New Hope and Healing for Gastroparesis Patient
Living with Daily Nausea and Vomiting
“I couldn’t keep down my own spit or even water at times. I was going to the ER for fluids and labs—it just kept going and going and going.”
Daily bloating, nausea, and vomiting became a way of life for Tami Sallis. For three years, she felt trapped on a hamster wheel, close to giving up hope of ever living a normal life again.
“It was days and days where I couldn’t keep anything down. I’d have to go in for IV fluids and potassium. They discussed feeding tubes. I had several NG feeding tubes to perk me up and get me home. I even had home infusions for fluids. It just wasn’t a life.”
Tami and her husband, Jim, visited multiple medical facilities across Minnesota in search of answers.
“I was being told it was a mental thing—that it was anxiety—even after all the stomach issues I had dealt with over the years,” explained Sallis. “I was always filled full of fluids and sent home. Nothing was ever resolved.”
Navigating daily life became nearly impossible. “If we did have a social event, I would go out and order a soda or something to eat just so I had something in front of me. But I’d only eat one or two French fries and knew that was all I could have—or I’d be throwing up in the bathroom. I’d get the looks—‘Well, she’s thin; is it an eating disorder?’”
Finding Care at CRMC
Sallis, a Deerwood native, hadn’t been a patient at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in years since moving to Hibbing. But everything eventually came full circle.
“I ended up in the ER here when I was visiting my parents. It wasn’t a good hospital stay because I was so sick, but it was fantastic because everyone was so supportive. There was no feeling of, ‘Let’s just get you full of fluids and send you home.’ During my stay, I found our family practice doctor, and she said, ‘Let’s get you back with Dr. Loveitt.’ He started running tests, and never once did I feel like I wasn’t being listened to.”
CRMC’s Board-Certified Surgeon Andrew Loveitt, D.O., is a heartburn and reflux specialist. “It’s a really great opportunity to take a step back and revisit a patient’s entire workup and history. Often, by spending some time listening and putting the pieces together, we can identify something that has been missed and really change someone’s life,” said Dr. Loveitt.
“The abdomen is a huge galaxy to explore, but they just started checking off the boxes. I was eventually diagnosed with gastroparesis,” said Sallis. The rare medical condition causes food to digest more slowly than normal—or not at all—leaving patients nauseous, vomiting, and experiencing abdominal bloating and pain.
Treatment Options for Gastroparesis
“Gastroparesis is a very misunderstood and underdiagnosed condition, but we do have a lot of options to improve a patient’s symptoms. Avoidance or addition of certain medications can be helpful, but the mainstay of therapy is procedures that help the stomach empty more effectively. Most of these are done endoscopically (no incisions), and patients go home the same day,” said Dr. Loveitt.
“They did the pyloric and esophageal dilation twice. The first time helped; the second time didn’t help as much. So they suggested Enterra Therapy,” said Tami. The implant has been life-changing, helping relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with gastroparesis through a unique therapy called Gastric Electrical Stimulation (GES).
“I’ve been very pleased with the results from gastric electrical stimulation, especially in cases like Tami’s. It’s an effective therapy that we can adjust over time and is completely reversible if needed. It’s important to have all the tools in the toolbox, and the gastric stimulator has quickly become an important tool for me,” Dr. Loveitt added.
“In just a few short months, I put on 20-some pounds. I fit into my clothes again!” exclaimed Tami. “It’s not a cure, but my life has improved so much. It’s amazing that I went for three years living like I did.”
Learn more about Heartburn & Reflux solutions at CRMC.