Barium Swallow Tomorrow

I am a little nervous about the barium swallow tomorrow. I have not been keeping solids down very well without prevacid and carafate. I am worried I will vomit up the barium.... We shall see how it goes!

Just a heads up... if they make you swallow the crystals that create gas in your pouch/stomach before they have you start drinking the barium, be sure to "remind" them that, as a RNY patient, you only need a half dose since you ahve a tiny little pouch!

I routinely spit the barium back up (I have had to do it twice since my RNY and threw it back up both times).  The good news, though, is that 1) if you can just delay the urge, it will probably pass quickly as the barium goes through the pouch  2) even if some of it comes back up, some (or most) of it has already passed through your pouch (and then cannot come back up).  Just ask them if you can have a basin handy, and try to focus on your breathing (it helps reduce the urge to vomit).

Lora

Thank you sooooo much for the words of advise.

I have no words of advice other than what the above poster said: have a bin handy! I had to drink the crap they give you for a cat scan and had to argue with the lady when she told me to drink 24 ounces in 30 minutes... some people should  really look at patient charts before they tell us we "have  " to do something that is physically impossible for our bodies LOL

Best of luck to you!

Good luck... I hope it goes well.. what are you having that done for?

Just wondering how it went...

Lora

Thanks for asking! It went fine... I had my first run in with doctors and nurses that disagree with this type of surgery. It was awesome, because I actually got to see what my pouch looked like and it is very small.... WOW! I have to wait for my doctor appt at the end of the month for the results.