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Endoscopy tomorrow
6/10/10 11:32 amTomorrow morning I go in for my endoscopy. I haven't posted here what the gastroenterologist said Monday, so here's your update:
To cut to the chase, surgery may not be an option for me. Turns out that not all GERD is due to mechanical issues -- I'll have to have an esophageal motility study and esophageal pH monitoring done. The esophageal motility test examines the integrity and strength of the esophageal muscles, and the impedance test monitors the pH of the stomach for a period of time (usually 24 hours or so).
If these tests show the issue isn't because my pouch is sitting in my chest due to the hiatal hernia, then surgery won't help.
Another wrinkle is that the gastrodoc doesn't think any of the surgeons associated with Tanner Health (the outfit that runs the hospitals in Haralson and Carroll counties) will work on people who've had weight loss surgery. So if that's the case, I won't be able to transfer my case to one of them, which would let me use the financial aid we have set up. Which means we'd be responsible for the deductible and anything Medicare won't pay. Not a deal breaker, but it would be nice if we didn't have to dig into our savings... I do have the name of a surgeon my internist recommended, and she's well aware of my WLS and so forth, so maybe he'll do it...
So there it is. What fun, huh?
I'm sure by this time most if not all of my Faithful Readers are wondering if, knowing what I know now, I'd have had the WLS done. Quite honestly, yes. I was so sick by the time I had the surgery done, I probably wouldn't have lived much longer. I had uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled high cholesterol, poorly controlled diabetes, and my hips were giving out -- I couldn't walk anywhere without a great deal of pain. Probably within a year I'd have been in a wheelchair, and I imagine within 10 years I'd have been dead. Certainly I'd have been starting to have problems with my kidneys.
So overall, even with the vestibulopathy (which wasn't the fault of the WLS, it was the fault of the surgeon and his refusal to consult with an infectious disease physician OR listen to me when I told him I was prone to surgical infections and to pump the antibiotics) and the GERD, I'm much healthier, feel better, and overall have a better quality of life than I did before surgery. I've decided if the only way to handle this GERD issue is a complete takedown of the WLS, I'll do that, but then I'll have the duodenal switch done, which is really what I should have had in the first place.
But I'll only have it redone if I start regaining the weight. I refuse to weigh 343 lbs or more again, and have all the problems I had before -- likely worse, since I'm 53 now instead of 48.. If the price for that is to eat antacids like candy for the rest of my life, so be it.
To cut to the chase, surgery may not be an option for me. Turns out that not all GERD is due to mechanical issues -- I'll have to have an esophageal motility study and esophageal pH monitoring done. The esophageal motility test examines the integrity and strength of the esophageal muscles, and the impedance test monitors the pH of the stomach for a period of time (usually 24 hours or so).
If these tests show the issue isn't because my pouch is sitting in my chest due to the hiatal hernia, then surgery won't help.
Another wrinkle is that the gastrodoc doesn't think any of the surgeons associated with Tanner Health (the outfit that runs the hospitals in Haralson and Carroll counties) will work on people who've had weight loss surgery. So if that's the case, I won't be able to transfer my case to one of them, which would let me use the financial aid we have set up. Which means we'd be responsible for the deductible and anything Medicare won't pay. Not a deal breaker, but it would be nice if we didn't have to dig into our savings... I do have the name of a surgeon my internist recommended, and she's well aware of my WLS and so forth, so maybe he'll do it...
So there it is. What fun, huh?
I'm sure by this time most if not all of my Faithful Readers are wondering if, knowing what I know now, I'd have had the WLS done. Quite honestly, yes. I was so sick by the time I had the surgery done, I probably wouldn't have lived much longer. I had uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled high cholesterol, poorly controlled diabetes, and my hips were giving out -- I couldn't walk anywhere without a great deal of pain. Probably within a year I'd have been in a wheelchair, and I imagine within 10 years I'd have been dead. Certainly I'd have been starting to have problems with my kidneys.
So overall, even with the vestibulopathy (which wasn't the fault of the WLS, it was the fault of the surgeon and his refusal to consult with an infectious disease physician OR listen to me when I told him I was prone to surgical infections and to pump the antibiotics) and the GERD, I'm much healthier, feel better, and overall have a better quality of life than I did before surgery. I've decided if the only way to handle this GERD issue is a complete takedown of the WLS, I'll do that, but then I'll have the duodenal switch done, which is really what I should have had in the first place.
But I'll only have it redone if I start regaining the weight. I refuse to weigh 343 lbs or more again, and have all the problems I had before -- likely worse, since I'm 53 now instead of 48.. If the price for that is to eat antacids like candy for the rest of my life, so be it.
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