Poison Papaya?

The tale of my harrowing recent healing crisis

I had a strange and unfamiliar experience this week. I woke up Monday morning feeling my usual self, and proceeded with my normal morning routines. At around 11am, I felt my first hunger and I picked a nice-looking ripe papaya off my fruit shelf. When I cut it open, the color was good but the texture was a bit unusual, with some streaks running through where the flesh was different – jelly-like, as if (in hindsight) the fruit was breaking down in those areas. The taste seemed normal, so I decided to put it in the blender (no seeds or peel) with a little fresh-squeezed lime juice. Over the course of the next hour I drank the whole papaya, and did a couple of phone sessions with clients.

By 1:30pm, I started to have persistent pains in my stomach. Within another hour, I was lying in bed unable to do anything else for the rest of the day. I became increasingly miserable, and finally in the very late evening began vomiting….many times. Strangely, this brought no relief! My stomach became very distended and hard, in spite of all the purging, and everything about it hurt – a lot. After many long hours like this, when I could hardly bear the discomfort any longer, I woke my partner Todd and asked him to take me to the Emergency Room. It was 3am, I was getting frightened, and I wanted a diagnosis.

The ER was the last place I wanted to be, so I did not go there lightly! They whisked me in, and a quick cat-scan showed a blockage in my upper small intestine - at least according to the radiologist who read the scan. The ER staff told me they would need to admit me to the hospital, and start an NG tube to empty my stomach and remove pressure to help the blockage to resolve, so that I could avoid surgery. It was apparently preventing my stomach from being able to empty into the intestines. I didn’t know what an NG tube was, but surgery certainly didn’t sound good! Sometimes the way I learn about maladies and their therapies is by experiencing them myself, unfortunately. If I had known everything about an NG tube, I probably would have run.

Todd and I were given a few minutes to decide whether to agree to have me admitted to the hospital for their treatment, or whether to leave AMA (Against Medical Advice). They warned us that usually what happens is that people end up right back in the ER with this type of condition. So, reluctantly, we stayed. Todd then went home to gather some things for me, and as soon as he left the medics came with the NG tube. The insertion of that big tube – up through my nose and down through my throat into my stomach (with no analgesic or anesthesia) – was one of the most painful and torturous things I have ever experienced. I was flailing and yelling, thinking they were surely breaking something in my nose, and potentially choking me. Really, it was that bad. I’m surprised they didn’t tie me down. And once it was all the way in place, it continued to cause excruciating pain in my throat and I just could not believe this was how it would stay -- I had no idea I would live with this in me like this for 3 days.

At this point, I shed a few sorry-for-myself tears, realizing how helplessly I was trapped with this outrageously miserable tube. Every swallow was torture, an act of sheer will power. I was moved up to a room and hooked up to other things, like I.V. fluids and a heart monitor. I inverted myself into some kind of quiet, inward coping state. I could barely talk with the tube in place, anyway. I eventually accepted some morphine through the I.V., and though it never reached the throat pain, it did bring a degree of relative relaxation which was much needed.

In the morning, a gastro surgeon came to see me. He said he had seen my cat-scan, and that he did not agree with the radiologist that it was an intestinal blockage, but rather inflammation – or enteritis. This was good news. He knew it would resolve, and that I would not be a candidate for surgery. He thought it very plausible that it was from some kind of food poisoning, likely from that papaya. He wanted the suctioning tube in place until it stopped bringing up so much fluid from my stomach, which would indicate my stomach beginning to drain on its own the proper way. I really had no idea just how much secretions our stomachs make that keeps them filling with fluids even when we don’t take anything in by mouth. So there I was for three long days, just doing my best to cope with the pain of the tube, and nothing allowed by mouth not even a sip of water, waiting for the pump to slow down its activity. I grew to hate the huge classroom-style analogue clock on the wall across from my bed, constantly reminding me just how slowly the time was passing.

Fortunately, the hospital staff were all wonderful, and as helpful and compassionate as they could be with my miserable situation. I had to silence my phone because of the endless stream of supportive texts from friends and family. Several friends wanted to visit me in my room, and I felt a little badly saying no, but this time in my life I was easily able to make a firm boundary for my protection. All of my energy was needed for coping with my situation. One good friend tried to have a get-well-soon balloon sent to me in my room, but was told that our community hospital in our little town was unable to fulfill that request. Even though I didn’t get the balloon, I really did appreciate the relative simplicities of our little hospital.

On the third day my body started to actively reject the tube. I started having painful wave-like muscle spasms in the esophagus and throat, as if my body was actively trying to push the tube out. I spiked a low-grade fever of 100.4 (at which point covid testing materials were brought in, but they let me refuse that). When the doctor was finally able to come in the mid-afternoon, he decided the tube could be removed. The pump was bringing up less fluid. Hallelujah!! The removal was very unpleasant, but not painful like the insertion. I was amazed to realize how long the tube was, all the way down into my stomach – the whole time I had somehow believed the end of it was caught in my throat! Within 30 minutes of removal of the tube, my body temperature normalized. My body really was mounting a fight against this large plastic foreign object.

I was brought water and juices, to test whether I would tolerate them. Thank goodness that I did. They soon brought me a dinner tray with Ginger-ale, jello, and grape juice. I accepted the grape juice and sent the rest back. I thought it was going to feel SO good to be able to drink something again at last...but my throat was so incredibly sore, it wasn’t quite the experience I’d dreamed of. Still, I relished it. I was so grateful to be free of that tube.

After the tube was removed, a friend sent me an article about NG tubes, showing that their routine use as standard of care for bowel obstructions may not be evidence-based. Here is a short excerpt (please see the link to the full article at the end of this blog-post):

“To summarize this: we have absolutely no idea if NG tubes help. There is just no quality evidence. The observational data actually suggests harm in longer hospital stays, longer time to resolution, and more complications, but the data is so weak it shouldn’t be trusted. We just don’t know. Some patients may benefit, but the observational data suggests NG tubes should not be used routinely.

NG tubes are very painful. They are routinely rated as among the very worst things that we do to patients. In a classic survey of admitted adult patients who had undergone various medical procedures, the NG tube rated at the very top of the list, with an average pain score of 8.8 on a 10 point scale This is clearly a harmful procedure. Patients consider it more painful than almost anything else we do in medicine. That harm means that we must have evidence of benefit before we can consider this practice ethical. At this point, there is no evidence, and therefore NG tubes absolutely should not be placed routinely in patients with small bowel obstructions.”

So, I survived one of the most painful medical procedures. Great. Not a claim I ever wished to make. Nonetheless, an experience that I had, and that I wish to share in case I can spare anyone else this unique misery. I’m not sure what my alternatives were however, and I suppose I will never know. Had I muscled through and stayed at home, perhaps it would have resolved on its own with sufficient rest (though with no I.V. at home, I would have had to dry-fast which can be dangerous, and my stomach would have continued to fill with natural secretions that could not empty).

Another friend sent me an article about the anatomy and function of the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine which is connected to the stomach (see link to this article below also). I believe that my body is ALWAYS doing its very best to keep me healthy and well, and this article really made me appreciate how my duodenum was likely doing its job to protect the rest of my digestive tract by not allowing poison contents through from the stomach. It got a bit inflamed working so hard to do its job, considering the conditions it was presented with. I not only forgive my duodenum, I thank it. I am grateful for all the ways my body showed up to protect and preserve my health, when faced with a real threat. I am grateful too, for the medical team who did their best to support me, even if I question some of their standards of care.

When to turn to the medical system, and for what, can be a tricky equation for those of us who care deeply about natural health and healing. Sometimes, their diagnostic tools and certain care measures are life-saving, and sometimes their treatments are harmful and even life-ruining. I do believe that the power to heal comes from within the body, rather than from external treatments or medicines. It requires great courage to trust this in times of crisis. And sometimes, our body, mind and heart can benefit from a little extra support. After more than 20 years on a simple raw vegan diet, my body is pretty sensitive to what is unnatural. Mostly, this is a great and protective blessing. Sometimes, it can make things challenging in today’s world.

Last night, I was finally in my own bed again. I slept hard, sweated a lot, and woke up with a pounding headache….detoxing from all the hospital protocols. I will spend another few days, or whatever is needed, on liquids only. My throat is very sore, and my voice is weak and crackly still. If I could turn back the clock and try the other route – not going to the hospital – I might do it just to satisfy my curiosity! As it is though, I will live gratefully with the knowing that I made the best decision I could in my time of crisis. I can’t know with certainty what caused my body’s distress, I can only go with my best hunch. And, as much as I love a good papaya, it’s likely I may look sideways at them for awhile.

https://first10em.com/ng-tubes-for-small-bowel-obstruction-more-pain-than-evidence/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/duodenum-anatomy-4780308#toc-duodenum-and-digestive-function