Flanagan Clan

As some of you may already know, I had an accident occur on Thursday, November 17th. I went in to see a gastroenterologist about a problem I was having with getting food stuck in my esophagus. They were planning to do an endoscopy to see what they could find and during the course of that routine procedure my esophagus tore. I was immediately sent to Good Samaritan Hospital to their ER, from where they decided to transfer me to the ER of Virginia Mason in Seattle. That night I went through a second endoscopy to attempt to place a stent in my esophagus to allow it to heal, however the next morning it was revealed that the stent had traveled to my stomach at some point during that night. So… I ended up having surgery on Friday afternoon to have the stent sewn into place (temporarily- it will come out Jan 5th in yet another endoscopy). I also had a feeding tube and a “G” tube placed in my abdomen- the feeding tube to allow me to have nutrients while my esophagus healed, and a G tube to help relieve pressure in my stomach and hopefully prevent me from throwing up too much. I spent a week in the hospital and was finally released on Thanksgiving. I am on a strict liquid and puree diet until further notice from the doctor, and most of my meals are coming from tube feedings at this time. I will be going back to see the doctor tomorrow for a chest x-ray to make sure the stent is still in place and hopefully to remove the G tube, since I am not having issues with nausea anymore. Unfortunately I had to wean Lizzie onto formula, due to the toxic nature of the drugs I was taking to my breast milk, and so in addition to healing from surgery I’m also dealing with the shock of quitting breastfeeding. I am thankful that the surgeon who has been caring for me is considered one of the top doctors in the nation for his work with esophageal issues, and I hope that I will be back to normal very soon. Once the stent is removed I will be placed on a liquid narcotic for my esophagus, as I have been diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, which is what caused the tear to occur in the first place. Right now I am still weak and cannot lift more than 10 lbs, so we have had to rely on the help of others, and I am very thankful to all our friends who have helped us in this difficult time of need. If anyone has any questions about what happened, I’d be happy to answer them to the best of my ability!