Stomach surgery, pain and morphine

[Roomy81]

I’m looking for advise, someone who has been through the same thing, or someone who may be able to help me.

I have been ill for 14 years. It started one night after a night out I started being sick and ever since that night I haven’t been able to stop. They put a wrap at the top of my stomach to stop me being sick but I still heaved constantly. I lost everything. Then about 3/4 years ago they realised I had heaved my stomach up behind my heart, perforating my diaphragm. They fixed this, but I started to heave again. They decided to take the wrap out. Then I was ill with sickness and awful pressure of air in me constantly. Eventually they realised that the bottom of my stomach was rotting. They removed my stomach, leaving a quarter left. This was a year ago. I have lost 6st and 7lb, I’m a frail 7st 7lb. I can’t put any weight on. To add to this, I get severe pain in my lower adnominal when I need the loo. What little I can eat affects me severely. The pain is so bad I am taking 150ml of morphine each week to easy the pain. The latest consultant I have believes I have ptsd. I’m at a loss. I want my life back. I can’t gain weight. And the hospitals just aren’t helping me. Because I am ill all the time I can’t work and have no money for private care. Please someone help me.

[Mauser1905]

Roomy81

Good morning. It's very hard time you been through.

I recall when I used to take alcohol in my university days I used to have severe sickness and vomiting at al. That's now two decades back and never ever consumed alcohol. I am 6 months post IL oesophagectomy due to oesophaegal cancer.

Many of the members on this forum would have had two or three stage Oesophagectomy for treating cancer surgically. This surgery results in reduction in stomach by a quarter or half the size including almost half of the oesophaegus also removed. This results in weight loss (in varying magnitudes as everybody reacts differently) immediately after the surgery and majority of the time this weight loss may be permanent stature. It usually takes few months of years to stabilise on a certain weight. Off course there are exceptions to this weight loss, for example one of the forum members had been to weight watchers after the oesophagectomy. But these exceptions are rare.

Point being once the stomach size is reduced by half or 2/3 in your case, it's almost impossible to add extra weight just by eating normally. The body needs energy from the intake for running daily needs of the body and other activities one does daily. Your dietician and nurse specialist in GI should have discussed this with, if not please do try ask for referral from the GP.

Important fact is once these surgeries are carried out there is new life. There is never returning back to your pre-op normal life. Again there will be exceptions and some bold claims will require to be taken with pinch of salt. Accepting this new normal and coming to terms has helped me mentally stay strong and very positive about the life. Offcourse there will be bad days when it's painful to stay strong but that also passes.

Looks like the fixing of your chest cavity wall has resulted in blood deprivation to bottom of the stomach. The inflammation, pain and bloatedness were diagnosed before it became severe case of gangrenous necrosis of abdomen organs. This could have been fatal. We have had a fatality due to this as a complication of oesophagectomy in hospital where I was treated. I am very glad that necrosis was found out quickly and you are lucky to be alive in my view. Although this stomach removal is the price for the life, but again this could been the surgical complication from the perforation repair.

Please see if you can talk to any counsellors within the Maggie's centre or CLAN, Macmillan centres nearby you. If not already availed. Chances are you will be emotionally distressed for long time, continued morphine use in higher dosages may Not helpful to come out of the situation. If you ask me I would stop fighting against the post surgery symptoms and accept and adapt to new life. There is never going back.

If you attempt to eat more than what your stomach can accommodate by intending to increase weight you would induce dumping syndrome symptoms in variety of ways. Not everybody get a exact 100% of the dumping syndrome. Try reducing your food/meal quantity at a single time and increase the time of the day you have meals to 5 or 6 times.

Have a visit to the oesophaegal patients association downloads section where you will find very good and informative leaflets which will definitely be helpful to you.

opa.org.uk/downloads.html

Hope you get good advice from others.

[Mindcrazedbanjo]

You could go to your GP and tell him what you have told us and ask him to prescribe you supplements in the shape of "Fortisips". They come in small bottles similar to "Yakult" and in a few different flavours like chocolate, vanilla etc.