Janet R.

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I am officially half of my former self!  I weighed 137 lbs at my 2 yr check up and that makes 137 lbs lost!
I am feeling good now, except for a little tired at times.  I now have an explanation for that.... my B12 is down into the 200's. I think he said they start supplementing at <400.  So, I need to get into the habit of taking my B12.  I just could not tolerate it last summer when I had all of the nausea and such.  Then I guess I was a bit wierded out to even try it and just kind of let it go for now, since I knew they would be checking it with my annual visits.  I had heard it can take years for it to drop low, so I guess I was a bit shocked to find it was low already.  Anyway, I am now taking sublingual B12, 1000mcg daily.  I will get my level rechecked in November.  I have a script for shots if I need them.  I don't know why I had trouble witht the B12 before, because the sublinguals actually taste good to me now!  All I know is last summer, nothing agreed with me for about 3-4 months.

I am still happy I had the surgery, and amazed that I feel I can eat pretty normally now.  It scared me for a while that I would put on weight.  So far I am doing OK, though.  I am just trying to not eat too many "bad" foods and never overstuff my pouch.
Keep my protein up as much as possible......I think I have found a good way of eating for most of the time.  It does become challenging when away from home, though.  I am hoping I don't gain too much on our trip to Mackinac Island next month!

I had my one yr check up a little late after being sick this past summer.
The official word is that I am now 147 pounds and down 134 lbs from my preop wt!
I am just about a perfect size 10...but have one pair of 8 jeans that fit and a pair of 10's that are a bit tight.
Everyone at work is giving me compliments and it feels good to hear them, although for a while I was wanting to say "I wish I felt good!" now I can say that I do feel good.
My vitamin levels are good, my Vit D that was low at 6 mos is up some.
My hemoglobin is low at 10.8, but when I looked up what it was when I was sick (running 8-9), I feel like it is probably still just a recovering from being sick thing. I did start on some iron though.

Well, after my internal hernia repair.....only 12 days later, I developed a complete small bowel obstruction due to a second internal hernia! I had just started feeling good again for about 2-3 days and boom severe pain, nausea and vomiting the worst ever. I think this hernia was causing the problems wih nausea after the other hernia repair, but who knows for sure. Then I developed an infection in my incision after coming home from the hospital and had to go to the ED to get my incision opened up and packed and had to do wet to dry dressings at home 2X a day. About a week after the wound infection, I started running fevers and having a lot of nausea and was sent for a CT and then told to go straight to the hospital to be admitted. 2 internal abcesses, one quite large that a drain was put in, and one on my spleen that that was smaller and they did not want to touch, due to the risk of rupturing my spleen. Then I developed pain and nausea due to an ileus (paralyzed bowel) and was readmitted the same day I had been discharged. The ileus slowly resolved itself.

So, I carried a drain around for another 2 wks and continued dressing changes 2X a day until about the 3rd week of August.
I constantly was battling nausea, loose stools, abdominal cramping when I tried to eat, which was not often for about 4 wks.
When I did start to feel a bit better and getting around the house more, I was amazed at how sore my muscles got just from walking around the house. I faced abdominal cramps every time I ate for about 2 wks until my gut got used to food again.
I missed 10 weeks total from work. June 3rd to August 23rd.
It is now Sept 19th and I have to say I am really feeling good now, but at one point last summer I felt like I would never be well again.
It scares me when I read other people's stories of multiple obstructions and surgeries. This past summer is one I never want to relive.

One week ago today I had my internal hernia repair. It has been a rough week, I must say. Lots of nausea and vomiting more than I ever had with my original surgery! Now even though my nausea is gone, I feel like my pouch is brand new again and I have to eat only a few bites at a time, drink only sips at a time. The doc wanted me to maybe have an upper GI but could cancel it if I feel better. I think I can safely cancel the test, but am unsure if I can make it to work Mon and Tues. I am so week that I can't stay on my feet long or i feel like I am going to drop. Can't imagine working 12 hrs at the hospital. I feel bad that my visit with Diane when she came was so impaired by my feeling lousy. I really thought that by the time she came up 2 days after my lap, that I would be feeling like at least visiting some.
My weight today (in my scale) is 163.0 My weight at the hospital day of hernia repair was 176.2 I believe. Giving that my scale weighs anywhere from 3-5 lbs difference,Lighter, that is still a 8-10 lb loss in 1 week!