Has anyone developed an ulcer after surgery?

JReed

Just curious if anyone experienced any ulcers after their surgery?

Trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Thanks,
Judy

paul61

It does seem to happen - not sure how common it is
Judy,

I have no personal knowledge, but consulting with "Dr. Google" makes it appear that there are several documented cases of "Peptic ulcer of the gastric tube after esophagectomy for cancer".

Here is an abstract

In a typical esophagectomy with gastric pull up the surgeon does a bilateral truncal vagotomy (resection of the vagus nerve). This supposedly stops or greatly reduces the production of stomach acid.

Treatment of peptic ulcers typically involves treatment with proton pump inhibitors (e.g. Prevacid)

I am hoping Don is feeling better today. If not, on Monday I would consider Sherri's advice about the ER. When I was having some of the same symptoms that Don has, my oncologist arranged for a endoscopy the next day.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

JReed

paul61 said:

It does seem to happen - not sure how common it is
Judy,

I have no personal knowledge, but consulting with "Dr. Google" makes it appear that there are several documented cases of "Peptic ulcer of the gastric tube after esophagectomy for cancer".

Here is an abstract

In a typical esophagectomy with gastric pull up the surgeon does a bilateral truncal vagotomy (resection of the vagus nerve). This supposedly stops or greatly reduces the production of stomach acid.

Treatment of peptic ulcers typically involves treatment with proton pump inhibitors (e.g. Prevacid)

I am hoping Don is feeling better today. If not, on Monday I would consider Sherri's advice about the ER. When I was having some of the same symptoms that Don has, my oncologist arranged for a endoscopy the next day.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

Hey Paul
Hi Paul:

Thank you for your call last night and the link for info on peptic ulcers. Just got off the phone with the new gastroenterologist and the gal took all of the information and is going to check to see if they need to see Don in the office first or if he can go straight to the procedure - which won't be done for at least five days. She said he needs to be off his aspirin and multi-vitamin for five days prior to the procedure.

I have just about had enough of this waiting crap. It will be at least next week before he gets in to have the scope done. grrrrr

Although Don is getting around a little more than he did last week, he is still needing to take the pain meds and that is causing some plumbing issues in itself. I keep waiting for him to cry uncle, but so far he hasn't.

Hugs,
Judy

BMGky

JReed said:

Hey Paul
Hi Paul:

Thank you for your call last night and the link for info on peptic ulcers. Just got off the phone with the new gastroenterologist and the gal took all of the information and is going to check to see if they need to see Don in the office first or if he can go straight to the procedure - which won't be done for at least five days. She said he needs to be off his aspirin and multi-vitamin for five days prior to the procedure.

I have just about had enough of this waiting crap. It will be at least next week before he gets in to have the scope done. grrrrr

Although Don is getting around a little more than he did last week, he is still needing to take the pain meds and that is causing some plumbing issues in itself. I keep waiting for him to cry uncle, but so far he hasn't.

Hugs,
Judy

Thinking of you two.
Thinking of you two. Waiting is rough. Sure hope the new doctor gets her act together and Don gets some relief. Wishing you the best, BMGky

captdave

JReed said:

Hey Paul
Hi Paul:

Thank you for your call last night and the link for info on peptic ulcers. Just got off the phone with the new gastroenterologist and the gal took all of the information and is going to check to see if they need to see Don in the office first or if he can go straight to the procedure - which won't be done for at least five days. She said he needs to be off his aspirin and multi-vitamin for five days prior to the procedure.

I have just about had enough of this waiting crap. It will be at least next week before he gets in to have the scope done. grrrrr

Although Don is getting around a little more than he did last week, he is still needing to take the pain meds and that is causing some plumbing issues in itself. I keep waiting for him to cry uncle, but so far he hasn't.

Hugs,
Judy

Judy, Can they do a barium
Judy, Can they do a barium swallow video xray to at least get a look at whats going on without waiting for Don to be off the aspirin etc.. Might be worth asking. Thinking of you and Don and crossing our fingers for you guys.

Dave

JReed

captdave said:

Judy, Can they do a barium
Judy, Can they do a barium swallow video xray to at least get a look at whats going on without waiting for Don to be off the aspirin etc.. Might be worth asking. Thinking of you and Don and crossing our fingers for you guys.

Dave

They probably can but how long would that take to get set up?
Dave:

That has not been mentioned - but I will check into it. I am pretty worn out spending most of the day on the telephone with this scheduler some nurse. I know they are all busy and everyone believes their issue is more important than the other guys and there are only so many specialists to go around and they have to cover their butt so they don't get slammed with a lawsuit.

But another 10 days of this stuff is going to drive me bonkers - I don't want to see him be in pain - he obviously does not feel good -anyone can look at him and see that. I just want to know what we are dealing with - if it's an ulcer - let's get working on fixing it - if it cancer causing the ulcer - let's get on with whatever it is going to take to deal with that. Don took another pain pill before going to bed tonight and I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to go the ER - and he said "Yes, I'm going to bed."

Why are you men so freakin stubborn? Maybe he doesn't really want to know the results,or he thinks this will go away on it's own, but I'm about ready to slap him upside the head - pain that goes on for over a week is not ok and if it were any of these doctors' loved ones, you can bet your sweet a*& they would be getting their loved one right in.

Patience is not something I am very good with and Don can be almost comatose with patience. He doesn't indulge in any 'smoke' but I think I need to find some - especially if we have to wait until the 19th for a scope. I know he's not holding off to irritate me - he just doesn't want to 'push' the docs very hard - I don't mind pushing - I just don't want to irritate them to the point they do not want to deal with us.

I know it is almost impossible for me to work knowing he feels like this and I'm afraid to leave him home alone - for God's sake he installed a garage door opener yesterday while I was sleeping. Glad he felt up to it, but he sure was whipped when he got it done. Hasn't even tried to get on his bike since a week ago Saturday. Geez - I think we're gonna have a come to Jesus meeting here pretty quick. Maybe I'm just tired and I better go to bed.

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

AngieD

JReed said:

They probably can but how long would that take to get set up?
Dave:

That has not been mentioned - but I will check into it. I am pretty worn out spending most of the day on the telephone with this scheduler some nurse. I know they are all busy and everyone believes their issue is more important than the other guys and there are only so many specialists to go around and they have to cover their butt so they don't get slammed with a lawsuit.

But another 10 days of this stuff is going to drive me bonkers - I don't want to see him be in pain - he obviously does not feel good -anyone can look at him and see that. I just want to know what we are dealing with - if it's an ulcer - let's get working on fixing it - if it cancer causing the ulcer - let's get on with whatever it is going to take to deal with that. Don took another pain pill before going to bed tonight and I asked him if he was sure he didn't want to go the ER - and he said "Yes, I'm going to bed."

Why are you men so freakin stubborn? Maybe he doesn't really want to know the results,or he thinks this will go away on it's own, but I'm about ready to slap him upside the head - pain that goes on for over a week is not ok and if it were any of these doctors' loved ones, you can bet your sweet a*& they would be getting their loved one right in.

Patience is not something I am very good with and Don can be almost comatose with patience. He doesn't indulge in any 'smoke' but I think I need to find some - especially if we have to wait until the 19th for a scope. I know he's not holding off to irritate me - he just doesn't want to 'push' the docs very hard - I don't mind pushing - I just don't want to irritate them to the point they do not want to deal with us.

I know it is almost impossible for me to work knowing he feels like this and I'm afraid to leave him home alone - for God's sake he installed a garage door opener yesterday while I was sleeping. Glad he felt up to it, but he sure was whipped when he got it done. Hasn't even tried to get on his bike since a week ago Saturday. Geez - I think we're gonna have a come to Jesus meeting here pretty quick. Maybe I'm just tired and I better go to bed.

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

Judy, after our year of many
Judy, after our year of many crises besides Stage IV EC, we've found going to the ER has been an efficient way to get a diagnosis and get Larry feeling better quickly. This happened when he had the allergic reaction with trouble breathing that turned out to be an allergy to Lisinopril. Also, when he had shortness of breath and turned out to need quadruple bypass surgery, and when he had 102 temp that turned out to be pneumonia. In all cases these happened on a weekend or in the evening and I called the Oncologist office, which has one of the docs on-call 24-7. The on-call doc contacted ER and told them to expect us and we were taken right in. ER got a LOT of tests done really quickly compared with trying to do it outpatient, plus got him comfortable quickly. And, being a man, in all cases he initially said he wasn't going/did not need to go to ER.
Angie

JReed

Finally - Don has scope appt
After a few very frustrating phone calls, Don has an appointment on Friday morning for the endoscope. Hopefully this turns out to be something relatively minor and we can move along.

Thanks for your prayers, calls and thoughts!

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

paul61

JReed said:

Finally - Don has scope appt
After a few very frustrating phone calls, Don has an appointment on Friday morning for the endoscope. Hopefully this turns out to be something relatively minor and we can move along.

Thanks for your prayers, calls and thoughts!

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

Glad to hear things are moving forward
Judy,

Great to hear that things are moving forward with getting to a diagnosis for Don's pain. They should have some information for you directly after the endoscopic exam. And of course they will probably take some samples for biopsy so there will be a wait for a few days for them to come back.

I am hoping and praying they find something obvious, simple, and easy to treat.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Two year survivor

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

TerryV

JReed said:

Finally - Don has scope appt
After a few very frustrating phone calls, Don has an appointment on Friday morning for the endoscope. Hopefully this turns out to be something relatively minor and we can move along.

Thanks for your prayers, calls and thoughts!

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

Woo Hoo for FRIDAY
Good job, Judy! I knew you could get him bumped in for an endo in a timely manner.

Anxious, praying and positive thoughts to you both!

Terry
PROUD wife to Nick, age 49
lost battle to FEC, June 19, 2012

captdave

JReed said:

Finally - Don has scope appt
After a few very frustrating phone calls, Don has an appointment on Friday morning for the endoscope. Hopefully this turns out to be something relatively minor and we can move along.

Thanks for your prayers, calls and thoughts!

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

Glad that you got a scope
Glad that you got a scope scheduled! Now hopefully, you can find out whats going on quickly and with some certainty and address it. Keep taking great care of Don. Us guys need some taking care of but mostly we need someone to protect us from our selves.

Dave

JReed

TerryV said:

Woo Hoo for FRIDAY
Good job, Judy! I knew you could get him bumped in for an endo in a timely manner.

Anxious, praying and positive thoughts to you both!

Terry
PROUD wife to Nick, age 49
lost battle to FEC, June 19, 2012

Yuppers Terry - I sure did
I did manage to get him in Friday - but it took several phone calls - I get so tired of having to 'fight' for things - but I'm pretty good at it. At least I'm on the phone and cannot actually grab someone by the neck!

It was lovely to talk with you and I cannot wait until you and the littles come to Michigan. Too bad you couldn't do it while Paul Adams was in the state - and A1phil and Dianne - they are up in the area you will be visiting.

Hang in there sister-in-cause - you and the kids remain in our thoughts and prayers every single day.

Love, hugs and FEC,
Judy

JReed

captdave said:

Glad that you got a scope
Glad that you got a scope scheduled! Now hopefully, you can find out whats going on quickly and with some certainty and address it. Keep taking great care of Don. Us guys need some taking care of but mostly we need someone to protect us from our selves.

Dave

Dave - LOL
Hi Dave!

You are right - you guys do seem to require some protection from your own selves! Don is doing a bit better this week than last week but is still taking pain meds pretty regularly. AND he shaved today which makes him look so much more handsome!

We'll be talking with you soon.

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

Ginny_B

JReed said:

Dave - LOL
Hi Dave!

You are right - you guys do seem to require some protection from your own selves! Don is doing a bit better this week than last week but is still taking pain meds pretty regularly. AND he shaved today which makes him look so much more handsome!

We'll be talking with you soon.

Hugs and FEC,
Judy

The website is actually
The website is actually moving today - wow! Normally, I can't even log in. Ok on Friday I'm in the hospital getting a scope-guided C-spine root nerve block on C5 and C6 (I think it's those two). I'll be in la la land when Don is having his scope. You hang in there, remember to breathe! I do hope you can get some good answers from the scope! XOXOXOXOXO

JReed

Ginny_B said:

The website is actually
The website is actually moving today - wow! Normally, I can't even log in. Ok on Friday I'm in the hospital getting a scope-guided C-spine root nerve block on C5 and C6 (I think it's those two). I'll be in la la land when Don is having his scope. You hang in there, remember to breathe! I do hope you can get some good answers from the scope! XOXOXOXOXO

Oh Ginny!
Hey Ginny,

I sure will be thinking about you too. Hoping and praying all goes well for you and you can get back to racing that vette real soon! I love your spunk sister!

Hugs and FEC,
Judy