Hello:
I have a godmother (distant relative cousin) who I only saw four times in the last 20 years until I got an email from her co-worker in July of 2015 saying she was very ill. I went to see her immediately. She has no immediate family left and she is divorced with no children. She had lost about 80 lbs. and was severely depressed. She was only getting treatment for depression in the psychiatric hospital.
She began vomiting around a week after I was taking care of her. I moved her here to Southern New Jersey from Pennsylvania. It took about 4 weeks until I finally had a doctor admit her because they could not get a scope in her. Here the docs found a duodenal stricture caused by healed ulcers. 4 more endoscopies were done with baloon dilation. They provided some relief but she was only able to get TwoCal High Calorie Nutrition drinks down, no solid or pureed foods. I know for a fact she was not able to eat for 5 months with me while I took care of her. She reports that she was not able to eat for 4 months before that. She is not very verbal and she is very private about her former life. So I have had to reach out to a co-worker to find out that she was drinking ensures for the last 2 years. Two years ago she had a stroke from anemia. I am thinking this was probably due to poor nutrition because of the stricture.
It's been a rough road but three endoscopists and one surgeon recommended a gastrojejunostomy. She had this done Jan. 9, 2015. When surgeon went in there, he found that the gallbladder was so enlarged and penetrated through the duodenum. She was in the hospital 7 days. As soon as she went to rehab, she began vomiting, one basin full of bile. I wanted to take her back to hospital right away and on call doctor (friday night) said to get her back there but the rehab/nursing home doctor said to wait that he would talk to the surgeon. It was Sunday morning (Jan. 18) when they finally sent her back. Surgeon said he will not release her until she has two days on the regimen they will send her to rehab with. She had an ng tube reinserted. It is now Jan. 26th and it is still draining a lot of bile. The surgeon says that because she has not eaten in so long that the stomach is going to take a while to work again. Has anyone had any experience with the stomach not working? I thank you for any advice. I am at my wit's end which I am sure many of you can relate!
Dottie
Cape May, NJ
I have a godmother (distant relative cousin) who I only saw four times in the last 20 years until I got an email from her co-worker in July of 2015 saying she was very ill. I went to see her immediately. She has no immediate family left and she is divorced with no children. She had lost about 80 lbs. and was severely depressed. She was only getting treatment for depression in the psychiatric hospital.
She began vomiting around a week after I was taking care of her. I moved her here to Southern New Jersey from Pennsylvania. It took about 4 weeks until I finally had a doctor admit her because they could not get a scope in her. Here the docs found a duodenal stricture caused by healed ulcers. 4 more endoscopies were done with baloon dilation. They provided some relief but she was only able to get TwoCal High Calorie Nutrition drinks down, no solid or pureed foods. I know for a fact she was not able to eat for 5 months with me while I took care of her. She reports that she was not able to eat for 4 months before that. She is not very verbal and she is very private about her former life. So I have had to reach out to a co-worker to find out that she was drinking ensures for the last 2 years. Two years ago she had a stroke from anemia. I am thinking this was probably due to poor nutrition because of the stricture.
It's been a rough road but three endoscopists and one surgeon recommended a gastrojejunostomy. She had this done Jan. 9, 2015. When surgeon went in there, he found that the gallbladder was so enlarged and penetrated through the duodenum. She was in the hospital 7 days. As soon as she went to rehab, she began vomiting, one basin full of bile. I wanted to take her back to hospital right away and on call doctor (friday night) said to get her back there but the rehab/nursing home doctor said to wait that he would talk to the surgeon. It was Sunday morning (Jan. 18) when they finally sent her back. Surgeon said he will not release her until she has two days on the regimen they will send her to rehab with. She had an ng tube reinserted. It is now Jan. 26th and it is still draining a lot of bile. The surgeon says that because she has not eaten in so long that the stomach is going to take a while to work again. Has anyone had any experience with the stomach not working? I thank you for any advice. I am at my wit's end which I am sure many of you can relate!
Dottie
Cape May, NJ
