Monday, July 20, 2015

July 20, 2015

Monday Morning at the Hospital
July 20, 2015


This morning my daughter-in-law, Barb, took me to the hospital for a scheduled procedure - an endoscopy.  In my early 20s I was found to have a hiatus hernia; that is a weakness or tear in the diaphragm which is a large flat muscle.  The esophagus passes through an opening in the diaphragm.  An enlarged hole in the diaphragm can allow the stomach to slip through the diaphragm into the chest.  That was the problem that was being checked on today.  I have known for 45 years that I had the problem, but in the last few years it has become more of a problem and it was time to deal with it. 

We arrived just before 7:00 a.m. and were quickly taken into the day surgery area.  As always, there are endless lists of questions.  I was prepared for the procedure and about 8:00 taken to the room where it would be done.  The procedure was to put a tube with a small camera on it, down my esophagus, into the stomach to check out the areas. 

They told me it would take about 30 minutes, but it turned out to be longer.  The doctor found some things he wasn't expecting and mostly it was polyps in the stomach.  He removed 80% of them and that lengthened the time in the procedure room.

For the procedure I was to be sedated, but not totally asleep.  There could be times he would need to have me respond to a request.  In order to do that I would need my sound processor.  In talking to the nurses prior to the procedure we decided to have me wear the Cochlear Sound Processor.  Once in the procedure room, they began preparing me.  They hooked up a heart monitor, an oxygen monitor, oxygen, etc.  They had already started the IV in the other area.

When they tried to hook me up to the oxygen they put the tubes over my ears and dislodged the sound processor.  A few minutes later, they did the same thing.  The fourth time they gave up since I was going to be lying on the side with the implant.  So I quickly went to sleep and didn't wake up until they were ready to take me to the recovery room. 

The only discomfort I have had is a spot in my throat where he stretched a narrowing in the esophagus.  That is sore, but otherwise, I feel fine and plan to be at work tomorrow.  After Barb brought me home, she went to the store and picked up a couple of things for me to eat and drink.  We worked on plans for our family gathering next month, and visited for a while before she left to take care of an assortment of things in town before going to McAllen.  I appreciated her help. 

I will see the doctor in about 3 weeks for test results and talk about what needs to be done.  He is such a good, kind doctor.  I am thankful I ended up with him.  For now I am to avoid spicy foods (I usually do avoid them), decrease the amount of caffeine (that will be hard), change one medication, and a couple of other minor things.

After Barb left I slept the rest of the afternoon.  When Ron got home I rode with him when he went to get a prescription for me and he dropped me at my mom's while he ran that errand.  I feel fine and plan to head to bed for a good night's sleep.

One interesting thing is that a male nurse taking care of me in recovery said his son has two Cochlear implants.  The son got them when he was 2 years old and is now 21.  I asked if his son can deal with the telephone and he said, no.  It was interesting to talk to him.  For the most part, I had excellent and kind staff members caring for me.  It actually was a good day.

4 comments:

  1. Glad to hear all went well and pray for good results in the upcoming visit.

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    1. Thank you. Feeling very good except for slight sore throat, but it is much better this evening. Thank you for the prayers.

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  2. Glad that's over and you did ok. Hopefully the reflux won't be so bad now. Here we go again, my sister! I've had reflux for many years due to repair of an incisional hernia on my abdomen which pushed the stomach up through the diaphragm. I'll be on Prilosec forever! Had the bone marrow biopsy today at MDA and it went very well....will see the dr August 4th to see what they recommend. I still feel good. No other symptoms. Keep praying, please. PS...sorry about the Dr Pepper!

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    1. I cut way back on Dr. Pepper, but had some with my 3:00 lunch. Needed to wake up! Prayed for you today knowing you were having the biopsy and quilters prayed for you tonight. Glad you are feeling OK.

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