This is where I ask for advice…
(Clearly I feel like the internet is failing me, so I need to track down answers on my own!)
For the past several years, I’ve been dealing with this thing which I have (not so fondly) dubbed “The Bubble”. It’s like this bubble of air that would come up from my stomach, up my esophagus and kind of get stuck in my throat – and make a horrifying loud belchy noise on its way up. He would always show up after I ate and progressively got worse. He would appear at random and eventually (to no luck) I tried keeping a food log to see if I could find some sort of relation between what I was eating and The Bubble. DUN DUN DUN.
Fast forward. The Bubble is still here, yet now, he tends to make his appearance more than he used to. Now, however, The Bubble winds up making his way out of me completely in HORRIBLE burps that sound like I’m dying. Seriously, it’s embarrassing. The Bubble doesn’t stop there, though. He decides that nausea should be a part of my daily life – and so now half the time, I wind up running for the bathroom after dinner to discard everything I just ate.
Enough is enough.
I go to my primary physician who winds up telling me I should just keep a food log of whatever I’m eating (duh) and make note whenever I get sick. Then he recommends an ultrasound to see if maybe there is a tear in my esophagus that is causing all of this discomfort. I do the tests – everything comes back normal. I keep the food log and make note of whenever The Bubble rears its angry head. No change.
Eventually, I wound up going to see a Gastroenterologist through UCLA who, upon our first appointment, told me that upon touch my stomach felt bloated and gassy. He suggested that I give up dairy, soy, eggs, carbonated beverages (basically all the stuff that makes life fun). From May until November, I was a vegan who ate meat. I avoided cheese (my favorite) and drank almond milk as much as I possibly could. OF COURSE – this did nothing. I still wound up running for the bathroom after meals.
I saw him again, a couple months later. He told me I should have a Gastric Emptying and an Endoscopy. I was able to fit the Gastric Emptying in right before I started at a new job – and of course, everything came back normal. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. I start my new job and my symptoms continue, but I hold off on getting my endoscopy since I don’t want to request a day off right after starting.
Come November, however, my symptoms have gotten worse and I keep getting nausea after I eat. Sometimes, I have to run to the bathroom at work because I think I’m going to be sick. So finally, I book an appointment to get my endoscopy done.
The endoscopy goes fine – and when I’m waking up from my sedation my doctor is there. “Allie, everything went fine. You have a hiatal hernia.” I was in a dream state and at first I thought I was imagining it. When he came back to tell me again and to explain what it meant, that’s when I finally understood.So here we are now. I’ve had multiple other tests done (a couple of which they stuck tubes down my nose/throat for an extended period of time) and it looks like surgery is the only way of really fixing this bad boy once and for all.
I’ve met with a surgeon in Santa Monica and I have a date set (March 25th) to undergo a Nissen Fundoplication, to repair the hiatal hernia. He will take a part of my stomach and wrap it around my esophagus to prevent this from happening again.
There’s about a week recovery time (from the actual cutting and stitches), but it takes about 2 months to fully get back to normal (digestive wise) from the actual procedure. I’m freaking out – and this is where I need help.
I’m desperate to talk to someone at or around my age (24) who has had something like this done. Apparently, this is a common condition, but it’s rare to find someone my age who has had one. (It’s most prevalent in overweight smokers over 60). I just want to find out what it was like – how the recovery time really felt. The only testimonials I can find online are of middle-aged to older people who have had it done, and honestly, they make the experience sound horrifying.
If you or anyone you know has had something like this, PLEASE reach out to me at [email protected]. I’m not one to usually advertise my medical problems (I normally can deal with them just fine without whining about it on the internet), but I’m at a point where I really just don’t know what to expect and the fear of the unknown is really getting to me. A part of me thinks I should postpone the procedure for six months to a year down the line, just to see if I can live with it using meds and changing my diet.
Anyways. That’s that. Help a girl out – or maybe lead me in the direction where I can find some answers and a peace of mind.
xx
