How much more can she endure?

Hi Lou,

My sister had this bypass surgery. She was taken to theatre to have the majority of her liver removed but the tumour was more extensive than initially thought so the surgeon did not touch her liver. He did foresee that the tumour would block her stomach so performed the bypass surgery there and then to avoid having to do it when an obstruction occurred.

They need to give the stomach some time to recover and for movement within the bowel to start and they will slowly introduce liquids and then food. I am glad your mum is pain free and I hope she starts to improve and respond to you. Take it an hour at a time when it all seems to much to get from day to day. x

Dear Lou, the most important thing is that Mum
is not feeling pain/discomfort right now. She sure suffered enough before. I hope she heals quickly and comfortably and that soon she will start eating again. Thanks for the update and be strong.

Whatever I can do to aid in this, I’m up for doing. Please let me know specifically what I could to to help establish a protocol. I am very lucky that once my oncologist and surgeon knew that I was in the hospital and dehydrated, they knew just what to do within minutes of getting a CT scan and seeing where the blockage was.

Honestly, living with the surgery has not been hard once I got over being sore (although, at 56, I was in pretty darn good shape before all this started in late September, so my experience may not be typical). My surgeon chose to do an “old fashioned” normal incision and not do the procedure laproscopically because he said “I was just a skinny girl anyway” and I’d have a smaller incision that way versus the multiple incisions he would do laproscopically. Tell me I’m a skinny girl and I’m putty in one’s hands.

I was just exhausted for weeks after the surgery and that really surprised me – I’m generally a high energy, active person, but man, it was a chore to do anything and I walked around like a little old lady, sort of hunched over and very slow. But, your abdominal area doesn’t really like to be messed with all that much and it fights back at such an intrusion and recovery does take more time than one would expect.

I’m back to daily walks at normal pace (haven’t really gotten on my bike much, but that’s coming soon). I’ve also used one of those giant balls that you sit on and gently bounce to get some exercise (the physical therapists at Baylor helped me plan out some exercises with it).

It took a pretty good while to get much appetite back and I had to eat really small meals – sometimes just a few bites and I was done, but taste (and this may be due to chemo, not the Gastro J surgery) and appetite and the ability to eat more than a few bites have all come back.

Even if the recovery were far worse, I absolutely believe I wouldn’t still be here without the surgery. I was getting zero nutrition, losing weight at an alarming pace and just sick as a dog.

That was exactly it. No medicine helped. The internist that was seeing me in the hospital had no idea what yo do, but once we realized he hadn’t talked to my surgeon, we got him involved and he knew immediately I had a blockage and what they needed to do.

Glad you brought this procedure up. Thank you for the insight. And glad to hear of the relief it has brought.

I am a big proponent of gastric bypass, but find it not supported by the medical community at large and that I challenge. Yes, it brings along other issues, but from what I have seen on this site and have experienced with my husband, gastric bypass would have eliminated major problems for him and would do so for others as well.
Lou, I wish and hope for your Mom to benefit greatly for this surgery. Please keep us in the loop.

Lisa, if you are able and willing to do so would you please be so kind and explain to us the positive aspects of the surgical bypass.

Hugs,
Marion

Hi Lou,

I hope your mum and you are getting the relief that you need.
x