Dr. Rasmussen 16 Week Follow-Up and Current Counts

I meet with Dr. Rasmussen and we go over everything that has happened in the 3 weeks since I have seen him last and he is so quiet. He has several different ideas of what could be going on and several different approaches we can take. He seems a little more hopeful (but still very concerned) than Dr. Frech. 

The first is that my pouch (2 thumb sized stomach) has stopped functioning. The second is that I can take acid proton pump inhibitors (which have proven effective for roux-en-y operation patients). The third is to mix water with my food to move it through the pouch faster (this is a big no-no for post-op gastric patients). He also says mechanically that everything appears to be fine—which makes him think the surgery needs to be re-done. 

He can remove another thumb size of my pouch, leaving me with a pouch of just 1 thumb size. I tell him to take out the whole thing; I am so tired of this. I explain my concern that I feel like the surgery fixed the bile-reflux gastritis but in turn has created a whole new set of problems, to which he agrees. He also doesn't want to wait 2 weeks to decide about doing a feeding tube, he will decide in a week. So for one week, I am to take an acid medication and try drinking water when I eat and to eat as much as I can tolerate to avoid the feeding tube. I see him in a week to make some decisions.

Current Counts since Surgery: (4 months)

CT scans: 2

X-rays: 6

Labs drawn: 8

Needle sticks: 43

Hospitalizations: 3

ER Visits: 3

IV therapy visits: 7

EGD/Scope with dilation: 4

Dr.’s office visits: 12