Hello, friends! Happy Saturday and the last day of April. How quickly this month has gone. So much has happened and I guess that's why things have seemed to fly by.
When I told you about Easter, I promised to catch you up with my surgery. It's been three weeks ago now and things are so much better than before although I still have a long way to go.
The morning of the 12th I had to be at the hospital at 8:00 a.m. My friend Carole took Joe and me. That was so nice of her. I checked in and was taken back to the room to get ready for the procedure. Joe and Carole went to get coffee (it turned out to be free!) and then to the waiting room until I was done.
I was supposed to go in for surgery at 9:00 a.m. but my doctor was a half hour late because of another surgery he was doing. The nurses and doctors I saw were so nice! The anesthesiologist did her internship near where my sister lives and so we were talking about northern New Jersey. She said not many people she meets knows the little towns up there. Everyone put me at my ease, and I was only a little nervous about things.
Finally my doctor showed up and I was taken into the operating room. I looked at the clock before I went to sleep. They had told me the procedure would take about 15 minutes. But when I woke up, it was an hour later. The first thing I said was, "Can I see Joe now?" And I could. They went to the waiting room and sent him in.
Dr. Cohen came in to see me and to tell me what had happened. Originally they went in with a wire and tried to clean out the scar tissue in my esophogus. No luck. So then he put down a small balloon which he inflated, but it didn't do the trick. Next he used a larger balloon. Still didn't work. So finally he used a cutter and cut away some of the scar tissue until the esophogus was large enough for me to swallow again. I hadn't been able to swallow much of anything for quite awhile.
So now I'm on eight weeks of recovery. I'm eating a lot more but still having trouble with certain things. Meat mostly. Chicken and fish seem to be the easiest things for me to swallow. Then things like applesauce, chopped up fruit, mashed potatoes, etc. I'm getting by, though. The doctor said I lost a pound so this might be a good thing.
And now I'm going to go make potato salad and chicken salad for dinner. Two soft things I can eat.
I'll be back soon with another post. Lots to tell you. I hope to be on here a bit more than I have been lately. Just not feeling great. See you all soon.
Kathy
Thank you for tagging up and keeping us informed. My daughter had the stretching done about a decade ago. I am sorry that yours was not that easy a fix. I was just visiting your vlog where I watched Joe eat some yummy looking dessert. You had a nice getaway to the church's conference. Hope that you feel better and better soon. 🙏🏼
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, I have missed hearing from you. So glad that the surgery went well, even though it wasn't completely as planned. Hope you are feeling much better soon, and can eat more. See you again soon, I hope.
ReplyDeleteGlad your surgery is over and you are recovering. You look and sound good on your video. Nice to get away but always good to get home.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate the update. Sorry it all didn't go as was planned. Happy to hear you are healing. Congrats on losing the pound! Still praying for continued wellness.
ReplyDeleteI am a happy to know you feel much better after surgery. Scar tissue is no fun, especially in area when your food goes into stomach. I had scar tissue in my stomach that needed to be cut away as was intertwined with my stomach, years ago. Continue to heal and be safe and God bless! I appreciate your update post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update. So glad you can eat more and it only gets better! What a journey for you. Hugs
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