Ben's Surgery

So I posted a while ago about Ben and his chronic swallowing problem.  He had to go to the ER a few weeks ago because he had a vomiting attack where he had chest pain and he just kept dry heaving over and over uncontrollably.  The following week, the hospital told Ben to have an esophagram test done, which is where they make him swallow a radioactive barium solution so that they can watch it go down.  The barium test showed that at the base of his esophagus, where it connects to his stomach, his esophagus narrowed almost to a point, so that almost nothing was able to pass through to his stomach.  After another couple of appointments, the doctors diagnosed Ben with achalasia, which is characterized by the malfunction of the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach.  It causes the food to get stuck in the esophagus, and basically back up until it is vomited out.  It affects about 1 in 100,000 people a year, and its causes are unknown.  There are a few temporary fixes available, but the only permanent solution is to have surgery done.  The surgeon in Casper worked with my mom so that Ben's surgery could be done before she had to fly back to Qatar on the morning of August 31st.  Ben was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, August 30th. 

All the symptoms fit exactly with what Ben has been experiencing for the past year.  Ben has had countless tests done over that time period, and everything showed up negative.  Finally the doctors told him that he had anxiety and that it was manifesting itself through this physical problem.  So Ben has been staying with us all summer with no change in his physical state, other than he lost more and more weight.  He lost a total of 95 pounds from his starting weight.  When I took him to the ER, I was so worried about him.  How would he be able to have a normal college experience with this hanging over his head all the time?  What if he had another vomiting attack? How would he get to the hospital? But the Lord knew that unless Ben went to the ER, we would have never taken him to any doctors except psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists. So it was a blessing in disguise, although it didn't feel that way at the time.

My mom and Ben left on Monday the 29th right after dropping Hallie off to her first day of school.  They drove to Casper for a pre-op appointment prior to Ben's surgery on Tuesday. Ben went into surgery Tuesday morning at about 11:00 AM.  He had a Heller myotomy performed, which basically means that they cut the muscles of the sphincter, allowing food and liquids to pass into the stomach.  Luckily for Ben, it was a laparoscopic surgery, which means they blow his stomach up with air and make 5 small incisions, then insert cameras and tools into the holes so that he doesn't have to have a massive cut across his stomach. The surgery went very well and by about 3 PM, Ben was moved into his hospital room.  After surgery, they wanted to keep him in the hospital for at least two nights.  Unfortunately, my poor mom had to fly out of Salt Lake the next morning, so as soon as I arrived in Casper, at around 3:00 on Tuesday, she had to drive the four hours back to Green River to get everything packed and get ready to leave early the following day. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stick around afterwards, so I volunteered to go be with Ben while he was in the hospital until he was able to come home. 

So this week has been extremely busy! I compiled a Primary program, printed out all the kids' individual parts, distributed them, and then drove around for three hours Monday afternoon delivering all the parts to the children who were absent on Sunday.  Also on Monday was Hallie's first day of school, which was rather emotional.  Also on Monday I baked 4 loaves of Amish Friendship Bread, supervised the cleaning of my house (it was so great to have Matt, Jess, and Scott to help!) and did about 7 loads of laundry so that all the clothes would be clean when I left for Casper. I was supposed to pack on Monday too, but I didn't quite have the time to get that one checked off. On Tuesday, I took Hallie to school, put away all the laundry, and then my aunt Jane arrived to take care of my kids while I was in Casper. 

A big thank you to Jane for taking care of my kids, thank you to Marla for taking Hallie to and from school, and a big thank you to Shannon and Shane for opening their home to me in Casper.  I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive family! Thank you to Luke and Jack Hardy, who were making their rounds in the hospital for members of their ward in Casper, and stopped in to see if Ben wanted a priesthood blessing.  It was such a nice blessing and so thoughtful of them. 

Ben did great in the hospital, although after two days, both of us were ready to get out of there.  Since I had a lot of sitting time, I was able to finish the baby blanket I am working on, so it was a productive trip in more ways than one! :) We were able to leave the hospital at around 1 PM on Thursday and we drove straight back to Green River.  I barely had enough time to get Ben settled at home, then I had to run to Zumba at 5:30.  Then at 7:00 I had a Primary meeting which lasted till about 9:30.  Whew! It has been a busy busy week.  Ben is staying with us for the weekend, and by Tuesday he should be ready to return to his classes at the college (he has Monday off for Labor Day).  He is recovering well, and is in excellent spirits as long as he has his pain medication.  We are all so grateful that this struggle is finally over, none of us more so than Ben!