I was asked if my 2nd fundoplication was successful and if the risks were discussed beforehand...risks?..... no one could have predicted what would happen. I will say that when I walked into that hospital, every condition necessary to insure that my surgery would fail, was present. And overnight, fail it did, before I was discharged the following day.
This experience taught me to NEVER agree to an elective, major surgical procedure on a late Friday afternoon when an overnight stay may become necessary. The hospital will be short-staffed for the weekend, and the surgical team may lose a measure of concentration because of plans they may have for the evening/weekend.
After surgery I woke up in my hospital room feeling very unwell and it only got worse. I later learned that I had hemorrhaged quite a bit during surgery. The inside of my mouth was all scratched up, especially my gums, and really hurt. Never found out why... did I die, or something? Oh, by the way, it is NOT ok for a post-op patient to wait 2-3 hours for pain meds simply because of short-staffing. I was urged to drink as much water as possible throughout the night, but could not urinate. All night... more drinking...and still couldn't squeeze out a single drop. My bladder was about to burst. I pleaded for a Foley Catheter that never came. More drinking, lots of pain, pushing my IV pole many trips to the bathroom, STRAINING my abdominal muscles with everything I had until I felt something inside me suddenly tear-the surgery had ruptured. Only then did I get that Foley Catheter (a bit too late) and what eventually came out of my urethra were long strings of blood clots. I could not urinate because catheter placement and/or removal had torn tissue and the subsequent bleed had clotted and blocked urine flow.
Straining to urinate was the worst thing anyone could have done after this type of surgery, yet they left me no choice. Shame on whoever rough-handled that catheter placement and/or removal during or immediately post-op; it should have been left in place! And shame on their mess of a system too!
When this 2nd Nissen failed I started to aspirate into my trachea at night because there is no gag reflex to protect that delicate tissue and the lungs from pneumonia. Oh, and to have a urinary tract that functions as well as it used to would be lovely.
I was asked about the success of my 2nd Nissen procedure. And there you have it. Be careful what you ask for!
ps: To the doctor who operated on me
and left immediately without so
much as waving goodbye: May you
have 5-star indigestion at that 1-star
diner!