My Journey with MALS pt.2!

-

 



                                                                      MALS PT. 2

  After my first MALS surgery with Dr.Patel, things still did not quite seem right. Something seemed off. As usual, my family and I found ourselves searching around for a doctor who knows what MALS is and who can REALLY get me some relief. My mom stumbled upon a facebook group called 'MALS PALS'. It's basically a group of patients or families of patients who come together to talk about their MALS journey! Little did we know that this group would have such a huge impact. We came across a girl named LewLew who also shared her MALS story. She spoke about her doctor named Dr. Petty. We had already heard that name before but never realized how great of a man he is until we kept reading blog posts about him. My mom got in contact with other people who had seen Dr.Petty and heard nothing but positive things about him. We contacted him and he got back with us very quickly. We decided that it was best to take a trip to North Carolina to visit him. When I tell you I have never met such a pure man... he is absolutely amazing. It is obvious he loves his job and loves helping kids. Whereas my other doctors are obviously concerned more about the money since they get paid either way. But I have never met a man as kind and warm as Dr.Petty. He is efficient and soft spoken, he makes you feel like you're sitting on a throne and he gives you time to speak. I could go on and on about this man but words will not amount to how great he is! If it wasn't for MALS PALS, who knows when I would have been seen by another doctor. So, Dr. Petty had obviously heard of MALS and is aware on how to treat it. We had a few visits with him to talk about a potential surgery.. and that's exactly what we did.

  I'm sitting here now seven days post-op and I'm feeling pretty okay. Dr.Petty performed a huge five hour surgery on me on the fifteenth of this month (October). He removed some nerves that Dr. Patel missed somehow. He unattached and rotated my duodenum (first part of the small intestine) then reattached it. He also placed a GJ tube which is to help keep everything in place and to feed me! More about my post-op experience coming soon!

Comments

  1. JoshOctober 22, 2020 at 1:23 AM

    You've been through so so much but I know you can get through this. You're stronger than words could ever explain. You got this!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SMA, May-Thurner and Nutcracker Syndrome

-
Image
I not only have MALS, I have 3 other illnesses too!   Let's start off with SMAS. Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome is a condition that occurs when the duodenum is compressed between the aorta and superior mesenteric artery. This type of compression causes partial or complete blockage of the duodenum.  It is so rare that 0.013% of people have it!    Symptoms vary from person to person but I personally experience fullness, severe abdominal pain and weight loss. My weight got so bad that I went from 115 lbs to 93 lbs in a few weeks. I was so scared to eat because of how excruciating my pain was. SMAS is life threatening because someone can get so skinny and become so malnourished that it could kill them. I don't have to worry about that since I'm receiving my food through a feeding tube, not to mention I gained all my weight back!   Moving on to May-Thurner Syndrome. May-Thurner Syndrome is a rarely diagnosed condition where patients develop what is called ili...
Read more

My journey with MALS

-
Image
       For five years, I’ve been dealing with horrible stomach pains. Over the last eight  months, it has gotten worse. I first noticed my pain when I was about twelve years old.  My mom thought it was just growing pains so we shoved it off until one night I was rushed to the ER. I remember we had nachos that night so the nurse said maybe it was what I ate... I knew he was wrong though because back then, I was a bigger kid and I ate everything. I had never had a pain like this before. So they got an IV running and did a few tests and they found nothing. We went back home with my stomach still hurting. The only thing I found that helped the slightest was a heating pad. Little did I know that thing would become my best friend for the next few years ahead.    The more things I ate the more I realized that something was off. I used to always be able to eat queso and pizza. We cannot forget the pizza. But one night I had two slices and not three minut...
Read more