mom needs help after stomach surgery

[Amythest]

I would appreciate anyones help on this one. My mom had a gastric bypass in March and she is not doing well. Even after 3 months she is not able to hold much of anything down. She was diagnosed with MSRA and I think that might be the problem with her throwing up alot. Can anyone help me with some herbal possibilities for her to try so she will be able to hold something other then a little bit of water and a few small teaspoons of baby food down?

[Nova]

Thought I'd bump this with a little more info.

I think by MSRA you mean MRSA, a type of antibiotic resistant staph infection. If you, Amythest, have a weakend or abnormal immune system you will need to be careful around your mother and be sure to wash your hands frequently. It is almost certain she picked it up at the hospital.

Whoever diagnosed her with it should be following up and it will be best to let that person decide how to proceed with her treatment and diet.

I'm sure it's very difficult for you - but I don't recommend trying to treat with herbs since the cause of her nausea is unclear. The best thing you can do is stay positive and make sure she gets as much clear fluid as possible. Water, mild clear juice, chicken stock. If that doesn't work your doctor has other options - intravenous etc.

You could try some sublingual (liquids placed under the tongue) vitamins to boost her immune system -- most of them are hold for 30 seconds and swallow - but she could hold and spit. Some are also made to dissolve in the mouth.

[Scarlettvixen]

amethyst why did she have the bypass?
its not abnormal for there to be a nausea and vomitting
but i would have thought it should have settled by now
most patients that i have seen should be eating small meals
if she cant tolerate that try some high energy drinks

MRSA is a multi resistant bug
she may have caught it in hospital or she may have been on antibiotics for a while and her bugs have become resistant
if her wound is broken down expose it to sunlight but dont get it burnt

[Paije]

Im sorry to hear that your mother is doing poorly or in my late coming was doing poorly. How is she now? Do you know if the surgery she had was a hemicolectomy? Does she have a bag on the outside of her stomach or intestines? What is her age? What other medical condition does she have, if any? All this will play a part in how well she recovers. Another thing that needs monitoring is her Magnesium levels and her protien intake. These are required for healing in the body. If she is not improved by now, I have some suggestions just let me know either here or by emailing me volklpaige@yahoo.com.

Blessings to you and her both,
Paije

[Paije]

I should mention that calcium and magnesium work together, and as you know when women age we lose calcium. Also, does your mother smoke? that will cause delay in healing as well as nausea/vomiting with gastrci bypass.
After we performed a hellar myotomy on one of our patients, she was ingesting pureed foods within 3 days. Another pt we perfomed a hemicolectomy on was ingesting whole foods withing 1 week.

Blessings,
Paije

[Amythest]

Not sure of the term, but she had the banding done. She is much better now and is trying different foods, it has been a few weeks now since she has vomited. Although she has MSRA in her left nostril, but I found an herbal recipe that is helping that out some. It is a misting spray that she uses. My husband used it for his severe sinus infection and worked on him within only a few days the infection broke up and was well on its way to completely being gone. My mom has lost almost 180 pounds and her weight loss has slowed considerably, as it does with most weight loss plans or programs. Now she is down to about 5 pounds a week. Though her surgeon stated that she was borderline mal-nurished, but we are working on that too. My mom use to have diabetes and took glucose medication for that, but now she uses just strictly diet to control, she has stopped most of her medications that she was taking before her surgery. There is one medicine that she can never stop taking though. I dont' remember the name of the disease, it is oriental term, but it destroyed her thyroid, so she is on that medicine for the rest of her life. She has 4 collapsed discs in her back and must take a strong pain killer to get through the day. I have been working with her on regiments of multi-vitamins and other supplments to help her with her progress, it is working well but her diet needs to become more varied before more progress can be done. Will keep you posted on this.

[Amythest]

I'm sure it's very difficult for you - but I don't recommend trying to treat with herbs since the cause of her nausea is unclear. The best thing you can do is stay positive and make sure she gets as much clear fluid as possible. Water, mild clear juice, chicken stock. If that doesn't work your doctor has other options - intravenous etc.


We found out why she was vomiting. It is psycological. She convinced herself that after the surgery she wasn't going to be able to eat. We have worked with her on this issue and she is doing much better now. The reason I am working with herbs for her is that she asked me too, and they seem to be helping better then the perscriptions that the doctor was giving her. She informed the doctor that I was helping her with herbs and he said it was fine. I appreciate your concern on this, but if the doctor didn't like the idea then I wouldn't be doing it. She has come around rather nicely with the herbs and supplements. Matter a fact the doctor is impressed with her recovery now considering the struggles she was going through for so long. Will keep you posted.

[Sun Sprite]

Most people I have known who had the gsatric bypass were miserable and seriously sick for months afterwards. Glad she is doing better. Do you know the size stomach the doctor left her? Usually it ranges in size from a teaspoon to half a cup. If the person eats more than that, they get sick. I can forget to eat for days at a time, but even I eat more than half a cup of food at a time.

Best wishes,

Sun Sprite