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Lumpy, Dumpy & Grumpy
Hello, can we talk? I have multinodule goiter on my thyroid and suffer from Laryngospasms & dysphagia. I have had 6 abdominal surgeries... removal of gallbladder, removal of a large Mesenteric cyst with followup incisional hernia where Marlex mesh was implanted in 2000. Since that implant... GERD and a hiatal hernia led to a nissen fundoplication 2013, which slipped within a year. Constant weight loss without trying. Lost 100 pounds somewhere. Weighed 210 in 1999, now I am 110. Hah! Constant stomach pain. When I reached the point of total despair, a friend helped find a new surgeon... he performed a toupet fundoplication, followed by another mesh implant surgery... and I haven't been right since. Each surgery has taken extra time due to the large amount of adhesions. Sick all the time, whether I eat or not. Surgeries took away ability to throw up, so what goes in only has one way out... within 1 to 3 hours. Horrific bathroom visits. I also have positional pains in the stomach area, as well as internal pain. I get sick if I don't eat... have passed out and hit my head twice now. I almost always get sick when I DO eat... and the list of foods to avoid has increased dramatically. I only have room for about a cup or two of food. I only drink water.
I quit my only job of 36 years to recover & revive, losing my health insurance. But I didn't worry... Because I THOUGHT I was fixed. My husband's job does not offer insurance and we cannot afford it on our own. Two and a half years later I am still in the same place... Misery Lane.
Afraid of food, afraid of what else is going on inside me, afraid of doctors... afraid I can't be fixed ever.
But my will to live keeps me fighting and looking for help again. I haven't seen a doctor for almost 3 years now. Many friends have referred me to Mayo. I know I just need to take this first step... but I am afraid. What if there is no help? Any advice would be appreciated. Has anyone else suffered from these fundoplications? Thank you!
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Hi @sickvick welcome to Connect! Please note that I moved your message to the Digestive Health group (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/digestive-gastrointestinal-problems/) so you can connect with others members talking about similar issues as you describe. I recommend following the group and browsing through the discussions. Here are a few to get you started:
- Failed Nissen w/gastroparesis & possible MALs https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/failed-nissen-wgastroparesis-possible-mals/
- Reversal of a fundoplication https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/reversal-of-a-fundoplication/
- Linx After Fundoplication? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/linx-after-fundoplication/
After all you've been through, I can imagine that you're afraid of food and of doctors. I'm glad you're friends are recommending you look into Mayo Clinic. Our experts work together in multi-disciplinary teams to find answers together with you. Here are the contact numbers for when you're ready to make the call to inquire: https://www.mayoclinic.org/appointments
SickVick, You mentioned how the list of foods you need to avoid has increased dramatically, what foods are you able to eat?
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1 ReactionHi, Ethan! Thanks for answwring and directing me to those discussions. Seems I am not alone. Thanks for the number to Mayo, too. I have been researching it all day. The obvious bad foods have been eliminated for years... pizza, bologna, anything spicy or greasy, bananas, apples, bacon. It is so mysterious. A small cup of cereal and milk makes me really ill one day, but not the next (when I dare try it again). Chinese food is killer. I eat little things. Things I know I can swallow easily, since choking and things getting caught is an issue. Nilla wafers, puddings, crackers and cheese. Nibble in the morning, same for lunch, and usually eat half of what is on my plate, or some of it for dinner, which family refers to as bird food. Any overage causes immediate pain and bloating, with a violent followup in the bathroom. Instant salivating, sweating and wretching, putting pressure where it hurts, almost passing out. Sometimes it feels like poo is trying to come up my esophagus. I wobble and fall a lot. And I am so very weak. Most times I can't open store or car doors. And the pain when I bend over is bad. I have to lay down right away... to what seems as I am allowing things to go back into place. I have pain at the bottom of my heart daily... feels like heart pain... but passes when I lay down. I think that may be adhesions tugging at my heart. They have been removed before. So much more. I feel like I am whining... so sorry! I also have glaucoma and arthritis in both thumb joints. Scarletina at age 5... quarantined; excessive bleeding during tonsilectomy age 10; hytatitaform molar pregnancy age 29; gallstones almost gangrene; 5 lb. Mesenteric abdominal cyst; kidney stones. And now I am so thin that everything hurts. Even hugs hurt. Taking a bath hurts. Sit, stand, lay, squirm... that is me always trying to get comfort from the bone pain. I apologize again for rambling.
Hello @sickvick,
I'd like to add my welcome, and introduce you to a few Connect members. Please meet @ed_85 @carolynlivingjaks @kozlo52 @ed32 @deb1987 @myskye @katmandoo @pattitoo @gregoryd – I hope they can share their insights and experience with fundoplication and dysphagia.
I'm also tagging @19630831 @sita @thull @bradleymom1967 @ginpene05 to bring them into this conversation as the've shared their experiences with adhesions from surgery. You can view their posts in these discussions:
– Chronic small bowel obstruction from adhesions https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronic-small-bowel-obstruction-from-adhesions/
– SBO due to Adhesion https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sbo-due-to-adhesion/