post op pain when eating and drinking HELP!

[doggylover]

Hi I'm really at a loss now! Just under 7 weeks post RNY bypass and when I eat I'm in agony. It's like torture. Sometimes when I drink I get the pain too. I'm starting to regret having the surgery and it's really getting me down now.

I've been sticking with soft solids beans, poached egg, scrambled egg. Even the first mouthful causes me pain! I've been to my GP who has said had changed one of my meds but it didn't make any difference. So I went back and he basically said all he can do is help me with pain management until I see my consultant 29th Dec. I know its not long to wait but when your in pain day in day out it seems like a lifetime! It's causing me dizzy spells and I also feel like I'm going to black out alot. Luckily I haven't!

I'm putting off eating and I know I shouldn't but as you can understand if you know something is going to cause you pain you avoid it!

GP currently has me on dihydrocodeine and paracetamol I saw a useless doc on Friday who I had to explain the operation to she prescribed Gaviscon which did nothing but make me feel sick!

If anyone has any tips or any ideas it would be much appreciated! It can't be that the pain is a full pain as like I said sometimes I get the pain on the first mouthful and I am chewing the food well before swallowing. Also I'm leaving a good gap before the next mouthful.

If anyone has experience as to what it could be I would love to know too and would like to know how you overcome this.


Thanks in advance!

 

[emma-louise]

Hi...
Have you moved through the stages correctly? 4 weeks between each stage I was advised if I remember rightly.
If your getting discomfort,perhaps go back onto purée,soups etc..and also get some protein powder,shakes or marvel powder to make sure your getting your protein in while healing.
Was you given any contact numbers to ring for advice or help,as I was given a baratric nurses number to ring if I needed any info.
You may have rushed trying to each food your body is not able to cope with yet..everyone heals at a different pace.
I'm over 4 yrs bypass and I still can get pain with eating certain foods,so I think try something easier to eat for a little while.
Don't regret your op give yourself time it's a big learning curve...message me if you need any help x

 

[samp24]

Call your team, they are the experts (most doctors at Gp surgeries are not as clued up) sure yr surgeon would want to know yr having problems. If you don't have a contact no ring the hospital explain yr recent surgery and ask to be put through to someone in the bariatric team, or yr surgeons secretary. You need to do something this week really, don't wait till yr next appointment x

 

[los in it]

Hello doggy lover
im so sorry to read your in such pain and discomfort it breaks my heart that I cant offer any help , just felt I want to pass on a cyber hug and to count my blessings that nearly 3 months post op everything so far ( touch wood) has been good for me
do keep us updated on what your team advise you to do x

 

[doggylover]

Yes I followed the diet after care advice and I've been eating things like poached egg which caused me so much pain at the first mouthful :-( my husband rang the 111 service who wanted to send an ambulance but I refused they said they would want me at a&e within the hour but I just feel like it would be a waste of time. Going off previous GP visits. I don't have a direct number for the team but I could ring the hospital switchboard and ask to be put through to them I guess?

The pain is getting worse and worse and it is unbearable it's really getting me down now. I'm only eating once a day and feel that all I'm doing during the day is building myself up to that meal it is pure hell!

Thanks so much for your replies. It is nice to know there is people who have are here to help at the highs and the lows!

Losin it thanks so much it means alot. I feel like an emotional wreck at the moment! Lol I will keep you updated with what happens. Hopefully some good news! Xx

 

[Su2ie]

Hi doggylover,

I was wondering how you were getting on, haven't seen you around lately. It sucks you're having some problems and pain. Definitely ring the bariatric nurse for advice, don't wait until your appointment. What's meant to be a 6 week follow up is more like 10 weeks (I haven't got my date yet!!) and that's no good when you're in pain! I'm sure they'd be happy to have a chat though and they are best placed to advise you.

Good luck and I hope you get some good advice and relief soon x

 

[samp24]

I really hope you have contacted the hospital, this need further investigation, especially if you are in so much pain and are only eating once a day, you need to get it sorted as without enough nutrition you will get a whole host more problems. please let us know how you got on! big hugs x

 

[doggylover]

Sorry for the late reply I didn't contact the hospital then I waited until 17th Dec. Reason being... After numerous visits to the GP and no further forward I guess I just thought it was one of those things. Plus during my follow up phone call approx 3 weeks after I was told to just take paracetamol an hour before eating! Anyway I hope you can understand I was feeling very vulnerable and down about it all which is why I left it so long thinking they would just tell me to stop being stupid.

Well I was stupid for leaving it for so long! As I said earlier I rang the bariatric nurse specialists at Sunderland in floods of tears explained what was happening and got admitted the same day. After a barium swallow, X rays endoscopy and ultrasound I have been diagnosed with ulcers! Fantastic eh? Now I haven't had the best experience in the world on the ward! I waited from the 18th until the 23rd for an emergency ultrasound and endoscopy! I have been spoken to like you would not believe. I was told the doc would come see me after the endoscopy... I'm still waiting! I had been left waiting an hour for pain relief in agony and left for 10 hrs off my IV fluids one time 7 hrs another and 5 hrs another! I was absolutely sick by the time I got my endoscopy and the fact the doc didn't see me was the icing on the cake!

A dietician came to see me to pass a message on from him to tell me he wants me on puree for 4 weeks... i can't do it i really can't! She then went on to say i could try the Fortisip drinks from my GP instead. I explained in the nicest way possible that I understood she was doing her job however when it is agony to eat and drink how did she expect me to drink 2 of those a day? Bearing in mind it was taking me more than a day to drink 1 fruit shoot! She then said well the only other option is a feeding tube. I told her the amount of pain I am in the feeding tube seems like the best option to me! But she didn't take me seriously... seems to be a theme in this hospital!

Anyway when my mam came to visit and after many more tears... i think i could have filled the Tyne up... I decided I needed to go home. I was only sleeping 2 hrs max on a night it was really affecting my depression and it wasn't doing me any good! So I had to self discharge.

I hope you can understand my reasons behind that. Don't get me wrong i know the nurses are busy I'm not a one for constantly pressing my buzzer but I'm in hospital to be cared for not to be spoken to like a piece of dirt on their shoe and to end up feeling worse than when I was admitted!

So I managed Xmas at home it was a struggle. I had oral morphine at home so meds for the ulcer anti sickness meds too. But yep that's not the end of it! I can't keep anything down now not even the medication! So I struggled through over Xmas and the weekend for my follow up appt today (29th) to which I was admitted straight away when they found out I've had nothing to eat for 4 days and barely anything to drink. All I had to drink on Monday was a sip of diluted juice to take a tablet which thankfully after alot of gagging I managed to keep down! But my oramorph and liquid anti sickness plus the stuff for the ulcers is a total no go. So i am writing this from my hospital bed!

Oh also my surgeon offered my a reversal because i was so distraught with whats happened... i didn't think it could be reversed! I didn't go into this blind by all means. But jesus if it was going to go wrong it would go wrong with me! Story of my life!

From a fed up Doggy lover!!! ward C31 Sunderland! (Lol)

 

[chrisa]

aWW I am so sorry to hear that. I had my op in SRH 3 years gone August and have to admit my hospital stay WAS THANKFULLY A GOD ONE. I do feel I was lucky and all went well. I really hope something gets sorted out for you. It is scary, the weight will be dropping off you but your body is taking a battering and be living on whatever reserves you have stored. I come from Durham area too. I would have been closer to Darlington hospital however they weren't doing bariatric surgery there at the time. My herat goes out to you and always lots of support on here for you. Where abouts do you live? I live near Crook./Bishop Auckland. xx

 

[Bear]

That sounds absolutely awful Doggy Lover. Let alone your stomach, but your treatment too.
I'm not sure how a reversal will help the ulcers?
You have to stay strong. Wishing you a very speedy recovery.

 

[mouse57]

I have read about some being reversed but only in extreme circumstances and yours does seem extreme. Have you decided what your going to do. You sound as if you at the end of your tether with the whole thing. I hope you will be putting in a complaint about the nursing staff. I'm fed up with people saying well they are rushed of their feet etc, but they are there to nurse and look after you not to be abusive and make you feel like you shouldn't be there I think it's time nurses were reminded of this and if they can't do the job then leave. It's like I told my team I wasn't carrying my balls around in a bag with blood being pumped in so I wasn't seen as an important part of the ward, not good enough. All you can do at the moment is go with the flow and think about where you go from here, I hope they get you sorted out now and give you their best care possible and get you back onto the road to recovery. Thinking about you and how you must be feeling

 

[doggylover]

I live in Bowburn right near the city centre Sunderland is more convenient all round as my husband works at Doxford Park so for visiting it only takes him 15-20 mins where as Darlington would be a trek for him. He's stressed to bits seeing me so poorly. I hate being so weak especially as I was always even as a child very strong. I can't even open a bottle of medicine with a safety cap on! I feel pathetic!

Well this morning the doc said it isn't an ulcer it's gastritis which is a raw area in my stomach that is inflamed and its not perforated. If it was an ulcer it would be perforated. Then later on a doctor said it is ulcers! Arghhhh!!! He reckons they are both the same but when you Google them they are different.

anyway they keep banging on wanting me on the puree diet for 4 weeks again and I simply can't do it again I struggled first time. I wasn't stupid going about eating what i wanted but i wasn't blending my foods up like others did. I was eating alot of beans and things like that. They don't seem to understand that I want to get better but for me to get better the best option is going to be the feeding tube so I know I'm getting exactly what I need daily to help my body heal and recover. The second doc said well we can't do it straight away it takes tome to do that I said I am fine with this as I know it's what is best for me! But he was still banging on about puree! I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall alot of the time!

My surgeon also came around this morning and quite frankly he is baffled by me he has no idea what's wrong with me and he openly admitted that to me then stood and stared at me for a few mins as if he was waiting for me to tell him what was wrong?! Ermmmm who's the doc here?! Lol unbelievable.

I had my CT scan today too which showed nothing at all apparently. So still no further forward really!

I will be making a complaint to PALS about a few of the nurses when I leave. Right now I don't have the energy to write the letter but I know what I need to put in the letter and I know who it is I'm complaining about. I have said all along as a nurse you are here to care for people and she was not caring for me. I told the nurse in charge this about one nurse in particular and got myself removed from her care. But saying that the nurse in charge isn't much better with her attitude at times either!

I really am fed up. I hope this all makes sense! I'm on IV morphine so I apologise for any spelling or of anything doesn't flow or make sense lol! Blame the morphine. One good thing the other patients on the bay are really nice and keep me going. Especially when I'm having a down day!

Xxx

 

[doggylover]

I just want to add a thank you for all your kind words too it might sound daft but it makes me a bit weepy reading them knowing there's people who can offer advice who have been through the surgery yea we haven't had the same experience but still it's nice for you all to take time out of your day and reply to me moaning and complaining.

xxxxx

 

[chrisa]

Oh dear not much further forward but you are in the best place really. I a sorry your treatment has not been good what ward you on? x I was on B26 they were smashing the nurses I had. Thankfully. Take care xx

 

[Yvessa]

I think you need to start over with your pouch. I've been reading through and frankly, I think you were eating things that were'nt suiting your pouch. We all heal at different rates and I think a lot of providers are more cautious than yours in terms of moving onto solids. I think you need to go back to liquids for two weeks. Whatever liquids you can tolerate, whether its the fortisip or something else. I think they're avoiding the feeding tube, because this early on it will cause more problems than it will fix. If you opt for a feeding tube now, how will you ever adjust to normal post op eating?

You keep saying you can't do the puree - from what I can see, this is their medical advice, and you're refusing it? I can understand hating the stage completely, but I think you have to find a way to do it - try different foods pureed until you can find some you can stomach.

 

[mouse57]

Dogglover you moan as much as you want not only have you had major surgery but you are not right your body is battered and so are your emotions. It's stressful enough just getting to the surgery stage and trying to recover. Keep your chin up and remember if you want to cry then cry don't hold it in it won't help you let it all out. We are all here for you

 

[doggylover]

Hi I'm just on c31 back in after weekend release! Feels like prison! This was because i managed a few mouthfuls of weetabix and a bowl of veg soup which was more like dirty dishwater!!!

Bit gutted i couldn't manage to do much with my husband i have literally slept the whole time! And I've lost 6kg in 6 days. My energy levels are on the floor.

I've been trying over the weekend to get things sorted but unfortunately things didn't go to plan :-(
I tried some very very over cooked pasta on Saturday and brought it straight back up i left it a few hours and tried a fortisip drink again straight back up. At a total loss!

The only thing I'm managing is tomato soup and dilute juice. Even when I'm keeping it down I'm taking cyclizine and I'm still really gagging and feeling sick constantly. The pain is unreal at times when I'm gagging or being sick!
And now to top if off i have the runs for a bit of tomato soup! Lol dear me where will it end?

Got the long wait to be cannulated :-( my veins are terrible and doesn't help I'm cold and probably dehydrated! Nurse couldn't find one after 15mins so have to wait for a doc. Sometimes the docs don't like to admit defeat until they have butchered you!

so lets see what doc says tomorrow i hope its more than we don't know whats wrong with u still!

Can't remember if i said in a previous post but they are now saying it isn't ulcers its gastritis or pouchitis they are both the same. But then one doc is telling the gastritis is the same as an ulcer then another says it's different! Don't know if I'm coming or going!

Anyways thanks again for all ur messages!

I will try and post tomorrow

Xx

 

[mouse57]

Try and rest and don't stress to much I know easier said than done but being stressed will,only aggravate thing.

 

[doggylover]

I know it's so hard to rest in hospital especially when your a people watcher! Lol had an anti sickness injection.. which helps loads! the nurse tried to get a cannula in she couldn't so called for a doc.. he told me to take a tablet if i could take a tablet then i would but they don't work for a start! Frustrating in here! Anyway my nurse must have told him why i needed cannulating so he came back and had a go twice but barely tried to be honest then said i could have and injection and left me with blood pouring out my wrist!

Xx

 

[mouse57]

Nice to know your in caring hands lol I sometime wonder why they turn up for work. Stick with it and keep all the swear words for the day you leave