November 11, 2008 I am now at 211 pounds appropriate for 11/11/08! So exciting to see the weight coming off more regularly. I notice when I DRINK lots of water (MORE water) the weight DOES come off faster…I need to keep focusing on it! My BM’s are back to normal, David had the flu I had a touch of a cold/flu linger for a few days-it drained me and I had headache body aches and fever etc but NOT as bad as David and others --I attribute that to all the vits I am taking.
Dr Inman made my stomach at surgery 4 ½ oz it is obviously stretched -as at 4 months out I can eat a LOT –for Breakfast yesterday had 2 eggs on toast, lunch I ate 5 ½ oz of deluxe chicken salad with additional pine nuts, raisins, and half a chopped apple, wrapped in 1 full low carb tortilla YUM!…Dinner, 6 oz of beef tips PLUS mashed potatoes and gravy! When I get full I have a burp or hic cup. I Know to STOP! Anything over that and I get over full and feel awful. I get hungry every 2 hours like clockwork. Fixed a “mug chocolate cake” for a snack ate over half of it, ate a full apple with caramel dip yum ate some protein cereal and protein chips but they both gave me AWFUL gas as they have in the past…I will wait and try them again in another month or so…I invested a lot of money in them had to buy a dozen at a time…they are good but they gas is not worth it.
In short I am LOVING the DS I have SO much more energy, no asthma at ALL since surgery, my hormons are coming back having hot flashes again but could have been the flu..I can SEE the weight loss in myself. THAT is a good feeling! I thank God that I had it and all has gone so smoothly. I would have it open again in a heartbeat and recommend it open to others. My Common Channel is 65cc short even with the larger stomach but I am SO thrilled. This is the smallest I have been in over 20 years!!

Even though my DS surgery date was July 9 I am technically 4 months out today. SO time for an update...I am having a colonoscopy today even though all my Bowel problems are passed. I returned to normal BM's back in October THANK THE GOOD LORD! But they had already scheduled me for the colonoscopy to be "safe". Going 13 hours without eating or drinking after midnight is VERY hard on a DSer,

I have lost 61 pounds-3 clothing sizes and 57 inches in 16 weeks. January 2007 my highest weight was 305; it took me a full YEAR to lose 51 pounds now I have lost 61 pounds in 14 weeks LOVE the DS!! I now see that the more water I can get in the better I lose. It is all still an adjustment to try to get all the vits, protein and water in. I can eat a LOT of food...I ate a 6 oz steak a few bites of potato and salad last week at a restaurant. I shocked myself! She made my tummy 4 ½ Oz...everyone else is much smaller...but my Common Channel is shorter than most...only 65cc. SO I guess it evens out...I don't mind eating normally and large amounts just don't want to gain the weight.

I am HUNGRY all the time!! I never felt hungry nor full prior to surgery but NOW feel driving hunger and must eat but also can feel full. Once in a great while I will still eat that one bite too much and need to get up and walk for about 20 minutes then I am fine. I eat about every 2 hours!

That is why this colonoscopy is so hard on me...I am SO thirsty right now and hunger pains but the procedure isn't' until 1 PM today...will be 13 hours without food or water HARD for a DS patient.

I have had some wow moments in the past month. There is actually distance between the steering wheel and my belly! I can bend over and have crossed my legs occasionally without realizing it! My husband told me last Friday that he was looking at me across a huge room and had to do a double take to make sure it was me. Another friend patted my butt and said "it's disappearing!" She is RIGHT ...my underwear doesn't have any place to "hang" on to!!...My butt now goes straight into my leg!! Talk about redistribution--- my body is really changing..

My abdomen is still bumpy and mis-shaped from the surgery the incision had started out between my breast and I couldn't wear a bra for 4 weeks but now the incision has drifted down about 3" south. My belly button is much lower and "closed" can't even see it. Got the batwings but I am so thrilled to be losing weight. I have not weighted 215 pounds in 25 years and have not worn a size 18 in OVER 25 years!

I still have a long way to go but a good start at 16 weeks. No complaints. I would do it open again in a heartbeat!

Sigh….my body REBELED at my colons gift…decided to return the gift without my permission!! I am now back today with the “mush” had 6 MUSH BMS….this morning between 5-7 AM…sigh…was sure nice for a bit yesterday to feel normal (almost!!) I had 5 NORMAL solid and semi solid BM’s Thursday evening!! SO got a lot cleaned out!!
The Pain is there but hardly noticeable not bothering me much but I think it has spread..feeling it more all over now when it comes.
I am taking the “cramping” med instead of the pain…I think the cramping one puts me to sleep though….
I did LOSE some weight down 2 pounds from a week ago…So I have ‘reached” my first goal of 50 pounds lost since July 9th surgery…That is GOOD and encouraging!! Been reading so much about all these other folks losing 20 pounds a month…getting to their goals in 6 months…makes me a bit depressed.
Today I noticed how VERY tired I am feeling……I know I need to add the iron but not sure what brand type etc. there is SO much info out there it gets confusing...being on drugs doesn't make it any clearer!!

Today is my birthday and my colon gave me the best gift ever! Today for the first time in almost 6 weeks I had a normal BM! AND I was pain free for the first time since September 1. I had a CAT scan Friday and got worse over the weekend the pain was increasing to the point of feeling my gut would explode. I called the doc first thing Monday morning to get the colonoscopy scheduled as she had requested on Friday but when she realized the pain was worse she said I could NOT have the colon exam as it could tear the colon...So she wanted to admit me to the hospital...I asked for her to just see me instead she said go to the ER...I did spent the entire day there Monday the 15. They all agreed the CAT showed something in the gut but not sure what...again he was going to admit me to find the cause of the pain and DHR..Of course NO more DHR the rest of the day!! I had to stop 2 times on the way to the hospital to have DHR!! But all done by the time I got there!! SO they couldn't get a stool sample. After a day of IV and trying different drugs 2 bad trips and one good response to a drug...a very caring concerned doc (who took time to sit down with me, question listen and think)...Found the answer to the puzzle...
I had been given a 3 day course of Antibiotics back in early Aug. My DS surgeon wasn't informed so didn't know I had been on antibiotics. The 3 day course of Cipro killed all the good bacteria in my new gut which was trying to heal...that threw me into DHR which caused inflammation and MORE DHR and led to server pain.
He changed my antibiotic and gave me two more RX with it...With the correct meds...today was my first pain free and regular BM day..What a lovely gift my colon has given me!!! Lesson learned: always make sure your DS surgeon KNOWS everything the PCP is doing!!

I had been up ALL night from 12 midnight -5AM with DHR...worst episode lasted a FULL 25 MINUTES!!! I was so drained...and belly hurting/sore...The belly pain which really became constant and noticable on Sept 1 when I was laughing so hard I cried...has been getting worse daily this week. I noticed yesterday that it had began hurting to lift things like a cooking pot or to put my left arm above my head, to bend over, move, sleep flat or lay on my side and hurt to stand! In short it was tender and hurt but was very localized in a small place a bit smaller than a tangerine.
I called the docs office at 8:00 AM today to leave a message..as the pain got worse I called them back again at 9AM. They said they would contact the doc and let me know. They called back at 10 AM and told me not to eat or drink anything and that they were making arrangements to get me into the hospital for a CAT scan of the belly...She said she would call back again with the time...I waited until about noon when she called and said get right over to the hospital as soon as you can.
I called David to let him know and he said he wanted to go with me his work is pretty much on the way up there so I just stopped by and picked him up...By the time we got to the hospital it was about 1:30 PM we were there until 7:30PM.

Dr Inman literally ran by me on her way to a surgery and said she wanted me to wait at the hospital for the results and she would call me as soon as they knew anything.

They put an IV in my arm to do a Contrast CAT scan test...I also had to drink 20 oz of orange barium over 1 ½ hours for the test...I sure didn't' think I would be able to do that...normally it takes me 3 HOURS to get 20 oz of liquid in...but I pushed and choked it down...it wasn't bad tasting too sweet for me but just too full!!
The test itself only took a few minutes MUCH more prep than test time!! The gal was nice said that the IV dye would make me feel flushed...I said I am use to hot flashes...suddenly it felt like I had WET myself....I must have looked shocked she said do you feel the flush...I said no I feel like I wet myself!!! She said NO that is the flush...I said you NEED to tell people it is DOWN There I expected it on my FACE not the opposite end!!!! Very uncomfortable feeling!!!
The test was over in minutes...They would not allow me to leave, eat or drink etc in case I needed more tests.
So we waited another few hours for the radiologist to read it give his report and someone to contact Inman...Then Inman phoned the desk they gave her the results and she asked to speak to me on the phone—She said I had a very bad inflammation in my colon-- NOT anywhere near where she did the surgery (But I think it was caused by the surgery--- stuff being irritated and rearranged)....anyway she said it was very inflamed and they needed to find the cause for the inflammation and get rid of it before it got worse...(DUH too late!) but she meant worse not as in the DHR and pain but turned into something worse.... She said her partner Dr Evanston would do a colonoscopy on me--- BUT that I would have to call on Monday to get the date and time...She said that is the cause of both the DHR and pain—Since the DHR has been ongoing for 5 weeks and the pain getting worse over the past 12 days...it has really worked itself up and been a long time coming hence getting worse each day.
She said over the weekend she wanted me to continue the Flagyl even though it doesn't seem to be helping at all...I am having more and more trouble trying to swallow it I think my throat may also be inflamed again from the pre condition I have LRP She said to add Pepto bismo to the other meds and vitamins until the test when they can figure out what to do to treat it the best way.
EVEN if I had to live with the DHR for the rest of my life I am still glad I had the open DS. Don't want the pain NOR the FLAGYL though!!!