A mother's anguish relieved with gastric pacemaker
For 40-year-old LaNelle Carlson of Fargo, every day brought more of the same:
"Every single morning for the last couple years, I woke up to extreme pressure in my stomach and unforgiving nausea. Sometimes it would be after the noon hour before I felt halfway decent. It was then that I would look at the clock and realize it was time to eat. I knew our four children would soon need to be picked up from school and I needed to remain functional. I was barely able to tolerate any food by mouth, without it leaving me feeling sick, but as I said, we have four children and I needed to be there for them, so I did the best I could. I found a way."
"The simplest little tastes bring tears to my eyes because I had forgotten what so many things tasted like.
-LaNelle Carlson
Beginning in August 2003, a series of tests, appointments with MeritCare specialists and a hospitalization led to the diagnosis:
gastroparesis, a rare condition in which the stomach muscles stop functioning properly, sometimes to the point of stomach paralysis. Certain diseases such as diabetes can bring about the condition, but sometimes the cause is unknown, as was true for LaNelle. Medication can bring relief in milder cases, but LaNelle's condition was especially severe.
"I tried every form of medication offered to me with little or no success. I vomited numerous times daily. It was such a disruption to my everyday life, especially life with my family – my husband, Nick, and our four children, ages 11 to 17. It seemed everything that went down, came back up. It was terribly frustrating and not a healthy way to try to live. In April 2004, Dr. Timothy Monson at MeritCare performed a surgical procedure called a Nissen fundoplication. This helped relieve the vomiting, which I was grateful for, but the gastroparesis remained a serious issue. I continued losing weight, reaching a low of almost 100 pounds. I required the surgical insertion of a feeding tube to sustain my nutritional needs – to sustain my life."
For more than a year, LaNelle struggled to meet her nutritional needs through a feeding tube. But several complications arose, including trips to the emergency room, several surgical replacements of feeding tubes, serious infections and increasing difficulty maintaining nutritional needs. As her health slowly deteriorated and hospitalizations became more frequent, many individuals and groups rallied around – members from First Lutheran Church in Fargo, her son's Boy Scout Troop, Nick's coworkers from KVLY-TV 11, a group of nurses from MeritCare who became friends – and many, many others. They brought home-cooked meals to the family, provided transportation and extended a helping hand in any way possible.
"Each day as I endured the
crippling effects of gastroparesis, it
tore at Nick – my incredible
husband of 21 years. He has a deep
sense of compassion, and he
worried about me daily. When a
feeding tube had to be replaced, he
sat in the waiting room wondering
how many more times he would sit
there. He once stated that he
wondered how many more feeding
tube changes there would be before
there wouldn't be a 'me' anymore."
At one of her trips to MeritCare, she
learned of a new technology called a
gastric (stomach) pacemaker. About
the size of a stop-watch and patterned
after a heart pacemaker, a gastric
pacemaker electrically stimulates the
stomach wall, improving symptoms of
nausea and allowing a person to once
again eat normally and digest food.
"It's a relatively simple operation to
do, but you have to select the right
patient for it," says MeritCare surgeon
Dr. Bharghav Mistry, one of
approximately 50 surgeons in the
country who perform the procedure.
"Based on LaNelle's medical history
and the fact she had experienced so
many problems in the past year with
her feeding tube, it was clear she was
a good candidate. She very much
wanted her life back, and the gastric
pacemaker was the long-term solution
she needed."
"Dr. Mistry clearly understood
gastroparesis, and he understood
how hard it was for me to contend
with the daily demands of being a
full-time parent when suffering
from a full-time illness. He offered
me an answer – a miracle, in fact.
A way to bring some kind of
normal back into my life, a way to
make me a more functional parent
and person. He scheduled me for
surgery the very next week. I finally
had something to hope for."
On June 30, LaNelle underwent
surgery at MeritCare Hospital. Dr.
Mistry removed the feeding tube, then
implanted the gastric pacemaker. The
surgery involved inserting two
electrodes into the muscular wall of
her stomach, which were then
connected to the pacemaker placed
just under the skin in LaNelle's
abdominal wall. The day after surgery,
she felt the difference. LaNelle woke
up with no abdominal pressure, no
nausea. On the fourth day, she went
home and continues to enjoy nauseafree
days and steady improvement.
Even better, she's now able to attend
her children's events, eat meals with
her family and enjoy the simplicity of
a normal life.
"Since the surgery, I have been
able to wake up and step into my
day without being plagued by
severe stomach pressure and
overwhelming nausea. You can't
imagine what it's like. One of my
greatest joys right now is getting to
eat again – by mouth! Wow, I'm
enjoying the pleasures of it all over
again with such newness – the
simplest little tastes bring tears to
my eyes because I had forgotten
what so many things tasted like.
You can't imagine the gift of life
this stomach pacemaker has given
me. It has changed the quality of
my life dramatically, and it has
changed my family's life. Thank
you to all involved in giving me
this new lease on life."
For more information about gastric
pacemakers, call (701) 234-3400 or
(800) 437-4010.
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