Updates.. almost a year out! - ThinnerTimes

JenBear7 · 06-30-2008, 09:51 AM

Well, I guess it always takes a traumatic event in the life of my pouch to send me back to the boards searching.. then I realize just how much I miss you guys... then time gets away from me and I realize just how long its been since Ive been here...... Rinse.. Repeat.

I know a few of you know that I have been dealing with some pretty significant pain and bouts of vomitting for the better part of 7 months now... comes and goes.. lately, it had been sticking around a lot longer. I had a scope in January that showed "nothing" except an enlarged stoma. well.. my surgeon basically said.. "its not surgery related... try your primary doc". So I did. It took almost 5 months to get in to see my primary doc, then get referred to a gastroenterologist.. and then have ANOTHER scope *sigh*. It actually took the GI doc a LOT of convincing to get me to do the scope again... the first one hurt like a dickens.

Sooooooooo.. long story shortened: Last Tuesday I had my second scope. They found a "huge ulcer" (quoting the GI doc). It takes up over half of my pouch from the looks of the pics.. and I have named it (to give me something to swear at!). They did a biopsy to test for H. Pylori... and I swear they must have rubbed that puppy the wrong way while they were in there. They upped my prilosec from 20mg once a day to 20mg twice a day, and left my carafate at 1gram twice a day.

I made it through Wednesday (at a job I had had less than 2 weeks at that point!)... and then Wed night/Thurs AM I woke up throwing up.. literally. I dont think Ive ever been sick in my sleep before. The pain level was excrutiating. I called into work, and sat home hoping the pain would ease up.. No better on Friday, so I went into the ER. 3 shots of morphine, and a "GI Cocktail" later, they sent me home happy. They also gave me nexium, zofran, and pepcid in my IV (they gave me a full bag of fluid in 30 minutes, then slowed the next bag down...I was a tad dehydrated)

That GI cocktail was Da bomb! Had a numbing agent in it.. if they had given me that, I wouldnt have needed any morphine! They had my pathology reports, and there was no H. Pylori (good/bad... hard to tell). They said this is directly caused from my surgery, and it will probably take a good amount of time to heal. They have now changed my meds to Nexium: 40mg twice a day, and Pepcid (hmm.. cant remember the dose) at bedtime.

So far so good. I'm almost afraid the pain will come back at any minute, but I have felt human since Saturday afternoon. What sucks is, the big ulcer causers are: Nicotine, alcohol, caffeine. I dont smoke anymore, I dont drink (have like 2 or 3 times since surgery), and I can count on one hand how many caffeinated beverages Ive had since surgery.

The nurse that was there when they scoped me told me to carry something to eat with me, and if my tummy starts feeling "funny" to throw it some food... keeps the acids busy so to speak...

QUESTION: HOW do we have acid problems? I cant get a good answer on this. Didnt they cut away the part of our stomach that produces acid? I know I have acid problems... because if I dont take my prilosec, I feel it.. but I cant for the life of me figure it out (which is why I came to the boards.. to do a search for ulcers.. figure out whats good to eat - gotta love wheat ritz crackers!)

A good doc fact: I no longer have to see a kidney specialist! My nephrologist cleared me for a year, and if I come up clean next year, he will release me from his care! WHOOOOOOOOOA... how cool is that? I have "minimal" protein issues with my kidneys, but compared to what they used to be, they are basically cured! Gotta love the RNY!

On a brighter note.. I got a promotion at work, started June 16th. I fought for about 6 months to get that too! Woot.. so far I'm loving it. I am driving farther, but the money is better.. (however the responsibility is WAY bigger).

One of these days I will post my iron levels. My doc says I'm not deficient, but when I googled the numbers, it came up low. *shrugs*

So... almost a year out.. 140 pounds down (98 since surgery). I want to lose another 2 pounds by July 9th, so I can say I lost 100 in the first year after surgery! If I didnt lose another pound.. Id be happy.. I want to lose at least another 28 pounds.. but really.. I'm happy where I am at (and to be honest.. I never thought I would be happy with my weight until I hit goal.. its just a number).

And for the record: I am still glad I had the surgery... no matter how much pain I was in

Nyn · 06-30-2008, 10:37 AM

Hey JenBear! Good to see you around here again. You sound so very happy and positive

Which is kind of funny considering that most of your post was about a painful time with your pouch. I guess that goes to show that so many other good things are happening that even the bad can't keep you down. That's awesome!! And a big CONGRATS on your promotion and great weight loss. You should be really proud!!

Jeanie · 06-30-2008, 10:44 AM

Wow Jen you have been thru so much!

I'm glad that they have figured out the prob and I hope that they can fix it with the meds. Stay strong, and keep checking in with us.
Oh yeah congrats on the new job!

AriesGirl78 · 07-04-2008, 10:42 PM

Jen, Good to see you posting again.. . I thought you forgot about TT! So sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope the docs have it under control. I can not imagine being in pain like that. I am a chicken when it comes to pain! Congrats on the job promotion! Good to see you around... Your posts have been missed!

Phoenixfire · 07-05-2008, 01:22 AM

Jen, maybe you want to post a separate thread about issues related to ulcers and your question about our plumbing being different and that there "shouldn't be" an issue with stomach acid.

I think that critical question may get lost in your post, good to hear of your success by the way, and I do believe there are others who can answer some questions about ulcers. I've read some things from others here about this issue.

Just a thought that might be helpful for you in finding some information and answers about this ulcer issue.

Keep up the great work, I know how great you must be feeling with the weight loss!

Vim&Vigour · 07-05-2008, 02:29 AM

Hej Jen!
Good to see you back even though you have a distressing post!
Glad that you are getting your ulcer and complications sorted and that you still remember us!
Best wishes ahead and hope to see you around more frequently - otherwise we know you think of TT when you can!
Good luck on your job development - sounds like a clever move!
Cheers,
Vim

MiladyB · 07-05-2008, 08:34 PM

Jen, I'm glad they were able to finally pinpoint what was going on with you. Ulcers can cause such havoc to our systems.

In regards to ulcers after surgery. Yes, the things you mentioned can most certianly cause an ulcer. But the simple fact is that after surgery we are more prone to them and sometimes they just happen. Before surgery we had several major vessels that brought blood to our stomachs. After surgery the amount of major blood vessels has decreased significantly. Now there is only 1 or 2 major vessels. So, basicly less blood flow to our pouch, which makes it more prone to ulcers.

In regards to the gastric juices in our pouches? Well, you are right. The area of our body that produces those juices is still connected to the remnant stomach. So, we don't have those gastric juices. I actually just asked my surgeon about this the other day. He explained that if you really are getting gastric juices in your pouch then the only way that could be happening is if you had a fistula from your remnant stomach to your new pouch. A fistula is kind of a track from your old stomach to your new pouch, so that the gastric juices are kind of back flowing into your new pouch. That could also cause an ulcer.

When you were throwing up, were you throwing up anything that looked like gastric juices or was it just the phlegm and foamies that we always have?

You are probably feeling relief from the meds just because they are putting a protective coating on your pouch lining plus over that ulcer. It isn't really gastric juices that are irritating it, its the presence of that ulcer.

Hope that makes some kind of sense.