So, I know it's been awhile since I've updated everyone, but things have been a little hectic.

My husband is now in his 5th day of puking again. The last 2 days have been the worst so far! I hate it because he is hurting and there is nothing

that I can do to make it better. I wish I knew  of a way to make the pain and constant vomiting go away. He spent all but maybe an hour of our sons birthday in bed asleep or throwing up, but our son is such a trooper. He is 10 and he understands when daddy's sick, but it's so dissappointing when we don't get to share these special moments together. It seems like every holiday or birthday he is sick and I want so much for him to be apart of them and not be miserable!

The last 2 days my husband has vomited 37 times and has been in the shower 17 times (average 30 min). He says it helps with the nausea. but as soon as he gets out it's back to the same thing. Our hospital's here don't have the resources to help him and we have been told by several medical personnel that we need to go to a university hospital in Orlando (1 hour away, with light traffic) or Tampa ( 2 hours away) or Jacksonville (5 hours away). How do we do that and justify it when he has no doctor's there and no referrals and since they are not hospitals that his doctors works for, we can' gaurantee that he would even get the care that he needs. 

I think I am just stressed and in desprite need of a vacation! Thanks to everyone for listening (reading for that matter).

Here is my challange for those reading this, donate just $5 to finding a cure or even a suitable treatment for people with gastroparesis! 

So it's been awhile since I checked in last, but it sure has been hectic here. My husband is doing so much better since we got him on a regular medication schedule! It is so hard to get up 3 times a night to make sure he gets the right medication at the right time, but it is really paying off. He has been able to eat some regular food and has even been able to go into town (I say this becuase we live 15 miles from town in either direction). 

Don't get me wrong, he isn't 100% better, he is still nauseated all the time and his stomach still hurts often, but at least he isn't throwing up his guts! After speaking with Crystal Saltrelli, she has let me know that when he does get sick for hime to drink Pedielyte or Gatorade, Water is one of the worst things he could have when sick! Good to know, Considering none of the doctors have told us that and that is all he was drinking when he was having what I will call an "episode" for lack of a better word! 

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns you may have. If I don't have the answer, I have plenty of contacts I can ask!

Be Safe and God Bless!

So we have learned over the last couple of days, that if he misses a dose of Reglan then he is going to have a severly bad day...YIKES! The last two days he missed his middle of the night dose and spent the afternoon harking....yeah, I daid harking... He has had all his doses of Reglan the last 24 hours and has even had a small apetite...he has had a couple of sugar free popsicles, 2 eggs, and a sleeve of saltine crackers over the last 24 hours! 

We have also found out that the Glucerna isn't doing well with his stomach, we may have to try something else!

I have learned how to be a stronger person and to set the alarm clock every 3 hours rotating the Reglan and Erythromycin (has to take each 4 times a day)!

My husband has finally made it home today, but he still feels as though he is just an existence at this point. He has thrown up so much over the last 2 weeks that his body has litterally shut down and so he sleeps most of the day. He does have moments during the day and night that he is awake and we get to enjoy our time together.

I argued with him the other night because I couldn't understand why he wanted to leave the hospital so bad without being discharged from the hospital. I didn't know why he didn't want to get better! (Well that what I was thinking in my head). After talking with one of his friends (oh yes, sometimes in our relationship we have to talk to eachother's friends to really understand them) he explained to me that he just wants to be home in his chair with his family and not stuck in a bed at the hospital where they couldn't do much for him anyways. (oh yes, we have found out that our hospitals, and there's 3, don't have the resources needed to take care of gastroparesis patients and in the future we need to go to Orlando (an hour away) for hospital stays). I have had to come to the realization that I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE IS GOING THROUGH and all I can do is BE THERE! 

With him we are unsure how long we have because the autonomic neuropathy is quickly taking over all of his nerves, it has already affected is blood pressure and heart rate as well as all the digestive system. So, I have decided no more arguments, I want to ENJOY every moment we get with eachother!

On a positive note, the doctor is in the process of getting Glucerna covered by his insurance so that we don't have to pay out of pocket for the only meal he can have right now. That stuff is expensive ($11.84 at Winn-Dixie for 6-8oz bottles) That's $355.24 a month and for people who are living on a Social Security Income that is crazy!

That is all I have for you today, but remember, NEVER GIVE UP and NEVER PRETEND TO KNOW WHAT YOUR LOVED ONE IS GOING THROUGH, WE DON'T, SO JUST BE THERE FOR THEM!

My husband has just recently been diagnosed with Diabetic Gastroparesis and it has been hard to understand. Many doctors don't have information needed to provide patients and family members with. This is a debilitating disease that you've probably never heard about and yet it affects nearly 20% of all those patients with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. The information I have found has been through the internet and even that is limited for family members of those affected by it. 

Here are some facts:

It causes

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal Pain
• Heartburn
• Belching
• Dehydration
• Inability to digest food
• Gastroesphogeal Reflux
• Rapid changes in blood sugar levels
• Constipation
• Diarrehea
• Malnutrition
• Need for IV Therepy or Feeding Tube for nutrition

It's not in your head and it's something that doesn't go away! If you have a doctor tell you that you need to run the other way screaming! Throughout my research I have found many helpful websites and will provide links to all of them as I find them. It is in my opinion that you can never have to much information and in my experience as a caregiver we generally know more then the patients themselves. It is our responsibility to not only educate the community but doctors as well. 

There are only two medications known to help with the nausea and vomiting associated with gastroparesis and those have to be used carefully.

• Reglan-helps the motility of the stomach by allowing the muscles to contract and push the food through, however, please be aware there is a black box warning from the FDA as it has caused Tardive Dyskinisa (involuntary muscle twitches in face, hands, feet, ect) in many patients after a few months of use
• Erythromycin is also an antibiotic that when prescibed in small enough doses an also increase the motility of the stomach.
• Narcotic Pain Medications are not a good idea as they can slow down the emptying process so use things like Aleve, Advil or Tylenol instead.

When medications don't work then your limited. Medtronic makes a device called Enterra that produces electrical stimulation to your stomach and does require surgery for implanting. However this device is only used when medications have failed.

Also there are clinical trials for medications and devices and those can be found by going to https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

Please stay posted for more information!

My husband was vomiting suddenly but no all the time, so we attributed it to his nerves  and went about our weekend. By the time Monday came around he was in excruciating pain and couldn’t even keep water down. We rushed him to the ER at which time the doctors did labs and a CT scan all of which came back normal. We were told he may have gastroparesis and sent home with no explanation as to what this gastroparesis was. The next day he was still unable to keep down liquids so I rushed him back to the ER where they admitted him right away. The doctor that came in the next day again mentioning this gastroparesis (not much explained about other than it is a condition that affects diabetics) and that some tests needed to be done to verify. He had an ultrasound done, normal; more blood work, normal; was ordered a barium x-ray, couldn’t keep down the barium, and then an endoscopy, normal. After the endoscopy no one would talk to us. The gastroenterologist left before I could ask him anything and the admitting physician was nowhere to be found, even the incompetent charge nurse (would take her 45 minutes to come to the room when you hit the call button and got his medications off by more than an hour) couldn’t reach him. So finally after hours of no doctor I called in the nurse supervisor to get answers, he called the doctor and then I was able to speak with him on the phone. He told me that the only other test he could do was a gastric emptying test but since my husband couldn’t hold down anything he didn’t know what else to do. My husband was given some clear liquids which he held down for the evening so when the doctor came in the next morning we were given permission to leave and follow up with his physician that afternoon still without a diagnosis. Not soon after we left (while in the car) he starts vomiting violently again, and everything he had the night before came up. I attributed it to car sickness since he had been nauseated for so long and got him rested on the couch at home. He then did 4 more rounds of vomiting at which point I called the doctor’s office to see if we could get him in earlier, no luck. Then after vomiting 2 more times it was off to the closest emergency room. We were there for 4 hours with all the records from the other hospital given to them. It Took them 2 hours of those 4 before they got him anything to calm down the violent vomiting. The doctor came in and said his labs were normal (expected) and he wasn’t dehydrated and sent back home but this time with medication to dissolve under his tongue and to insert rectally. The night was long and we had several vomiting episodes but none as severe as earlier.

Finally on Memorial Day we had had enough and called the ambulance to take him to yet another hospital. He was admitted and finally has the diagnosis of Diabetic Gastroparesis and has been given reglan for the nausea and vomiting. It is now Thursday and he was able to hold down some eggs for breakfast. We were told that in order to do the Gastric Emptying Scan that he could not take the reglan as it increases the motility of his stomach and they need to be exact on how long the food stays in his stomach. He tried to eat some lunch and without warning the food came up again. We have decided that the scan will not be done as he needs the reglan at this point to be able to hold down anything. Waiting to see what tomorrow brings.