Bump In the Road

 My hiatal hernia surgery went well. There had been the possibility of using biodegradable mesh to fix the hernia, but the doctor decided that was not necessary. I won't hear the surgeon's report until February 14th at my follow-up appointment. My husband used his phone to record the oral report given to him at the hospital which is how I know about no mesh. 

However, I saw the surgeon yesterday for a "rescue" procedure done in the hospital. 

I am still in the honeymoon phase (about 7-10 days post-op) before dysphagia (trouble swallowing) develops in most people. My problem started about 12:30 p.m. Monday mid-way through lunch.

 Some of the stuff that you need to avoid eating is counter-intuitive to how you would take care of yourself in other illnesses or post-surgery. Noodles do not go down well so chicken noodle soup not a good idea. Actually, though cream soups are acceptable, the idea is to eat something that exercises the LINX device, makes it open and close frequently, sort of like "physical therapy". Thin substances like soup don't make that happen. I have an hourly swallow to exercise the ring which normally is something like a tablespoon of yogurt, pudding, applesauce, crackers BUT not bread. Bread gets gummy and causes problems.

Things were going well until I decided to make a cheese omelet for lunch Monday. I should not have used the asiago cheese but stuck to some shredded Colby-Jack I had in the refrigerator. The cheese became kind of rubbery between the two layers of the omelet. I ate about half of the omelet, and stopped because I could tell it felt like the bites were not moving through the way they should even though I was pausing for 30-60 seconds between bites.

All day after that everything I swallowed regurgitated. I phoned the doctor's office Tuesday morning. They suggested I try peppermint altoids as peppermint relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter muscle. They suggested I stop eating for 2-3 hours. However, after 3 bites of mashed potatoes at lunch, back up it came. At 1:10 p.m. they called to check on me, and upon hearing of no progress, they told me to head for the hospital. When the doctor was done with office visits around 4:15 he would come and do a scope.

Since I had eaten recently (or tried to anyway), I had to have general anesthesia to prevent aspiration into the lungs; that lengthened the post-op recovery. We got home around 8 p.m. totally exhausted.

The doctor was able to push the bolus (the food clog) at the lower esophagus into the stomach and unblock the opening to the stomach. Some other stuff higher up in the esophagus he pulled out. I ate mashed potatoes last night and oatmeal this morning fine. Things appear to be working again. I have to take a course of steroid pills because besides the inflammation from the original surgery I now have some swelling and inflammation from his poking around. I will be on a mostly mushy diet for about 5 days. I do have a sore throat, but still no trouble swallowing. 

People handle different foods in their own way. Obviously, asiago cheese is not for me. He also suggested keeping away from scrambled eggs and omelets for now. Eggs are such a good source of protein I don't really want to eliminate them. Fried eggs are on the avoidance list, too. I think Sunday I will try some poached eggs with a soft yolk.

The journey continues and eating will be different for a few more months. Pray that I don't have any more blockage problems. One major bump in the road is enough.