From Bad to worse...

At my last post I was feeling quite good about things.  I was loosing weight and things were going fine.  My food was going down, my pills and supplements made me feel good, and I was working very hard at applying for a new job, or to graduate school.  Then two weeks ago, I began to have some pain in my right foot.  I am used to that being an obese man, and went on living.  It seemed slightly worse each day, but again was not unexpected.  Then that Thursday July 26th I began to have problems keeping food down, in fact, nothing but my meds stayed down that day.  The next day was just as bad, and I was told that my stomach pouch was irritated and to revert to fluids for a few days.  I did and by Sunday I was able to eat a little again.  To this day, I can eat very little and foods I could eat before now bother me and come right back up (eggs for example).  Monday came and my foot hurt so bad I missed work and went to the doctor.  It took me 1 and a half hours to accomplish this task.  He decided it was gout and ordered Celebrex.  I cannot take that, and suffered a few more days waiting for a doctor to give me something I could use.  Finally my PCP contacted me Thursday and we got some meds in me...  My foot feels much better, but the nausea and diarrhea lasted for days.  I still don't feel good, but I am back to work...  Whose idea was it to have this surgery again???  I've got some serious buyers remorse right now...  MY RNY was the worst decision I have ever made in my LIFE! Richard

Richard, I'm so sorry you're feeling bad. :(  I can't offer any advice, I havent had the surgery yet.  But I will keep you in my prayers.  From things I have read, it seems everyone gets like this for a while after surgery, but it soon passes. Lets pray that is the way it will be for you.  Take care, hun.

Richard, You've hit a bump in the road; it happens to all of us, and a year from now it will be a distant memory.  For today, focus on sticking with the liquid protein and very soft foods.  If your pouch is irritated and/or inflamed, it make take it a while to get back to normal.  But it will get back to normal and you will progress back to being able to eat solid foods again.  It just takes time.  I know it's hard to be patient, especially when so many things are going wrong and so few things are going right, but it will all work out in the long run.  Keep the faith, be kind to your pouch, work on staying hydrated, and keep looking to your friends (OH and otherwise) for support.   Good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie

Richard, I'm sorry that you hit a snag.  Many people develop a stricture around 1 month out -- where the opening the intestine becomes too small and they have problems keeping things down.  Ask your surgeon if you could have a stricture and to be checked for it.  They put a scope down into your pouch to check, and can easily stretch it if it is too small. My big toe also hurt for a few days because my uric acid level was up after surgery.  This is common and shows that you are losing weight rapidly.  The rapid weight loss can cause your blood acids to rise for a short period of time.  It should go away.  This is one of those complications that the surgeons warn you about in the fine print. Keep hanging in there, because it will get better after these first few months.   Hugs and Prayers,

Dear Richard, I'm sorry to see that things are not going well.  But if your gout is due to your rapid weight loss, in a way, that's a good thing .  But also remember that non-wls people develop gout as well.  So at least now you have the weight loss to go along with it and be better in the end.  Kind of a mixed blessing on that one. I went through a lot of good and bad days figuring out what I could eat.  Eggs were actually a problem longer than I expected.  Sometimes I don't think I chewed them well enough because they were already soft.  Now I am a scrambled eggs connoisseur!  And it is surprising how difficult it is to find good, fluffy scrambled eggs at a restaurant.   As someone who has been in three graduate programs, I'm just curious; what graduate program are you looking into? Things will get better, Sally