I am ready to continue the story of my experience having a gastric nuerostimulator. placed. My mom and I took a cab to Big Academic Medical Center bright and early on the morning of September 24. We got there way ahead of my scheduled arrival time of 7:30, so stopped off in the cafeteria so Mom could grab a cofee. Then we made our way to the surgical waiting room where we installed ourselves in a corner to watch shows on her laptop until it was time to check in. Eventually I was called to register, then we waited a bit longer and were brought to pre-op with several other patients.Mom helped me change into a gown, we transferred me to a gurney, an IV was placed, then we just waited.
Once the IV was placed, Mom mentioned that she had seen on the cover of my chart that they were calling the procedure day surgery. She asked how I would feel about going home right afjter surgery. I was hesitant, but knew that I'd be in good hands with my mom. Soon, Dr. B. came by to look at my chart. While he flipped pages, I asked where he planned to place the external part of the stimulator.
The system has two parts, the generator which is placed right under the skin of the abdomen generally on the left side, since that's where the stomach lives. The second part is the leads that are implanted into the wall of the stomach. The device is used as a treatment for the nausea and vomiting associated with gastroparesis that doesn't respond well invasive therapies like medications. It works by sending counter signals to the nerves of the stomach that would otherwise tell my brain I was nauseated. For some, it's the best tool they've found to help manage symptoms.
Dr. B. told me that he'd place it on the left side. He also told me that he hoped I would be willing to complete a questionaire about my symptoms before and after the surgery for MALS. He is doing a study of who are really good candidates for surgical correction of that syndrome. There was pre-op questionare and a post-op questionarre. Since nothing really had improved from before the surgery, it was easy to fill them both out after the fact. As unique as I am, I've never been part of a study. I'm weirdly excited about that.
Soon after Dr. B.left, the most attractive anesthesiologist I have ever seen came in. Seriously, he was so handsome. Awesome eyes, a beard that fit his face perfectly. He was just very fun to look at. He was impressed by my knowledge of myself. He gave me the awful ant-reflux junk. I told him about my history with Scanner/ OR Tables of Death. That would turn out to be the most important thing I told him. I said goodbye to Mom and don't remember anything until the recovery room. He must have given me something really good. After about three hours, the surgery was over and I woke up in recovery.
The thing I remember most about recovery was the pain. It huirt a lot more than I thought it would, especially in the area where the generator was implanted. In retrospect, they created a pocket where pockets do not naturally exsist, it was bound to hurt. It was also where the largest incision was. I was so glad to have my old friend morphine to keep me company! Afteer only an hour ore so in recovery, I was moved to a room. I got to bring along some oxygen this time as my lungs were trying to go on strike and my saturations were dropping a little.
Once I was in a room, I began the Wait for Pee. I wasn't going to write about this part, but figured it would be good for others to know. General anesthesia paralyzes all the muscles, including the bladder. That's why you'll often have a foley catheter placed during surgery. I discovered in June that my bladder is particularly suseptible to freezing up after having a foley in and then taken out. I ended up being sent home with a foley in place in June because my bladder just wouldn't cooperate. Anyway, this time around I didn't have a foley because I was already at risk of infection because I was having something implanted. It was up to me to break through and go on my own. This proved difficult and involved literally hours of trying. I tried different positions, while drinking, even got out of bed to try on a commode. After hours of trying without success, I let the nurse take care of things for me just so they'd leave me alone. After that and my nightime meds, we sertled down for the night. It was a restless night. I had realized the morphine was making my nausea worse, so I wasn't using it and was in a lot of pain. Morning rounds found me in a lot of pain still but eager to go home for my birthday the next day. I convinced them to let me go. I was still in significant pain, but not as nauseated and was now peeing just fine.
Before I left, I had my mom get me a bagel from the cafeteria. I took a bite and almost cried for the joy of it. It was the first taste of food I'd had in over a year that actually tasted good. I ate about a quarter of it then was full. I was ecstatic. Maybe, just maybe this was the answer I'd been hoping for.
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