Jenn A.

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Today was pretty interesting.  I suddenly felt like I had a lot of energy.  I also was adventerous enough to go downstairs to the little eatery and get some food off of the salad bar.  The first few days at work I didn't eat anything, and then after that I was only eating the food I'd brought to work with me (cheesesticks mainly).  Today, though, I went down and get some cubed cheese, some kind of a bean mix, a piece of really moist diced chicken, and some mixed cheese salad.  It was pretty good.  Now though, I just ate some tuna and beans and my tummy is not happy with me!  I'm a bit worried that my stricture might be coming back.  Oh well, if it does, I'll deal with it. 

Tomorrow I'm planning on going to the gym if I still feel as good as I do today after work.  The first couple days back at work I was just too tired when I got hoe to really feel up to it.  Today I got home from work late and needed to get some class work done for my Master's classes.  Tomorrow... we'll see.

Wow has this week been busy!  I went back to work on Monday and everyone was apparently so glad to see me that they throw me off the deep end! LOL!  It was good to be back, but sheesh, give a girl a chance to reacclimate a bit!

Anyway, I found out on Thursday that I am being sent off to the Middle East for an assignment.  It's only a few days and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm worried too.  I am still having eating problems (crackers and cheese, yeah!  Any kind of meat, Nah!) and am wondering what I am going to do.  I'm afraid too that if we eat out or something I won't know what to order and might get something with sugar or that I can't eat.  I'm trying to figure out what to take with me...

Anyway, cheers to being over 50 lbs down!  YEAH!!!!  It's funny, but I had to adjust the mirrors in my car.  At first I thought I shrunk, but then I realized that I hadn't but my rear end had!  Not so much cushioning to sit on!

Well I am finally back at work!  It is good in some ways, but I pushed myself too hard.  I was exhausted and my stomach was hurting, but I stayed until 2:30 anyway.  You'd think I'd learn.  LOL!

Anyway, Thanksgiving was good.  I got to be home with my family (which, due to their dial up connection, kept me from updating).  My first day home I walked to my sister's house and spent the whole day holding my nephew Nathan.  He is such a joy.  Plus the walk felt really good.  On Wednesday, I went Christmas toy shopping with my dad.  We were on a mission to find the PERFECT toy for Nathan.  It was a really good time. For dinner that night, my mom, dad and I went to a Chinese buffet.  It actually worked really well for me.  I was able to pick little bits of everything I wanted.  I didn't even really feel like I was missing out on things.  Granted, I had this sick twinge when I saw someone with a massively loaded plate, but that wasn't as much longing as shock that I used to eat that much.  

Thanksgiving day was a bit more trying.  My family is a big "clean your plate" type.  My parents were good, but I felt like everyone else was staring at me.  Plus I didn't want anyone to feel bad, either because I was eating so little, or because I wasn't eating "their" food.  In the end, I was sick from eating too much and promptly got rid of it all.  The pain alone was excrutiating, not to mention the embarrasment of the whole thing.  Luckily, for "dinner" I was able to eat some of the chocolate peanut butter (sugar free) pie I had made.  I also had a bite of the sugar free berry bars I made.  Yum!

Friday my mom brought me back home to VA.  I made the mistake of thinking I could find things to eat on the way... NOT!  I learned that McDonald's has NOTHING I can eat, nor does any other fast food restaurant.  Instead, I ate the munchies my mom had brought -- pretzels and sun chips.  I was hungry and needed something, and there weren't any other options.  Next time I'll be more careful.

Saturday I went to see the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker with my Mom at the Kennedy Center.  It was beautiful!  We also ate at the K Cafe, and I learned I can find food at almost any restaurant and not feel like I'm being left out.  It was a good experience.  Sunday my Mom and I spent decorating my apartment (Yeah Christmas) and then today was back to work (and back home for my mom). 

All in all, a great holiday and a GREAT learning experience.

This morning I am feeling pretty good.  As gross as it is, I think having my "intake" hole stretched helped get things moving on the outtake side.  I hadn't gone to the bathroom (other than to urinate) for several days, and I also wasn't releasing much of the gas from my lap gall bladder surgery.  TMI, but it feels much better.  I think that was a lot of the internal pain.

I'm still on liquids for awhile, but I managed a little bit of soup yesterday and some cream of wheat.  The medicine Dr. Halmi gave me to coat my stomach really seemed to help.  Before that, in the hospital, I couldn't handle even drinking water, it seemed to burn.  Now I'm sipping on some yummy kool-aid and feeling like I'm back in Kings Kids at Church (youth group).

Cleo-Cleo (my deagle (beagle, dauchshund)) and I are heading home to Erie, PA tomorrow for Thanksgiving week.  Rob, my brother-in-law, is coming here today and will spend the night and we will head out in the morning.  At first, I wasn't too sure about Rob, but he's been really great with my sister during her really hard time.  She was pregnant with twins and got a corianic (sp?) infection.  She gave birth 4 months early.  One of the twins got NEC and didn't make it, but Nathan is doing very well now.  Rob has really been a godsend in all of this.

I'm a little worried about Thanksgiving dinner.  I don't think I'm going to miss out on the eating (I really am not that fond of Thanksgiving type food) nor will I miss out on the stuffed sleepy feeling.  What I worry about is my family.  I can just imagine the "don't you want some x?"  "you don't have nearly enough"  "How can a bird stay alive on what you eat?"  I'm also worried since the turkey will likely be rather dry and I'm not sure what else I should eat.  Maybe I can offer to help cook and use Susan Marie's advice of taking the drumstick temperature often to make sure it is juicy enough.  I don't really care for gravy, but I guess I'll add some to make it more edible.  Luckily, at that point, I'll be off liquids again, since that would've caused quite the stir!

So I wanted to leave a quick thanks for everyone for helping me these past few weeks.

For Dr. Tran for giving me this chance to gain my life back and for being there when I needed help.  I can't begin to say how much I appreciate your great "bedside" manner and your dedication

For Dr. Halmi for also giving me this chance,and for being there for me in the hospital, even on a Saturday morning

For Natalie, who has been such a great support in helping me figure out what I need to do, and how I need to do it

For Bridget, Ophelia, Renee, and the rest of the great nurses on the third floor: you ladies (and gentleman, Jim) are truly a godsend.  I don't know how you manage to do your jobs and yet still be such great people.  If any of your other patients needed you even half as much as I did, you really must have been running non-stop.  Bridget, Ophelia and Renee especially, thanks for making me laugh even when I had to hold my stomach because it hurt :)

So I just got home from the hospital, yet again.  This time I went in for a stricture.  The opening from my stomach to intenstine had shrunk so small that nothing (except a tiny bit of water) was actually making it through.  No wonder I was throwing up so much still!

Since Gall Bladder surgery last Wednesday, I thought I was doing pretty good.  The Nausea seemed much less, and I wasn't vomiting as much.  However, the vomiting seemed to be getting worse as this week went on.  I might manage breakfast, but then when I'd eat and vomit lunch, there would be breakfast still.  I talked to my doctor on Thursday when I had a regularly scheduled appointment, but I didn't mention how bad it was getting.  Thursday afternoon, though, I threw up and really hurt my stomach.  It wouldn't even have liquids after that particular bout.  I called my doctor and he admitted me to Potomac Hospital.

Since it was later at night, I had to, of course, deal with the wonderful Emergency Room staff.  I have the utmost respect for what they have to deal with, but if you are choosing to do something for a living, TRY to at least be somewhat nice to your patients.  Uggh.  My doctor told me to go straight to registration and they'd take me upstairs.  Well, registration didn't have my paperwork so I had to go to triage, who told me to sit and wait with everyone else (including the boy beside me in the chair who kept loudly vomiting).  Finally, my friend who had driven me in went up to the third floor (I know all the nurses there by now and most of them know me by name) and asked someone.  Instantly someone came down and got me signed in and upstairs within about 5 minutes.  Thank goodness for the great team of nurses on the surgical floor!  You are all such great women and men!

Once I got upstairs I was in for the night.  Jim, a really great travel nurse, managed to even get an IV in me!  The charge nurse told him to call the on-call doctor to do it since I was such a hard stick.  I was even scheduled for a central line the next day, but Jim managed to do it on the first try!  yeah for JIIM!!!!  The next morning I went for the endoscopy where they found the problem and used a balloon to inflate and stretch the outlet hole.  Now its about 7 times bigger than it was!

Today I had to get a few more bags of IV fluid in before I was allowed to leave since my stomach is being so tetchy about fluids.  I'm on a full liquid diet again, but I couldn't even find anything on the hospital's menu that my stomach would accept without it really hurting.  Dr. Halmi prescribed some medicine that should help that and will help prevent ulcers from forming where my stomach lining tore a little bit during the stretching process.  

Hopefully now I am finally done and will get on the path to being normal!  Dr. Halmi did say there is a possibility that I might get another stricture and have to have the procedure done again (this time I will ask for another sedative, since mine didn't work (though I did get to watch the whole thing which was pretty neat)).  Regardless, I'm glad again that there was an actual medical reason for my throwing up.  I was really beginning to worry that I was doing something wrong, or that it was psychosomatic.  I guess I'm still paranoid from an ankle injury I had about 7 years ago.  I walked on it and continued to throw (Shot and discus) even though it really hurt.  I threw in college, but it was really hurting me.  The trainers had all kinds of tests run and couldn't find anything.  They were finally going to call in a sports psychologist when they discovered that my bones were afctually rubbing together and had caused bone slivers throughout the area.  One major operation and reconstuction later, I was much better.  But that time of thinking I was nuts is still with me even now.  Anyway, hopefully this is the final thing and I will be happily and healthily on the losing side for the rest of my life!

So today was a weird eating day.  I wasn't hungry at breakfast or lunch (3 crackers and 2 small pieces of cheese and about 1 oz crab salad and 1 oz mashed potato) and then suddenly I was starving!  I had 4 crackers, a cheese stick, a hard boiled egg, a few cheese pieces and some fruit.  That was over a few hours (I guess you could say I had dinner twice, but Yikes!).    And then I got sick and ended up losing much of what I ate!

I went for a short walk today, but got tired.  I guess being only one week out of surgery I shouldn't expect to do a mile, but I'm still trying!  Looks like I'll still be out of work for Thanksgiving, which might be nice.  I'll be able to go home and see my new baby nephew Nathan again.  

That poor kid has had such an uphill battle, from being born 4 months premature to all the health problems that causes.  He is such a darling though.  I can't wait until he gets old enough to know I'm spoiling him!

Cleopatra, my puppy (who is in my avatar with me) is being a total slug today. She didn't even want to walk with me!  She seems quite content asleep on the back of my couch.

July 31, 2006

So I just got the call from the Doctor's office today and I have a date! September 27, 2006 will be the date with things officially begin to change! I'm kind of happy, kind of nervous, kind of ambivalent. I'm excited to be making this change, but nervous because I'm not sure what to tell people. I can just see everyone acting different around me, or as if I need to be pitied or something for choosing to do this. It seems like everyone else in my work environment is so slim and fit that they couldn't even imagine being me. I guess I'm afraid to say anything to them...

My family, on the other hand, is well aware of what it is like to struggle with weight loss. And I guess that's why I don't want to tell them either. My mother wouldn't understand why I don't just "work harder" or something. She's struggled too, but she seems to do a better job than I do. I've tried all of my life, but I just keep seeing those numbers on the scale creeping up!

Surgery wise, I'm not that worried, but I'm not sure how things are going to work out. I've figured out I can take the time off from work with only losing a bit of pay. I just don't know about how I am going to handle things on my own. I know I have friends who will help, and my family would, but I don't want to ask for it. I guess I'm stubborn like that. My boss at work is urging me to apply for a leave transfer program, but I'm not comfortable asking people to do that for me. This was my choice after all, there should be consequences...

The process so far has been interesting. I spoke to several PCPs down here and they all recommended having the surgery. I found Dr. Tran after he was also recommended, on this site and elsewhere. I called for an initial appointment, and had one in 1.5 weeks. I went to their office, met some great women in the lobby, and then spoke to hiim for about 20 minutes. I'd done a lot of research, so I really didn't have that many questions. He had me chose what surgery type I was interested in, and that was that.

I waited for about a week and a half until I called the office to see what was going on. So many on this site with BCBS said they had approval in a few days and I was going on two weeks! Turns out the office staff was backed up and hadn't sent my paperwork in yet. So I waited for another week or so and called again. This time they said they were waiting to hear back from the insurer. I called the insurer to see what was going on, and they had no record of the Doctor's office calling! I called the doctor again and the great lady in the insurance section managed to get it all figured out. That was Friday, and now it's Monday and I have my date!

Here's hoping it keeps going smoothly...



September 11, 2006

I have been horrible about keeping this updated! The surgery is still on for a little over 2 weeks from now. I've been very busy with the preoperative testing, as well as in keeping the rest of my life straightened out! My sister went into premature labor and gave birth to two beautiful twin boys. I spent a lot of time running back and forth between my parents home and my own (300+ miles away) these past few weeks as well. But I'm still excited and ready for this surgery!

When I was looking at information on the surgery, I couldn't find a listing anywhere of the preop tests required. As such, I'm including information on the tests I had to take and the other things I had to do to prepare *so far* in my profile. Hopefully it will help someone else!

Preop tests:

Blood work (this includes a urine sample and several vials of blood being drawn)

Pulmonary Function test (this involves breathing through a tube, huffing through a tube, a breathing treatment and a few other fun breath tests)

Arterial blood gases test: this involved having blood drawn from a vein in my wrist which was somewhat painful

Nutrition appointment: This was a meeting held at Potomac Hospital where the NUT went over the different things we would need to buy and take for the rest of our lives. I also had to pay 250 for this appointment, as it is not covered by BCBS FEP

Upper GI: This was a pretty gross test. I had to first drink a substance that was water mixed with fizzy crystals. It made me feel very full and very gassy, which the doctor had warned would happen. After I drank that and xrays were taken, I then had to take gulps of the barium, which tasted very thick and chalky. I also had to roll around on the x-ray table so that the substance coated my entire stomach. After that I had to chug a chalky water mix to test for reflux. Afterwards my stomach was upset and very not pleased with me.

Chest X-ray: Pretty straightforward

EKG: This was fast and easy. Monitors were hooked to my chest and recorded my heart beats.

Gall bladder sonogram: This was a bit hard, as it involved having the device pushed rather hard into my side, stomach and back. Overall, it wasn't too bad though.

All I have left until surgery are an appointment with my PCP for surgery approval, a one on one meeting with the NUT, the preop nurse interview and a final appointment with my surgeon. I'm so excited! I was able to find great FREE protein samples at a lot of sites, so I am trying them all to see what I want to buy for post op.

Only 2 weeks and 2 days to go until L-Day! (Loser day :) )


9/27/2006 LDAY!!!

This isn't actually an entry from that day, but since it's been awhile, I thought I'd start going back and listing the actual dates and events. On 9/27 I went in at 6 am for the surgery. My mom came with me. We reported in to the surgical area and I was given a surgical room and told to put on the gown and stockings. I was then given some pain medicine. I was very nervous! The doctor came in and he and my mother and I said a prayer. Then it was off to surgery! The last thing I remember is moving to the table and putting my arms in the positions. The next thing was waking up in the recovery room and feeling blood running down my hand. Apparently my IV had gone bad and it was backing up. I managed to get someone's attention and they got things all fixed up. My mom came in to see me, since my surgery had gone about 2 hours longer than expected. Apparently my blood oxygen levels were too low to release me from recovery, but they let her come see me. From there it was off to my hospital room!

When I arrived in the room the first thing I saw was some beautiful flowers and balloons. A friend from work had sent them and they were SO appreciated. That night I was mostly out of it, though I did go for an Upper GI to make sure everything was all sealed up. After that I was able to drink water!

9/28 to 9/30

I was in the hospital for 4 days. Several of the nurses were so great and wonderful! They were really helpful and kind. I did have one who was pretty horrible, but I guess that goes with the territory. I spent the days walking a bit and trying to "eat" enough fluids. I also got to take a shower on Friday and that was WONDERFUL. I finally got to go home on Saturday, which was good but the speedbumps around my apartment complex were evil!

October 1-7

I spent this week at home with my mom and then my dad. I felt pretty terrible, but was trying to work on getting all my fluids down. How amazing that 1/4 cup of pudding (one of the snack sizes) would fill me up! On Friday I got to see Dr. Halmi and Tran again and got the go ahead to go home to my parent's home to finish recuperating. I needed that!

October 7-28

I spent these few weeks at my parent's home in Erie, PA. I ended up back in the hospital there the one night for dehydration. One of the most important things of this surgery, DRINK DRINK DRINK!!! I was having a lot of problems with nausea and vomiting, but I was eating what I was supposed to. I wasn't really sure what was going on, nor was Natalie or Dr. Tran. I was still walking as much as I could and I think I was feeling better, but the nausea was terrible!

October 30-November 5
I spent this week at home trying to get ready to go back to work. I saw Dr. Tran and he prescribed some more Compazine to try to get the nausea under control. It was so bad though! I was really thinking that something was very wrong with me.

November 6
I went back to work today for a half a day and felt horrible! It was good to see people again and get caught up on email, but I felt so nauseaus and ill. Finally at 11:00 I left work and went to Dr. Tran's Office. He took one look at me and admitted me to the hospital. Dehydration again! I was even drinking 64 oz a day, but throwing up about half of it.

November 7

Well I finally have an answer. I'm not nuts! My gallbladder is failing and is causing the nausea and vomiting. Apparently it was probably a problem before surgery, but I didn't notice it. Then the rapid weight loss (40+ lbs in one month) added to the problem. So now I am scheduled to have it removed tomorrow. I'm really kind of nervous! Today I had a central line put into my right arm, since my IVs keep failing and my veins are so flat. It was pretty painful, but at least I won't keep getting poked several times a day!

November 8
One more surgery done. Again I went down to the surgical suite, but this time I remember a bit more. I went to the surgery room and moved to the table and then talked to the Doctor and one of the techs for a bit before I fell asleep. I woke up and was pretty much back on my way up to my room before I knew it. My dad had come down for this surgery so he was with me and stayed for part of the night. The next 2 days were a learning process of what to eat again and learning to walk again.

November 13

Well today I am home from the hospital (I got to come home on the 10th) and my Dad is back in Erie. So this was pretty much my first day alone since the second surgery. I'm pretty tired and my arm is still seeping a bit from where the central line was. However, I am finally having moments of not feeling nauseaus! It is pretty incredible. I did throw up today, but that is still some of the gall bladder sludge working its way out. Dr. Tran warned me it would be a week or so. My gall bladder was apparently 3 x the size it should have been and was very inflamed. With that much wrong with it, I guess it's not surprising I'm not totally feeling better yet. I am feeling about the best I have so far! I even got three meals down today: eggs and cheese (about 1 tb), mashed potatos and cheese (about 1.3 tb) and some chicken ceasar salad (no lettuce, just chicken and some pasta). I know that I should avoid carbs, but right now I'm just trying to eat enough again that I start getting my stomach used to food. I did manage to take my Extreme Whey protein from bariatriceating.com, so I feel pretty good about that. It's the only protein I've found that doesn't totally gross me out. Its 42 g per serving (3 oz) so it's really working for me. I also took some of teh Solgar vitamins today I got in my sample pack from bariatriceating.com. They were just capsules, which is so much better than the chewable ones. I hate the taste! Anyway, I'm now all caught up so we'll have to wait and see where I go from here!

300

Hospital Reviews

(Woodbridge, VA) - Potomac Hospital
Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Daniel D. Tran, M.D.
Dr. Tran has been the absolute best. His entire staff, along with Dr. Halmi, have really helped to make this the best experience it could be, even with the complications I've had. Dr. Tran was very open and answered all of my questions from the first time I met him. He's continued to be very open and friendly in the entire time I've known him. The staff at the office is very friendly. They do get a bit busy and hasselled, but that is a given in such a busy office. There's really not anything I would change about Dr. Tran or Halmi. I would tell future patients to just make sure to have all of their questions ready, as Dr. Tran is ready and willing to answer them all. Dr. Tran really emphasized the need for aftercare. He and Natalie, the nutritionist, made sure I was well prepared before surgery for what I would face afterwards. Dr. Tran made me very aware of the risks of surgery so I knew what to expect. Overall I would rate Dr. Tran at a 90%. I would rate Natalie as a 90% as well. There's always room for improvement in anyone, but I think they are the best I could have chosen. I would say Dr. Tran's bedside manner is great. I don't really know about surgical competence, since that's not really something I can judge.
Insurer Info:
BCBS Fep, FEP
It was pretty easy dealing with them. There was some initial trouble since they couldn't "find my file" but after that was taken care of I had no issues. Post surgery there was some issue with the presurgical tests I had to have done, and I needed to do a lot of calling to get it all straightened out, but I think overall they did a good job.