Surgical Update...
Ok, here's the info on what's going on in my world.
Most people know that I had Gastric Bypass about 5 years ago. A lot of you know that I had 2 surgeries this summer 1 for abdominal adhesions and 1 the following week for a bowel obstruction caused from the first surgery. Well, here we go again!
A little background...
I have a history of abdominal adhesions (scar tissue in layman terms) that pre-date my gastric bypass. This summer was surgery #6 for that condition. It's something that can't be permanently fixed nor can it be predicted when it will flare up. Generally, the more you fiddle with it, the worse it gets. Each time you go in and remove scar tissue, or have abdominal surgery, you run the risk of creating or stimulating the formulation of more growth. I've gone 6 months with no problem and I've gone 10 years with no problem...you just never know.
So, Friday, Mandin and I went to Tennessee and we were at dinner with G & S. After dinner, I had severe pain in the left side of my abdomen that wouldn't go away. In fact it just kept getting worse... As a side note, I have a very high pain tolerance...natural childbirth is about a 6 on a 1-10 scale for me, when I broke my back, that was about an 8. It got to the point that I actually asked to go to the ER (another indication I was in severe pain - I hate ERs!). By the time we got there, I was pushing a 9 on the pain scale. I was crying in public, which is very, very rare for me. About an hour to an hour and a half later, I'm well past a 10, doubled over, crying out loud, and they finally have an IV in me and giving me morphine that barely takes the edge off the pain.
They did a cat scan and said nothing really showed up, except for a congenital anomally, which I know about...my small intestine is all one side of my abdomen, instead of looping back and forth...so they think it's my adhesions flaring up again. They give me pain meds, discharge me and tell me to follow up with my surgeon back home. I'm familiar with this routine - this will mean #7. Lysis of adhesions is the technical term for the procedure.
The next day the ER calls us and says the radiologist from the next shift re-read the cat scan and says I have a bowel obstruction. Which is certainly more urgent.
So, Mandin and I came home yesterday instead of today. I went to the surgeon today, and sure enough I have an obstruction - makes sense, especially when I've had not had the necessary bodily 'processing' occur since Wednesday. (How's that for a polite way to describe it?) So, I have pain, nausea, a distended abdomen, and just general not feeling good... As long as I'm not actively vomiting I can stay home until they can get me into the Operating Room. If I start vomiting, they'll move it to emergency surgery. Right now it's considered to be "asap". I should know tomorrow which day this week it'll be. We're hoping for Wednesday. I hate surviving on Percocet.
They are going to try to keep it as a laproscopic procedure, but there is a very real possibility that he'll have to do an incision from my sternum to my belly button and literally take all of my intestines out and rearrange them in such a way to prevent another obstruction. Obviously we don't want that as that'll be a much longer recovery and a higher risk for complication.
So, that's what's going on with me.
Bianca
Most people know that I had Gastric Bypass about 5 years ago. A lot of you know that I had 2 surgeries this summer 1 for abdominal adhesions and 1 the following week for a bowel obstruction caused from the first surgery. Well, here we go again!
A little background...
I have a history of abdominal adhesions (scar tissue in layman terms) that pre-date my gastric bypass. This summer was surgery #6 for that condition. It's something that can't be permanently fixed nor can it be predicted when it will flare up. Generally, the more you fiddle with it, the worse it gets. Each time you go in and remove scar tissue, or have abdominal surgery, you run the risk of creating or stimulating the formulation of more growth. I've gone 6 months with no problem and I've gone 10 years with no problem...you just never know.
So, Friday, Mandin and I went to Tennessee and we were at dinner with G & S. After dinner, I had severe pain in the left side of my abdomen that wouldn't go away. In fact it just kept getting worse... As a side note, I have a very high pain tolerance...natural childbirth is about a 6 on a 1-10 scale for me, when I broke my back, that was about an 8. It got to the point that I actually asked to go to the ER (another indication I was in severe pain - I hate ERs!). By the time we got there, I was pushing a 9 on the pain scale. I was crying in public, which is very, very rare for me. About an hour to an hour and a half later, I'm well past a 10, doubled over, crying out loud, and they finally have an IV in me and giving me morphine that barely takes the edge off the pain.
They did a cat scan and said nothing really showed up, except for a congenital anomally, which I know about...my small intestine is all one side of my abdomen, instead of looping back and forth...so they think it's my adhesions flaring up again. They give me pain meds, discharge me and tell me to follow up with my surgeon back home. I'm familiar with this routine - this will mean #7. Lysis of adhesions is the technical term for the procedure.
The next day the ER calls us and says the radiologist from the next shift re-read the cat scan and says I have a bowel obstruction. Which is certainly more urgent.
So, Mandin and I came home yesterday instead of today. I went to the surgeon today, and sure enough I have an obstruction - makes sense, especially when I've had not had the necessary bodily 'processing' occur since Wednesday. (How's that for a polite way to describe it?) So, I have pain, nausea, a distended abdomen, and just general not feeling good... As long as I'm not actively vomiting I can stay home until they can get me into the Operating Room. If I start vomiting, they'll move it to emergency surgery. Right now it's considered to be "asap". I should know tomorrow which day this week it'll be. We're hoping for Wednesday. I hate surviving on Percocet.
They are going to try to keep it as a laproscopic procedure, but there is a very real possibility that he'll have to do an incision from my sternum to my belly button and literally take all of my intestines out and rearrange them in such a way to prevent another obstruction. Obviously we don't want that as that'll be a much longer recovery and a higher risk for complication.
So, that's what's going on with me.
Bianca