My post-op nightmare.

[soccergirl88 56]

This isn't meant to scare anyone but here goes my story. I'm 19 days post op and since day 1 I have struggled to liquids. 1 bottle of Isopure and 8 ounces of Water was all I could drink in a day. As the days went by, it got harder and harder for me. I had the sensation of suffocating and drowning at the same time. At my 10 day post op appointment my surgeon said it was normal to struggle with drinking liquids and to focus on staying hydrated. This past weekend I was feeling so sluggish and out of it that I spent the entire time sleeping. So by Monday I couldn't take it anymore, I could barely finish a 12 oz bottle of water in a day and my anxiety kicked in big time so I called my surgeon and left a message. He called me the next day and I told him all I had been going through, he said it wasn't normal and so I had to get something similar to the leak test done the next day. I had the test this morning and it turned out the fluids I drink get stuck in my esophagus and take forever to go down. I went to my surgeon right after and he told me there was a narrowing where my esophagus meets the stomach(lucky me) and the solution would be to stretch out that area. So he sends me immediately to the GI specialist and the first thing she notices is that I'm extremely dehydrated, it was so bad they couldn't find the veins to stick the IV in that they had no choice but to use the veins in my inner wrist(very very painful). While I was knocked out, the GI doctor informed my dad that it looked like my esophagus was a bit bent(still trying to figure how that's possible) and due to my surgery having been recent, she did not feel comfortable stretching out the narrow area. Instead she has prescribed me some medication that's supposed to help. So the moral of the story is if you're recently post op and can't drink much, call your surgeon or go to the ER...it could be nothing or it could be something. If anyone has had a similar experience, I would love to hear about it

[No game 14,436]

I think that's called a "stricture"

I would do a search on it here. a lot if people have had it

Good luck,

Laura

[Edit] yes stricture.. There are several threads about it, just avoid the "I stretched my pouch" thread ( nothing good there)

[tigerbelle 328]

hope your issue is resolved soon...prayers your way

[soccergirl88 56]

Thanks Laura-ven...I'll look into it! And thanks tigerbelle :-) I hope I can put this behind me soon.

[DebLW 7]

I don't have any practical advice or knowledge to share, but I'm SOOOOO sorry that this is happening to you. I hope that it can be quickly resolved. I shudder to think about what could have happened to you had you not been persistent in being seen...you must have been nearing life-threatening stages of dehydration.

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers,

Deb

[mwayland 3]

Get well soon! Sending lots of prayers!

[soccergirl88 56]

I don't have any practical advice or knowledge to share' date=' but I'm SOOOOO sorry that this is happening to you. I hope that it can be quickly resolved. I shudder to think about what could have happened to you had you not been persistent in being seen...you must have been nearing life-threatening stages of dehydration. <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers,

Deb[/quote']

Thank you Deb! :-) its been a nightmare but also a lesson to myself that I should stop trying to be tough and get help ASAP.

[soccergirl88 56]

Get well soon! Sending lots of prayers!

Thank you! It's much appreciated.!

[Shergirl 18]

I actually have been experiencing the same thing.Nothing will go down without a lot of pain and then it just sits and seems to slowly trickle into my sleeve .I have tried warm Water etc but it takes a lot to get anything in.Finally today, I was able to sip an entire orange mango smoothie and get it to go down . It took 4 hours but I have not been able to get over a few tablespoons of Soup or Protein Shakes down. That was a good sign but I am keeping my eye on this.

[soccergirl88 56]

I actually have been experiencing the same thing.Nothing will go down without a lot of pain and then it just sits and seems to slowly trickle into my sleeve .I have tried warm Water etc but it takes a lot to get anything in.Finally today' date=' I was able to sip an entire orange mango smoothie and get it to go down . It took 4 hours but I have not been able to get over a few tablespoons of Soup or Protein shakes down. That was a good sign but I am keeping my eye on this.[/quote']

I'm so sorry you're going through this! You should definitely call your surgeon, don't let this go on for too long. How long ago did you have your surgery?

[vols fan 60]

This isn't meant to scare anyone but here goes my story. I'm 19 days post op and since day 1 I have struggled to liquids. 1 bottle of Isopure and 8 ounces of Water was all I could drink in a day. As the days went by' date=' it got harder and harder for me. I had the sensation of suffocating and drowning at the same time. At my 10 day post op appointment my surgeon said it was normal to struggle with drinking liquids and to focus on staying hydrated. This past weekend I was feeling so sluggish and out of it that I spent the entire time sleeping. So by Monday I couldn't take it anymore, I could barely finish a 12 oz bottle of Water in a day and my anxiety kicked in big time so I called my surgeon and left a message. He called me the next day and I told him all I had been going through, he said it wasn't normal and so I had to get something similar to the leak test done the next day. I had the test this morning and it turned out the fluids I drink get stuck in my esophagus and take forever to go down. I went to my surgeon right after and he told me there was a narrowing where my esophagus meets the stomach(lucky me) and the solution would be to stretch out that area. So he sends me immediately to the GI specialist and the first thing she notices is that I'm extremely dehydrated, it was so bad they couldn't find the veins to stick the IV in that they had no choice but to use the veins in my inner wrist(very very painful). While I was knocked out, the GI doctor informed my dad that it looked like my esophagus was a bit bent(still trying to figure how that's possible) and due to my surgery having been recent, she did not feel comfortable stretching out the narrow area. Instead she has prescribed me some medication that's supposed to help. So the moral of the story is if you're recently post op and can't drink much, call your surgeon or go to the ER...it could be nothing or it could be something. If anyone has had a similar experience, I would love to hear about it[/quote']

I'm so glad you shared this info cause I had the surgery on Monday and I can't get a lot of liquids down and when I do I throw it up it has me worried I'm going to call dr office in the morning and I hope you feel better soon!

[soccergirl88 56]

I'm so glad you shared this info cause I had the surgery on Monday and I can't get a lot of liquids down and when I do I throw it up it has me worried I'm going to call dr office in the morning and I hope you feel better soon!

Thank you very much! I'm sorry to hear that, I hope it's nothing serious. Better to be safe than sorry.

[NurseGrace 509]

So sorry to here this, and yes, not everyone's esophagus is 100% straight like they look in the charts on the walls. I also have this problem - fun fact, its nearly impossible for me to burp because of it. I burp maybe twice a year? It blows my mind when I do because its such a rare thing for me.

My office allows for us to come in for IV fluids at any time if we think we need them immediately post op. All we have to do is call and tell them whats going on and come in and they will give us a unit or two in the office. I wish that was more common, people get WAY too sick before they deal with this problem, and everything feels worse when you are dehydrated.

[jcsleeved2013 40]

I had the same problem, still have some if it, but it seems to be getting better as time goes on. I am 5 weeks post op and it seems like it is opening up more but like I described it to my family it feels like one of those hour glass timers with the liquid or food slowly making its way down. It is very uncomfortable, but it definitely has gotten better for me. I hope things get better for you, I know how hard it is and how uncomfortable it is, it is no fun!

[soccergirl88 56]

I had the same problem' date=' still have some if it, but it seems to be getting better as time goes on. I am 5 weeks post op and it seems like it is opening up more but like I described it to my family it feels like one of those hour glass timers with the liquid or food slowly making its way down. It is very uncomfortable, but it definitely has gotten better for me. I hope things get better for you, I know how hard it is and how uncomfortable it is, it is no fun![/quote']

Thank you! It makes me feel a little at ease knowing it will get better. Were you given any medication for the stricture? I'm curious to know what your surgeon did to help, if you don't mind me asking.