Time for me to "move on"???

Hi everybody, Well, it's off to the Wound Care Center for me this morning. It has been a full 4 weeks that I have had this hose attached to my belly incision. For those of you that aren't familiar with my saga... My insition from the surgery didn't heal right from the bottom up. It kinda grew crooked and tried to heal from the top layers, down (the wrong way) The dr had to cut it again and put this tool on "Wound VAC" to drawl negative pressure to encourage new cell growth and suck out all the bad junk. Do you guys like the way I explain medical stuff..Ha-ha?? Anyways, I am hoping and praying that I will be able to report to you later that they removed this thing from my belly and that I am DONE. Don't get me wrong, I am fortunate to have been able to use this tool..it's just that I am so tired of lugging it around with me..and watching the looks on the faces of other people when they see me carrying around this thing. I posted before about me hateing food. I told my homecare nurse how preparing food..or smelling food being prepared..made me nausas. And therefore I don't get my protein in for the day..It's kinda like morning sickness and I know this will too pass (been through it twice) Anyway, she called my surgeon and he prescribed PROMETHAZINE 25 mg. as needed every 4 to 6 hours. Oh-my- Gosh!!! 45 minutes after taking it..I felt like I was in s-l-o-w-m-o-t-i-o-n!! I was in the car to run errands when I felt the feeling.....I don't know how I got myself home without crashing my car..I went to bed...got up at 5:50p.m....smelled dinner cooking...and went back to bed, didn't wake-up till this morning..dang! Has anybody else been put on that stuff and had that reaction?? Oh well, I'm off to the wound center..wish me luck...I'd loved to send back my "leash" and start living again! Hugs to all, Virginia aka Ginger

Ginger, I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this! I know it is so common for WLS patients who had to have "open" surgeries. My mother struggled with a wound healing problem like this for months. It is finally healed. So there is hope! Stay strong! Lori 384/260.5/168

Hi Ginger, I hope that your wish comes true and you are set free today from your "WOUND VAC". Sounds like you've been through quite a lot, hopefully things will get more settle for you from here on out. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and you go visit your dr. today. Cassandra

Hey Twinnie.... hope you appointment went well and you got some good news. You sure could use some! ((((((((((((((Ginger))))))))))))) Huggs, Ruth P.S. You have mail!

Hi there Ginger.. I read your post and couldnt help but reply. Promethazine is Phenergen... which is an antinausea drug as well as it makes u very relaxed and sleepy.. for someone who is not used to this drug 25mg is a pretty NICE dose.. i would suggest cutting the dose in half and see if thats better for you.. it should take away your nausea so you can eat but you dont wanna be a zombie all the time.. Be aware that this drug also potentiates (meaning it makes the effect stonger) then effects of lots of pain meds and some other meds.. nothing thats going to hurt you however you dont wanna be driving while your learning your promethazine limit.. I dont have the same effect as ive been taking it for a long time for reasons other than nausea from surgery.. and so after surgery its like just another pill.. if i need it i take it no matter what im doing.. Hope this helps... Heather 389/248/179

Hi Heather, Thank you so much for your explaination of my drug and your suggestion to take a half dose. I hate this nautious feeling....the smell of food..the taste of food....yuch! I just have to get through this stage. I had to check out your profile! You ARE a medical person!!! I knew it from the way you described the Promethazine for me. Good luck on your paramedic career...you'll be terrific...Congradulations on your weight loss..you are doing awsome!! Thanks again, Ginger

After surgery, my doctor had me on a scopolomine patch for a couple of weeks. It's an anti-nausea drug, but it never made me tired or dizzy. Maybe you could ask your doctor if this might be better? Some form of patch might be a good idea. If cooked food is a problem, maybe you could try some unflavored protein powder dissolved in milk? I'm a month out, and I have the easiest time eating things that are either liquid, pureed, or are of a uniform consistency. I can eat creamy peanut butter, and it has a lot of protein. If you had 4 T of peanut butter in a day (I lick mine off a spoon. It goes down and stays down without a hitch), that'd be 32g protein. That's about half of what you need (my doctor says we should be getting 60 - 80g of protein a day). If you drank 4 C of milk, that'd be another 32g protein -- with the peanut butter, that'd be enough protein for a day, even if you don't put anything in it. I'm not saying you should eat/drink all of this at once -- 1C of milk at a time is good. I can drink 2C of milk if I do it slowly. I can eat 2T of peanut butter (again, slowly). You could eat/drink four times a day and manage alright. Or you could break it into six times a day (2T pb, 1 C milk alternating every 2-3 hours til you've had 4T pb and 4 cups of milk). That'd be better. You'd come in at kust under 800 calories a day. If you want to make sure to have the full 800 (some people have trouble losing when they don't get enough calories), you could drink another 1/2 C milk, or have one more tablespoon of PB. I also have popsicle molds. I make popsicles that are 1/4 water and 3/4 100% fruit juice. If you're more sensitive to sweets, I'd mix them at 1/2 and 1/2. I usually have one popsicle a day. They're about 45 calories. Apple sauce can be a good thing, too. When you're doing mostly liquids and pureed stuff, apple sauce or mashed banana help keep things regular, if you know what I mean. I hope you're able to take your vitamins. I take chewable multivitamin with iron, liquid B complex, and two or three Caltrate chewables a day. The Caltrate tastes really good. It also has vitamin D. I know it has calcium carbonate, not citrate, but it seems to be doing the job. Good luck with your wound. I had a stomach tube taken out a week ago, after having had it for a month, and I know how unpleasant it is to have that open wound all the time.

I made a mistake with the peanut butter numbers. Two table spoons is equal to 8g of protein. So you'd need to eat 8T a day for 32g. That's a bit too much But if you do 4T of pb (16g protein) and 6 C of 1% or skim milk (48g protein) that would be 64g, which is a good number. If you can drink 2 C at a time (like over a 30-40 minute period), you could do three 2-cup glasses of milk a day and 4T of peanut butter. It's by no means a permanent solution -- it won't give you everything your body needs. But if you can tolerate milk and peanut butter, it'd help you to get enough protein while you wait for your stomach to heal and the nausea to go away. I really hope you feel better. Sorry if I'm babbling a bit

Hi Rebecca, Thank you for all the good information. I like peanut-butter. I know it isn't the healthiest thing to eat..but it does settle-in good. I cut one of my anti-nausea pills in half..and had the same results as if I took a whole one. Luckily today was a slow, lazy Sunday afternoon...so I just took a 4 hour nap. You are just about as far-out surgery wise as I am. I read your profile and I gottta tell ya...with all the complications that I have had with this surgery....the last paragraph in your profile hit me like a ton of bricks! I love it because many people ask me if I would do this over..would I??? I think what you said is exactly how I feel. Thanks for putting in writing what I couldn't express..Thanks again wls sis! Hugs, Virginia aka Ginger P.S. you don't babble..just got info!

Hi Rebecca, Thank you for all the good information. I like peanut-butter. I know it isn't the healthiest thing to eat..but it does settle-in good. I cut one of my anti-nausea pills in half..and had the same results as if I took a whole one. Luckily today was a slow, lazy Sunday afternoon...so I just took a 4 hour nap. You are just about as far-out surgery wise as I am. I read your profile and I gottta tell ya...with all the complications that I have had with this surgery....the last paragraph in your profile hit me like a ton of bricks! I love it because many people ask me if I would do this over..would I??? I think what you said is exactly how I feel. Thanks for putting in writing what I couldn't express..Thanks again wls sis! Hugs, Virginia aka Ginger P.S. you don't babble..just got info!