LINX Surgery

In 2012 I had an EGD. This is a scoping and viewing with a camera of the esophagus, stomach, and upper small intestine. One of my grandmothers had problems with regurgitation and reflux and eventually died of cancer though I don't know if of the esophagus or the stomach. There were no strictures (narrowing), abnormal lining, or tumors found in my esophagus. I had occasional heartburn and infrequently it felt like something was stuck in my esophagus as I ate, and I had two incidents of regurgitation (one in a fast food restaurant) that year. I did not have manometry, a test to see if there were swallowing/motility problems because I had insurance through the Indiana risk pool which provided minimal coverage with a huge deductible. Manometry is expensive.

Those symptoms have been getting worse the past few years, and in the past 15 months I have had regurgitation at least weekly. When I had blood in my stool last October, I was referred for an EGD plus the surgeon wanted to do a colonoscopy as well. That finally happened November 22nd. I was told I had a hiatal hernia. You may remember that on the day of those scopings I ended up in the ER that evening with fever and shivering so bad my whole body shook. After a CT scan, I was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia and admitted to the hospital for several days. 

It is interesting how God can use human mistakes to direct us down a new path. The surgeon who did the EGD made an appointment for me to see the local gastroenterologist. I thought this was odd as I had not yet had the follow-up visit with the surgeon, but I went.

 The visit did not go well. According to the GI doctor's nurse, the reason for the visit was listed as a follow-up to a barium enema which I knew I had not had. I showed her my paperwork from my surgery, and I told her I had questions about my hiatal hernia.

 When the doctor came into the room, he said I guess this is the appointment that wasn't supposed to happen. I said I didn't know the intent of the scheduled visit since I didn't make the appointment, but I had questions about my hiatal hernia. He said to me, "I can't help you; I don't know anything about you." I stood up and put my coat on and had my hand on the doorknob when he said, "Wait, sit down, I will answer your questions." He is at least in his 60's and it turns out he does not like having to look at the digital records for a patient, he prefers paper. I offered him my paper records, but he said he needed to see all the stuff in my records. Somehow I mentioned something about having had medical procedures/surgeries in Dallas. His response was why did you ever leave there and come to a place like this with gray cold days. (This was in December). There were several other awkward moments and comments, but in the end he provided me with some key information. I did not like what I had read about Nissen fundoplication, a surgery to fix a sliding hernia. He told me about LINX surgery. At the end of the visit, he said, "You know I think there was a mix-up, that you were not the patient that was to see me." When I asked if there was paperwork to check out, he said, "You just walk out of here like you own the place, and nobody will stop you."

When I saw the surgeon a week later, I told him about this odd visit. He excused himself and went to see his scheduler. Yes, there had been a mix-up. I was not the patient intended to see the GI doctor. He wrote off my co-pay for that day as a way to apologize. The GI had told me I needed hernia surgery. So did this surgeon. I asked about LINX. He had heard of it, but nobody in their practice was trained to do it. He referred me to a doctor in Fort Wayne who did LINX. If I had never had the strange visit, I would not have known about LINX, as the surgeon was surprised I brought it up.

That brings us to today's visit with Dr. Nearing, the Fort Wayne doctor. After looking at the barium swallow I had in Warsaw in December and then the results of the tests/procedures he did on January 5th, we decided to have the LINX surgery. It is scheduled for February 2nd. Suddenly things are moving fast. 

Since this is a long post, I won't go into the recovery from LINX which has a multi-page list of food to avoid. I have to eat certain kinds of things once an hour post-surgery (except while sleeping) for 2 months. It is going to be tough, but I think worth it. 

Aspiration Pneumonia

 The week of November 20th was not a good one for me. I did the bowel prep for my colonoscopy on the 21st. My scheduled 11:45 a.m. procedures didn't take place until 1 p.m. on the 22nd. This was done at the local hospital in the surgical center. When I woke up from the conscious sedation, I was coughing a lot. Once that settled down, my husband drove me home. My throat was a little sore from the upper GI scoping (EGD). I drank a cup of decaffeinated tea to soothe my throat and ate an English muffin. I figured we would have a light early supper, maybe just soup for me, around 5 p.m.

Around 4:30, a wall of fatigue hit me, and I felt cold. I crawled under my electric blanket trying to get warm. I cranked it up again and again, until I was shivering so hard my whole body was shaking. I felt really bad. 

My husband took me to the emergency room at the hospital where I had been earlier for my colonoscopy and EGD. We didn't have to wait even 10 minutes before being admitted and placed in a room. I had a fever, and they said my heart was racing. Lots of waiting for tests including a CT scan of my abdomen and chest. Several people came through and drew blood samples. 

Several hours later the nurse who had checked me over when I arrived, popped back in to announce that I had pneumonia. By 10:30 p.m. when I was wheeled to my hospital room, I was coughing again, and my chest hurt when I breathed in. 

I spent November 22nd (p.m.) to November 25th in the hospital. I tried to enjoy turkey breast, sweet potatoes, and green beans Thanksgiving evening, but I had little appetite. I had asked the food department to give me just small portions, but still didn't finish it. I think one of the antibiotics (flagyl) causes loss of appetite and makes food taste bad, as that has lingered even when home and taking it as oral medicine, not IVs.

When I was discharged, I found part of the diagnosis said suspected aspiration of food causing pneumonia. At my follow-up yesterday, the nurse practitioner called it aspiration pneumonia, and said yes it could have been caused by some of the secretions that were disturbed by the scoping entering my lungs. So I don't think it was food, but saliva or gastric juices. 

I had not spent time in a hospital since 2003. I knew it would be unrestful, but I was surprised by the constant churn of employees. Maybe it was more than usual because of the holiday. I soon learned that when I rang the call button, and the tech or nurse said they would be in my room soon, that meant at least 30 minutes and often several hours would go by. I became rather adept at unplugging the IV "cart" and dragging it with me to the toilet. 

It is ironic that my husband and I have been avoiding group activities and watching church service on-line to avoid COVID and the flu because I thought that I might have back surgery in November, to end up with pneumonia. It will be several months before scheduling back surgery is a possibility.

This beggar is not very happy with the "rations" filling my life, but I have to accept that this is what God wants. It is my portion for now.