The underlying cause of Cindy's "health scare" during the last two months of 2013 is due to a hiatal hernia and her stomach being twisted. She is in danger of having the blood supply to her stomach being cut off. She went to a surgeon (Dr. Kwan - see below) today who was confident that she would be able to successfully untwist and move Cindy's stomach out of her thoracic cavity and repair the hiatal hernia using Robotic Laparoscopy. Below is a picture showing the hernia (on the left) and Cindy's stomach (on the right).
The hernia is basically a hole into the thoracic cavity through which her stomach traveled to. Her stomach is pushing against her right lung (giving her only 40% breathing capacity) and making her heart work harder. Last Friday (3/28/14) Cindy's heart had an irregular heart beat (rate of 178) which sent her to the emergency room. They gave her a shot of digoxin - and some pills for home - which helped her heart but interfered with her oxygen absorption. She was feeling confused during the weekend and was back in the emergency room the following Monday where they took her off the digoxin. She is feeling much better now. Cindy is also anemic and will have a colonoscopy this Monday (4/7/14) to see if there is any internal bleeding.
As long as Cindy's labs and the results of the colonoscopy are all good and the Pulmonary doctor agrees that Cindy is healthy enough, the surgery will be in six weeks. She expects to be in the hospital for about 2 days. Recovery at home should last about 2 weeks.
Meet Dr. Kwan:
Cindy says that Dr. Kwan reminds her of Dr. Christina Wang of Grey's Anatomy. Let's hope she's right.
The hernia is basically a hole into the thoracic cavity through which her stomach traveled to. Her stomach is pushing against her right lung (giving her only 40% breathing capacity) and making her heart work harder. Last Friday (3/28/14) Cindy's heart had an irregular heart beat (rate of 178) which sent her to the emergency room. They gave her a shot of digoxin - and some pills for home - which helped her heart but interfered with her oxygen absorption. She was feeling confused during the weekend and was back in the emergency room the following Monday where they took her off the digoxin. She is feeling much better now. Cindy is also anemic and will have a colonoscopy this Monday (4/7/14) to see if there is any internal bleeding.
As long as Cindy's labs and the results of the colonoscopy are all good and the Pulmonary doctor agrees that Cindy is healthy enough, the surgery will be in six weeks. She expects to be in the hospital for about 2 days. Recovery at home should last about 2 weeks.
Meet Dr. Kwan:
Cindy says that Dr. Kwan reminds her of Dr. Christina Wang of Grey's Anatomy. Let's hope she's right.
 |
| Dr. Diane Kwan of John Muir Health |
Diane Kwan, MD is a board certified general surgeon, who brings highly specialized, advanced minimally invasive skills to Walnut Creek Surgical Associates. She is a graduate of Chicago Medical School and completed her General Surgery Residency at LSU New Orleans. Dr. Kwan also completed a Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland where she trained in advanced laparoscopy, bariatrics (obesity surgery), and robotic surgery. Her other interests include single incision laparoscopic surgery and hernia repair. Additionally, Dr. Kwan is fluent in conversational Cantonese.
