I haven't posted in quite a while, and just wanted to stop by with an update. I hope you are all doing well, and my thoughts go out to those who are having troubling times, family related issues, and health issues. Trust me I completely understand. The past few months have been a roller coaster for me and my family. We moved to a smaller town, in Central Coast California, but my husband had to go in May and I stayed with the kids until mid-August in LA. During that time I had a perforated ulcer and ended up with Emergency surgery, missed my daughters graduation from High School too! I got better, we completed the move, and I absolutely love small town life. I kept having pains, different pains though - not ulcer pains. My 4 yr old broke her arm at school. My father in law passed away. Then I just got the news that I'm going to be having another surgery on Tuesday. The doctors at UCLA will be doing an exploratory surgery (possibly open) to see if they can find the problems. My Father In Law's funeral is Saturday, then I'll go to Los Angeles for the surgery, and my husband and children will stay at home, about 150 miles away. I'm a little freaked out, but also hopeful that I can finally get an answer to the pain, and get on with living a healthy and happy life. On a good note, I had a wonderful Halloween with my daughters, they were so adorable, and excited. I just soaked up the moments, the memories. They are so precious. Well, that is my update, in a nutshell. Wish me luck! Deanna

Thanks Kathy - You're a doll!!!! Yes, I did see the hematologist. He said it's a good thing I didn't listen to my surgeon and got an apt. to see him. With my levels, and my physical symptoms I'm in the permanent damage danger zone. Hence, the iron infusion first thing tomorrow morning! I can do fruit pretty well. I've been eatting an apple and peanut butter just about every afternoon for a snack. My two protein drinks currently give me 60 grams of protein and about 400 calories per day. I can't do milk, I can't even make my oatmeal with it. I've tried some of the soys and whatnot - major GROSS !!!! I'll have to spend some time at the store this weekend looking for some different things to try. I don't know if I'm distal or proximal. I was under 300 so I think I should be the shorter one (I forget which is which). It is quiet overwhelming today. Tomorrow will be better, after I can process some of this more. I really CANT think about the "other" option at this point... it's too much!! I know you all will be there for me, you're there for everyone!!! That's why I LOVE the May board mostest!!!!!! Laurie

Hey, Laurie! Glad you liked the PA. Did you see the hematologist today too? As for Ensure, Slimfast, etc.... do you tolerate milk? What about Calorie Countdown (Hood)? Or Soymilk? If you do okay with one of them, you could add protein shakes made with one of these. That would boost each shake up by about 100 calories and the only added sugar would be the lactose since whey proteins do not usually have added sugar. Also, do you tolerate fruit sugars? Rich used to make a mongo shake with Calorie Countdown, protein powder, a banana, a few teaspoons of peanut butter and ice. It was too big for you but it is definitely calorie dense. If you made one half the size he had... it would be 500 cals. Scarey prospect, I know, but for your health - you can do it! One of the reasons that I do so much of the vitamins and protein shakes is that I do not want to trust my body to absorb anything from real food. I know I absorb some of it but I just don't want to count on that since I have no real clue how much of what I absorb. I'm not saying I get my day's worth of calories from shakes cuz I don't but I try to get the protein my body needs from shakes alone and I assume that the protein from food is a bonus. Since shakes are already predigested... I assume that I have a much, much better chance of absorbing the protein from that then from food. Another thing that I'm trying to avoid is hypertrophy. That is when the intestines grow because the body senses it isn't absorbing enough and it tries to adapt so that it can absorb more of what it needs. By feeding it adequate protein and fuel, that should minimize the hypertrophy. Why do I want that minimized? Because hypertrophing of the intestines means I'd absorb more calories of what I eat and more fat then I did at the beginning. Boy, I waxed on there about myself. Sorry about that. As for you, Missy, I hope that the doctors can get you straightened out with iron infusions, protein and calorie supplementations, and changes to your vitamins and supplements. I hope you can avoid the revision. But one has to do what one has to do for one's health. Do not try to look too far ahead. Work on what needs to be worked on and hopefully it will be enough. BTW, are you a distal RNY or proximal? Do you know? Hugs, hon! I can only imagine that this is overwhelming to you and is an information overload. We are all there for ya through this whatever comes. Hugs, K

Hey, hon! Thoughts are still with you, your family, your friend's family especially his daughter. I do hope that miracle comes. How many days til your plastics? Hows the anti-puffing ban going or shouldn't I ask? No smokes at lunch tomorrow, 'kay? LOL! Thinkin' of ya! K

Hi all. First I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Rick and his family. As of yesterday evening, his vitals had stabilized quite a bit, heart and BP much stronger, although he is still comatose. They took him out of sedation for a few hours to check automatic response - he does respond to pain, touch, so that's good, but they still have no idea how much, if any, real brain function he'll wind up with if he survives. They said chances of him being "normal" were pretty much miracle-grade, although they also said the fact that he survived his trip to the hospital, let alone this long, was a miracle, so you never know. They've asked the family to allow them to put in a trach and feeding tube in order to start doing some work on the bones in his face. They're obviously trepedatious, he has a living will and doesn't want to be prolonged in a vegetative state, but how do you know whether it's going to be temporary or permanent? On a personal front, things here are...ok... Counting down the days to my PS. Very busy at work and at home getting ready for the holidays. I'm still losting weight, have been for a couple of weeks now. I'm now down to 146. I have to be honest, I'm now a full 4 pounds under my surgeon's lowest goal and I should be concerned but I'm not. I'm struggling, mentally, with the high you get from seeing the scale go down. I know you all know what I mean. It's making it difficult for me, mentally, to try to maintain... I think I'm going to need to talk to someone about that... Otherwise, I'm hanging in there. Think of you all a lot and hope you're all doing well.