On December 25, 2021 I got up and ate breakfast and went about my life. Never would I have imagined that it would be the last meal I would be able to eat and keep down for the next 58 days! Not even water would stay down for long. I went to the ER on December 28 and was admitted. They diagnosed me with a hiatal hernia and G.I.R.D! the doctors explained that I needed surgery. Alas, after 3 days in the hospital I was informed all the surgeons were on vacation so I could go home. What!? On January 6th I was back in the ER again. This time I spent 6 days waiting for them to “Find a surgeon”. Wait! Is this a hospital? I was extremely dehydrated yet the doctor on the floor didn’t think I needed fluids. Two days went by before he actually laid eyes on me and decided I did need fluids. On day six they told me they could not find a surgeon to do my surgery because it was so complicated. And once again, they sent me home.
A friend contacted her plastic surgeon and he gave her 2 recommendations. One was a doctor who twice refused to do it, but now that another doctor asked him, he was willing to see me. The other was an hour away at Tampa General. I choose the surgeon in Tampa. On my first visit he said he wanted to take a look down my tummy and see where everything was before he started cutting. Hey, I agree with that! So he scheduled me for a endoscopy. Sadly, he couldn’t do it for 3 weeks. Now mind you, I’m eating 3 or 4 bites of food a day and hoping it’ll stays down, and a single 16oz bottle of water a day and lucky if 8oz stayed in my body.
February 23, 2022. I remember the day well. As we headed out for the hour drive to Tampa, I wondered if I would ever come back home. I really thought I would never wake up after the procedure or whatever was gong on would be beyond this surgeon’s ability. I should have known that God had me. Not only did I wake up, I woke up fixed!
I did not have a hernia, anywhere! Imagine that! No wonder there wasn’t a surgeon in Bradenton that would not do my surgery! Instead, my stomach had constricted to such a point that only minute particles of food could pass through. And then I had what they called a “pebble” (for the lack of a better description) that would float around in my stomach and then settle on the small opening. Hence , the reason some days I could keep something down and others days I would vomit all day long. This wonderful surgeon was able to remove the “pebble” and then put a balloon down into my stomach and stretch it open. So far so good. He’ll take a peek again in January 2023 and see if it’s holding.
Come back tomorrow for the next chapter of this journey.
