DH is off to the hospital for some tests....

[TheOtherVillainess]

The last 6 mos or so he's been experiencing a lot of what he calls 'pressure' or 'moderate pain' in his stomach/upper GI area after eating certain foods. After bugging him for three months, he finally went to the doctor, who diagnosed him with Acid Reflux. Acid Reflux! At his age! He's only 28 for crying out loud. I thought Acid Reflux was an older person's disease.

Anyway...doctor prescribed some medicine that was supposed to help with the reflux but it didn't do much and he was STILL drinking Maalox and Pepto Bismol like they were water. Doctor decided to change his meds to Nexium, to see if that fixed it. Well..it did, sort of. Doctor's not convinced it's acid reflux now and had him set up an appointment to go get his upper GI X-rayed. Doctor thinks it MIGHT be a gall bladder problem and that he might have to get it removed.

I am really hoping it's not a gall bladder problem and that DH doesn't have to have surgery. He's NEVER had surgery...well..not since we've been together and I know that gall bladder removal is a fairly common procedure, but that doesn't stop me from being worried about what might happen.

I don't want to admit to DH how scared I am for him, especially right now when he's worried about it too. He doesn't want to go under the knife because he feels that he might never wake up from it. He's heard too many stories of death on the operating table I suppose...either that or watched too many episodes of ER. I am scared to death something will happen to him if he ends up having surgery and that I'll end up a young widow with a kid to raise all on my own.

I know...I'm probably being totally irrational, but it does scare me. Am I being crazy for being so scared about what might happen if he has to have surgery?

TOV

 

[Feralpeg]

Sorry to hear your husband is having problems. You are not being irrational. You can't help but worry. If it helps at all, I've had surgery 12 times. I was really scared at first, but I finally came to the conclusion that worry wasn't going to help. Thousands of people have surgery every day and the vast majority have no problems at all from the procedure. Of course, there are those that do, but they are in the minority. If he has to have surgery (which I hope he doesn't), just make sure you have a doctor that you trust. The odds are definately with him!

 

[KristaTX]

Sorry to hear your DH isn't feeling well. I've said a prayer for him. Let us know what they find out.

Krista

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I think he's more scared about the anasthesia than anything. He keeps telling me, "Well what if I end up like that woman [Olivia Goldsmith] who DIED from anasthesia?". I keep telling him not to worry, but it doesn't seem to help much.

He's only had surgery ONCE in his entire life...for his tonsils. Me..I've only been under the knife once as well..to repair a shattered elbow that occurred when I had a fatal run-in with a brick wall in gym class in 4th grade.


I'm really hoping he comes home this afternoon and tells me he DOESN"T have to have surgery. I would rather him take Nexium forever than have surgery.

TOV

 

[grinningghost]

Not that I know anything about it, but I believe that gall bladder surgery is pretty common. Hopefully he won't need it, but if he does, I've had several relatives (old ones) go through it and do fine. Good luck to him.

 

[Rajah]

Nope, Acid Reflux is definitely not an older person's disease. I've had it diagnosed for 2 years, and feel I've had it since I was about 15.

Won't surprise me if they'll come back and say he needs...oh, I'm blanking on the procedure name, but it's where they very mildly put you under and stuff a camera (minimal) down the throat to check out the problem further. My dad, best friend and I all had to have that done, and while it's annoying and leaves you with a sore throat, it's not bad.

 

[Kimberle]

No, you're not "crazy". Best of luck to your dh. I hope his dr's are able to "fix" the problem without surgery.

 

[nativetxn]

I hope your dh doesn't have to have surgery. The great thing about having your gallbladder removed these days is that you don't spend a long time under anesthesia (usually) because they use a laparascope to remove it.

I'm sorry he's feeling apprehensive about this.

 

[Rutt and Tuke]

Best wishes that it is something simple.

 

[browneyes]

Even babies can suffer from reflux. It's not really an age related problem. A friend of mine's dd has had to battle reflux since she was a teeny tiny thing. She's 7 yo now.

My SO had to have an panendoscopy last spring for his reflux. It scared him going in, but it helped him a lot. He takes Prevacid now (or he'll be starting it back today, he went off of it for about a month and is starting to have problems again).

Good luck to your dh.

 

[kilee]

Gallbladder surgery is starting to become done in outpatient settings at surgical centers (not hospitals) where they don't even put you out anymore. They have developed so many ways now to make it less invasive. Surgery is always scary. Just say a prayer, and know that in the end he'll feel better.

 

[Kristi1357]

I have been diagnosed with reflux since I was about 12. I am now on Prevacid and it is a lifesaver! My situation is a bit different in that I had surgery at birth to repair my esophagus and have also been diagnosed with achalasia. I have always had problems with reflux and swallowing.

Anyway, I have had 20+ endoscopies over the years. I was terrified about the first one when I was 19. Now they are nothing tom me - as long as I get my "happy juice!"

I also recently had my gall bladder removed. I was absolutely terrified since I had a 5 week old baby when I had the surgery. I just kept thinking what would happen to him and DH if something happened to me! Being scared about surgery is very normal. Everything went well for me and I am so happy that darn gall bladder is gone. They aren't lying when the say that a gall bladder attack is one of the worst pains ever!

Hang in there!
Kristi

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Well, he came home yesterday and said the worst part was having to drink this barium mixture so they could X-ray his insides.

Thankfully, though.....NO GALL STONES! Which I suppose means NOOOOO gall bladder problems...no surgery! Whoopeee!

Thanks for the Prayers and PD guys...I was really nervous about what he was going to go through yesterday, especially if they told him he needed surgery. Thankfully, the X-rays and sonogram came back fairly normal...he's just going to have to stay on Nexium or one of it's acid-reducing cousins for the rest of his life.

Whew....now I can go back to worrying about whether not I'll ever experience Braxton-Hicks contractions (which I haven't so far..or at least if I did I didn't know it) and what to pack for the hospital when the time comes.

TOV

 

[nativetxn]

now I can go back to worrying about ...

Nope. Now, you have to take a day off from worrying I'm glad your dh doesn't have to have surgery.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Good to hear no surgery, and hope he does well in the future also.

 

[Duchie]

That is good news!

 

[hockeymom7691]

Originally posted by TheOtherVillainess
Well, he came home yesterday and said the worst part was having to drink this barium mixture so they could X-ray his insides.

Thankfully, though.....NO GALL STONES! Which I suppose means NOOOOO gall bladder problems...no surgery! Whoopeee!



TOV

I'm glad to hear your DH doesn't have a problem with his Gall Bladder. I ended up in the emergency room two weeks ago with the worse pain in my life (yes, worse then childbirth) and they just kept me there for hours on a heart monitor not sure whether it was my heart or gall bladder (same symptons I guess). They didn't even do a sonogram because it was in the evening and they would have had to call some one in They sent me home four hours later still in pain but with a prescription. I was so mad!

I called my doctor the very next day and he scheduled me for a sonogram (without even a visit to him). It turns out that yes I do have gall stones and I see a surgeon on March 8th. I'm a little nervous but I don't ever want to experience that pain again! Unfortunately I woke up this morning at 5 am with some pain. Not as bad as the first time but enough that it woke me up.

Anyhow, like I said, I'm glad your hubby is ok and no more worries for you! Enjoy your pregnancy!