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Replies to "Jaime, Hi. My name is Dorothy and I know exactly what it feels like to..."
Hi, my name is Dorothy and that was a response I sent to Jaime. Anyway I am also not diabetic and they said my gastroparesis was due to nerve damage. I had a pretty severe case as my stomach had quit emptuing entirely; so I was on homebound care for 4 months being fed intravenously. My insurance gave us the names of places we could deal with and one of them was Minnesota Gastroenterology(MNGI) in Mpls. They were a terrific help. They knew how to deal with people with GP and told me I was the perfect candidate for gastric pacemaker surgery. At that time the surgery was still considered experimental so we had to do a lot of pushing to get the insurance company to agree to pay for the surgery and all aftercare for llife. Apparently there is some kind of humanitarian clause that got me though. I wrote very specificletters to my insurance company detailing my condition and how it affected my life. I also had doctors submit letters. The surgeon Dr. Eric Johnson in Mpls performed the surgery at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Mpls in 2007. At that time Mayo Clinic was not doing that surgery. At that time he had done about 50 of these procedures. It has absolutely changed my life and I do not ever regret doing it. He put the pacemaker on the right side of my chest because others had complained of too much pain by having it in the abdomen. There are leads from the pacemaker that are sewn into the stomach thus making my stomach empty. I am able to eat normally and lead a normal life. I sometimes have some minor episodes but am able to control them with my nausea meds. The pacemakers run on battery and are supposed to last 5 years before battery change is needed. I would certaily look into the surgery to see if you think it will help you. If you have any other questions please ask. Good luck.
Jaime, where did you have stomach pacemaker surgery done? That is one option that has been suggested to me. I am not diabetic and no cause of Gastroparesis has been found in my case. The gastroenterologists tell me it is some "type" of Gastroparesis