which I take is to check for a leak, I haven't heard of anybody but this Mexico Bariatric surgical group doing that test....maybe it happens at other places but it didn't happen for me. Leaks I am told show up very quickly and I am also told that one would know it if they had a leak so I am not sure why this test is done. It may be a good thing but it seems unnecessary and burdensome to me.........now that I think about it I am pretty sure my surgical report said that they checked for a leak during my original DS procedure by filling the stomach with fluid after making the sleeve and anastamosi.

I am also sorry to hear about the tape allergy. Why were your eyes taped shut? I would have also thought that if you had a known latex allergy that they would have been cautious with the tape as well.

Hang in there. It will get better!

 

[Clematis]

I think it's standard procedure during a long surgery to keep eyes from opening and drying out.

They do 3 leak tests: one in surgery, blue dye drink 2 days later to see if it shows up in drain and the final barium to check for leaks and strictures. They're not really providing continuing care so best to cover all the bases while they can

I just had the barium test. He poured a friggin' Big Gulp of it and I thought no way. But I only had to drink maybe 2 tablespoons. Not so bad. He made me watch to show me that when I felt a cramp I needed to burp. I also got PPI injection

 

[DSRIGGS]

I think it's standard procedure during a long surgery to keep eyes from opening and drying out.

They do 3 leak tests: one in surgery, blue dye drink 2 days later to see if it shows up in drain and the final barium to check for leaks and strictures. They're not really providing continuing care so best to cover all the bases while they can

I just had the barium test. He poured a friggin' Big Gulp of it and I thought no way. But I only had to drink maybe 2 tablespoons. Not so bad. He made me watch to show me that when I felt a cramp I needed to burp. I also got PPI injection

Good on the swallow part.

One thing I will say good about Dr Marshall is that he made all of his DS patients go on Omeprazole after surgery when getting home and it was automatic injection in the hospital. Keep an eye on that cramp and GERD. Better safe than sorry.

As far as continuing care, as many have said previously most Surgeon's offices aren't very good at that part anyway so finding a good PCP for labs and such is very important and if there is a surgical emergency that happened to arise for some unlikely reason, a good general surgeon will be able to take care of you.

 

[southernlady]

@DSRIGGS yes immediately after the stomach cramp I have a surge of heartburn. I'll talk to doc about it this morning

Hot water for tea - just the water without the tea - is marginally more manageable. I barely moisten my lips

I also had a reaction to the tape they used to close my eyes and hold the trach. I look like I've got the mark of Zorro. The bloody burned slashes across my cheeks and under my eyes are now just scabbing. I'm glad I got a hotel room with balcony over the bay tomorrow because I'm not very presentable.

Next up: barium. Quantos minutos bebir? I think that's how you say how the f--k am I supposed to drink this before Thursday?

OMG about the tape rash. I suspect they used normal tape. Some of us are very allergic to tape. I had a similar rash on my face after my first back surgery in 2006. My neurosurgeon ripped the anesthesiologist a new one as a result cause my paperwork read "allergic to tape".

 

[southernlady]

One thing I will say good about Dr Marshall is that he made all of his DS patients go on Omeprazole after surgery when getting home and it was automatic injection in the hospital. Keep an eye on that cramp and GERD. Better safe than sorry.

Good idea but I hope he is a bit more flexible. Omeprazole NEVER worked for me and I've known that since 1997.

 

[DSRIGGS]

OMG about the tape rash. I suspect they used normal tape. Some of us are very allergic to tape. I had a similar rash on my face after my first back surgery in 2006. My neurosurgeon ripped the anesthesiologist a new one as a result cause my paperwork read "allergic to tape".

Cameron has tape allergy clearly stated in his hospital record but we have to remind them every time he is in the ER or admitted. That is on of my pet peeves with many hospital/Doc offices. They ask your history 72 bazilliuon times and then always have it wrong or ignore it. Infuriates me.....that and the sadistic effing nurses who refuse to take 15 seconds to trim down the fur on my arm or chest (EKG Lead) and then go ape shit with over taping.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Good idea but I hope he is a bit more flexible. Omeprazole NEVER worked for me and I've known that since 1997.

He starts with Omeprazole because it helps prevent stomach ulcers but yeah, you can get that switched to any PPI or just buy over counter.

 

[southernlady]

Cameron has tape allergy clearly stated in his hospital record but we have to remind them every time he is in the ER or admitted. That is on of my pet peeves with many hospital/Doc offices. They ask your history 72 bazilliuon times and then always have it wrong or ignore it. Infuriates me.....that and the sadistic effing nurses who refuse to take 15 seconds to trim down the fur on my arm or chest (EKG Lead) and then go ape shit with over taping.

Dh has that issue. The fur covering, LOL.

I am not surprised since I spent YEARS explaining to hospital staff that a DEXTROSE solution is NOT a good idea for a diabetic. I was going in for surgery one time, the nurse was getting ready to hook me up AFTER testing my blood sugar cause my file mentioned diabetes and I asked if it was saline or dextrose...she gulped, disappeared and came back with the saline!

 

[windyridge4mom]

I had the same issues you did! Infiltrated IV and a tape allergy to just one kind of the tape. Luckily it was confined to my stomach and not my face. I'm 2 weeks out and the first 5 days were rough. Lots of self pity and regrets. Now I'm feeling much better and am on the mend so know that everyone is rooting for you and it will get better!

 

[Larra]

@DSRIGGS the leak test is actually very important as leaks sometimes DON'T show up right away. So while it's great, and I hope routine, to check for a leak during surgery, many DS surgeons also routinely check for them post-op as well. My surgeon certainly did, and I barely got down a couple spoonfuls of barium, if that, but it was enough. I didn't have a drain, and hence no blue dye test.
Sometimes a leak will show up days later, so even the leak test 1-2 days post-op isn't foolproof, but the further out you are, the less chance of a leak making an appearance.
And the tape allergy - I can relate to that one for sure. I have to remind every doctor, nurse and lab tech not to use paper tape. And the lab techs are so programed to put on that paper tape as soon as they finish that they still try to do it. I'm ok with all the tapes you aren't supposed to use, just not paper tape.

 

[BebeZed]

Speaking of leak tests...

Dr. Esquerra asked that I have an upper GI at 3 months to make sure everything is still in good working order. Is this overkill or do you think it's a good idea? This would be the only time that test would be done unless there was a problem.

TBH, I'm thinking about skipping it (I'm doing SO well!) and just getting the labs done...