Gastroparesis! Huh?

I can almost hear you all say "Huh? What the heck is that?". Well here is the definition, as taken from Wikipedia:

"Gastroparesis, also called delayed gastric emptying, is a medical condition consisting of a paresis (partial paralysis) of the stomach, resulting in food remaining in the stomach for a longer period of time than normal. Normally, the stomach contracts to move food down into the small intestine for digestion. The vagus nerve controls these contractions. Gastroparesis may occur when the vagus nerve is damaged and the muscles of the stomach and intestines do not work normally. Food then moves slowly or stops moving through the digestive tract."

Did that help?

And if the food doesn't move down the stomach and into the intestinal tract, it sits there, builds up, and you constantly feel full, and since there is no peristalsis to push the food DOWN, then the slightest gag reflex brings it back up. It could happen for a number of reasons - three of which are all possible with Husband:

1) An operation in the abdominal region, which could damage the vagus nerve which controls peristalsis
2) Chemotherapy
3) Narcotic type drugs, eg, morphine.

Since this only really seems to have become a problem in the last 8 - 10 days, then #3 is the most likely cause.

The gastro doctor explained that normally the medication for this is basically just anti-vomit pills, like maxolon, or the uber-expensive Zofron. I told him our pain management doctor is going to give us another one, called Kytril, and he said, Yes, that would do just as well. My Dad is going to pick up the meds from her on Wednesday (with the Neurontin for the nerve pain in the arm).

I have written to the pain management doctor, to explain the situation to her, and see if she has any other recommendations to make.

Anyway, till this is sorted out, Husband is going to be living mostly on the Ensure protein drink (Thank goodness he likes it!), on rice porridge, and on oats porridge, though I have to make sure that both the porridges are nice and liquid. It also means soups are OK, and the soup from stews, but not carrots, which are harder to digest, or meats. I think potatoes, once they are nice and mushy as in any stew, are OK too. But, for sure, he has to take in very very small portions, and the minute his stomach tells him ENOUGH (and he seems to have learnt to recognise the signs), he has to stop immediately.

This also explains why it takes MUCH longer for the morphine pills to take effect. Usually, within half an hour of taking the pills, it has already taken effect. Now it takes 2 hours or so! To counteract that, when he takes the pills, I also have to give him some of the liquid morphine, as that gets absorbed very fast and can tide him over until such time as the pills kick in. Luckily NO MORE HALLUCINATIONS!

That's it for now. Please pray for Husband that the anti-vomit pills will work and that his stomach will get back to working again. OR that the pain management doctor can identify alternative medication that won't cause this side effect (though I hold out little hope of that).

Till next time everyone, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!