Delayed gastric emptying/vomiting

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Permalink Reply by Diane Vaughn on October 24, 2010 at 12:21am

Hi Carrie~

I don't have any personal experience, but I'm wondering why Brayden doesn't have a Nissen wrap, if y'all are having that much trouble with vomiting and reflux. I hope you get things figured out!

Diane.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Womack on April 19, 2011 at 6:56pm

My daughter has issues with gastric emptying and vomiting, too.  We use Farrell bags and we've had a lot of success with them.  

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Nelson on February 23, 2012 at 8:58pm

Hi Carrie 
I have experienced many of the things that you have described. Our daughter acc, seizures, non verbal, non ambulatory, g tube, slow emptying, vomiting etc. Keira is 18 got a g/j tube at 6. 6 months later we were able to get rid of j tube.  At 15 she began to have clubbing of her fingers and toes. The vomiting was day and night. No one had any ideas but finally I got our dietician to push the subject and got an internal med doc to do some tests. They found finally at age 16 that she had a hiatal hernia and large amounts of reflux. They did a fundo surgery and hernia repair and our lives changed. No crying, vomiting, and the clubbing has gone away.  Also Keira has had great success with the ketogenic diet that helps seizures that may have helped the slow emptying. I don't know but it doesn't seem to be a problem in the past 10 plus yrs. bless you hope this helps Sharon 

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Permalink Reply by Leslie Panico on March 17, 2012 at 4:23pm

Hello Sharon,

Our daughter is 32 and has had a Mickey Button since her spinal fusion in 1995.  We are having lots of bouts of vomiting lately, and were advised to do a fundo.  She has had an endoscopy, and from that simple procedure had severe crying for months afterwards.  No hernia was found.  Also, her seizures increased after anesthesia.  Dana has also been on the ketogenic diet, which helped the first time, but never did again.  I understand the fundo is a 3 hr. procedure.  I am in a quandary as to subjecting her to surgery (with the risk of seizures).  I'm assuming Keira didn't have these problems.  Anything you can offer would be appreciated.  Thanks much, Leslie.

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Nelson on March 17, 2012 at 8:11pm

Hi Leslie 
Wow, bless u all of these things are difficult to watch your child go through. When she had the g/ j tube put in did they do is lap scope or does she have a suture (sp)? If a suture is present it is more difficult to do the procedure And more painful. Do u think the seizure had to do with the pain? They may not have a good enough control on pain. Does she have clubbing of toe nails n fingernails? That would tell u she is having difficulty breathing n needs procedure. Is she on antacids? That could help to.  Do u feed with a pump or bolus, u might go to a pump n feed really slow to help the vomiting. I'm sure you ve tried these things. I wish I could help more. Keira hasn't had any seizures while a surgery is going on. We do though have humidified oxygen give to help with dry throat.  Sharon
Do u keep your daughter at home and do you get any help?

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Permalink Reply by Leslie Panico on March 17, 2012 at 10:44pm

Thanks, Sharon.  Yes, as you well know it is very difficult to watch our children go thru any procedure or trial.  Her g tube was inserted prior to her surgery, and I honestly don't know how it was inserted;)  No one ever asked me that question.  Dana's oxygen level has always been good, and she does not have clubbing of the nails.  She has been on antacids for quite some time.  We have tried both pump and bolus feeds, but since she cannot move on her own she develops so much mucous and now with allergy season starting, this also could make her condition worse.  We do find whenever she is in pain, she will have more seizure activity, and also breaks out in a "neurological rash" all over her body.  When she had the surgery in '95 they diagnosed that for me.  

We lost our insurance policy in March of last year, and they provided 24 hr. nursing services for about 18 years.  I went thru the Medicaid process, and they now cover 20 hours per day.  It is hard to get nurses for the rate they pay, but it is a tremendous help.  She also needs frequent cauterizations lately.  She attends an adult day treatment program, and her nurses accompany her there.

Blessings to you and Keira as well.  Leslie

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Nelson on March 18, 2012 at 9:37am

I refer to the oxygen after surgery, during the recovery, sorry. Do you have suction at home to help get rid of the mucous? The suction helped us to. I also forgot to mention that an upper GI procedure is what we did to identify the reflux and hernia. Then a nuclear scan identified the stomach emptying. Both of these scans aren't agreesive and do not need sedation.  If Dana doesn't have a suture then that means they did the g tube procedure without  being invasive that is good so doing laperscopic could be possible.  
Anyway sorry to here you lost your ins. And yes the state program payment does make it difficult to get help in our home ala well.

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Permalink Reply by Leslie Panico on March 18, 2012 at 2:51pm

Yes, we do have a suction machine at home. Thanks for the info on the tests. I will mention them to the Gi dr. Tuesday. Hopefully he will have some answers for us. It certainly helps to communicate with someone who has experienced the same circumstances. Thanks again for your help!

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