Thursday, March 17, 2011
Heller Myotomy after one month
I had a followup x-ray and Dr. visit yesterday. The x-ray looked good and the incisions look good. I'm sleeping flat and I'm not experiencing reflux and the doc says I probably would have by now if that were going to be a problem. I'm eating whatever I want with no problems. I can even swallow soft bread with peanut butter. For the last couple years, attempting that would have meant a trip to the hospital. The only thing I can't do is chug a tall glass of cold water. The cold makes my throat clench down. No biggie, I've grown accustom to drinking warm or hot water (although requesting hot water at a restaurant still produces a surprising amount of confusion for some restaurant staff). I went for a run afterward, for the first time since before surgery. I only ran 1.5 miles but it's a start.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
My Heller Myotomy experience:
Friday, February 11, Surgery day. I spent a while before surgery talking to 3 members of the hospital's ostomy group, talking about how to handle my k-pouch ileostomy during the anesthesia. They all remarked that even among the ostomy group they had not actually seen and worked with a k-pouch before. I described what had been done following the k-pouch surgery: leave the catheter in and put a bag over it. They agreed but it took a while to figure how to anchor the catheter so it wouldn't just slip out. We put a safety pin in, perpendicular to the catheter and put several sticky strips over the safety pin then slapped an ostomy bag on the whole thing and it was on to surgery...several hours later I awoke and was remarkably non-groggy, just tired. I kept falling back asleep and each time I woke up I felt lucid. General anesthesia sure has improved in the last 25 years. By midnight I was wide awake, sitting up, reading magazines (I fortunately had set aside unread a few MOJO and Rolling Stones for the occasion) and discovering the Free Zone program on WICR. Not a bad way to end the day.
Saturday: Clear liquid diet and pretty low energy. After doing well with liquids they removed the stomach drainage tube running up my nose and removed the urine catheter. With those gone, feeling a bit more mobile, we removed the ostomy catheter and bag and went back to standard k-pouch maintenance.
Sunday: Switched from Clear liquids to the "Mechanical Soft Diet" which, after weeks of blending my foods, seemed like a pretty full diet to me, including chicken marsala, meat loaf and potatoes. When my blood sugar dipped before lunch arrive the nurse gave me peanut butter and crackers. For the last two years, peanut butter would have led to my throat being blocked. This time it presented no problems. I'm feeling pretty good about the success of the surgery.
Monday: They remove the tube draining fluid from my chest and I'm free to go. Except for the pain in my side and back from the two incisions and one drainage site, I have no discomfort. It surprised me that I had no discomfort in my throat and chest. I spent the evening with friends, taking it easy and eating a chicken/veggie stir fry.
Tuesday: Walked a little under 2 miles. Got some creamy chicken etouffee carry out from Yats. Yum.
Wednesday: Walked 2 miles. Got some Greek gyros salad.
Thursday: Walked 4 miles. Shrimp Chimichanga, re-fried beans, etc... Been looking forward to this dish for a while. No problem with those re-fried beans this time.
Friday: Walked 6 miles. Enjoyed my favorite cheese burger at my favorite bar, The Red Key.
Saturday: Spent 4 hours at the Children's Museum followed by some Pizza Hut pizza. So basically I'm eating a bunch of stuff that would have gotten stuck and perhaps blocked my throat for hours or days if I had had it any time during the last two years. No problems at all. And I can chug a glass of water. I hadn't been able to do that in years since even water would get backed up in my throat. So I'm pretty thrilled with the success of the surgery. Hindsight being 20/20 I can say now I would have had it months earlier if I had known the results would be like this (and if I had known the botox shots would offer such limited relief). So the surgeon says this will offer maybe 15, 20 years or more relief. I look forward to that.
Friday, February 11, Surgery day. I spent a while before surgery talking to 3 members of the hospital's ostomy group, talking about how to handle my k-pouch ileostomy during the anesthesia. They all remarked that even among the ostomy group they had not actually seen and worked with a k-pouch before. I described what had been done following the k-pouch surgery: leave the catheter in and put a bag over it. They agreed but it took a while to figure how to anchor the catheter so it wouldn't just slip out. We put a safety pin in, perpendicular to the catheter and put several sticky strips over the safety pin then slapped an ostomy bag on the whole thing and it was on to surgery...several hours later I awoke and was remarkably non-groggy, just tired. I kept falling back asleep and each time I woke up I felt lucid. General anesthesia sure has improved in the last 25 years. By midnight I was wide awake, sitting up, reading magazines (I fortunately had set aside unread a few MOJO and Rolling Stones for the occasion) and discovering the Free Zone program on WICR. Not a bad way to end the day.
Saturday: Clear liquid diet and pretty low energy. After doing well with liquids they removed the stomach drainage tube running up my nose and removed the urine catheter. With those gone, feeling a bit more mobile, we removed the ostomy catheter and bag and went back to standard k-pouch maintenance.
Sunday: Switched from Clear liquids to the "Mechanical Soft Diet" which, after weeks of blending my foods, seemed like a pretty full diet to me, including chicken marsala, meat loaf and potatoes. When my blood sugar dipped before lunch arrive the nurse gave me peanut butter and crackers. For the last two years, peanut butter would have led to my throat being blocked. This time it presented no problems. I'm feeling pretty good about the success of the surgery.
Monday: They remove the tube draining fluid from my chest and I'm free to go. Except for the pain in my side and back from the two incisions and one drainage site, I have no discomfort. It surprised me that I had no discomfort in my throat and chest. I spent the evening with friends, taking it easy and eating a chicken/veggie stir fry.
Tuesday: Walked a little under 2 miles. Got some creamy chicken etouffee carry out from Yats. Yum.
Wednesday: Walked 2 miles. Got some Greek gyros salad.
Thursday: Walked 4 miles. Shrimp Chimichanga, re-fried beans, etc... Been looking forward to this dish for a while. No problem with those re-fried beans this time.
Friday: Walked 6 miles. Enjoyed my favorite cheese burger at my favorite bar, The Red Key.
Saturday: Spent 4 hours at the Children's Museum followed by some Pizza Hut pizza. So basically I'm eating a bunch of stuff that would have gotten stuck and perhaps blocked my throat for hours or days if I had had it any time during the last two years. No problems at all. And I can chug a glass of water. I hadn't been able to do that in years since even water would get backed up in my throat. So I'm pretty thrilled with the success of the surgery. Hindsight being 20/20 I can say now I would have had it months earlier if I had known the results would be like this (and if I had known the botox shots would offer such limited relief). So the surgeon says this will offer maybe 15, 20 years or more relief. I look forward to that.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
I think that last botox shot is wearing off now after only a month and a half. Food has been getting stuck in my throat more lately but so far it has passed within 15 or 20 minutes. Except when I had some re-fried beans recently. That took all night to finally clear. With surgery three weeks away I just need to be more careful eating. I've already been drinking more hot water with each meal. I should probably start blending stuff again just to be safe.
Friday, January 7, 2011
I've scheduled the Heller Myotomy for early February. I'm not thrilled but I think it's my best option at this point, given my fondness for solid food.
I talked to the surgeon. He says 80% of patients feel their situation is improved and that the benefit could last upwards of 15 or 20 years. The surgery itself should be no big deal, a few days in the hospital, some reduced activity for a while. I just hope the results offer some years of relief.
I talked to the surgeon. He says 80% of patients feel their situation is improved and that the benefit could last upwards of 15 or 20 years. The surgery itself should be no big deal, a few days in the hospital, some reduced activity for a while. I just hope the results offer some years of relief.
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