jan M.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Wasn't really a dr. appointment, I did not see the dr.  Maybe a P.A. appointment and NUT appointment. Everything is fine.  I have lost 20 lbs. since surgery Aug. 6. That was encouraging. I am suppose to start on meat. When I eat lunch, I have found I don't want to eat the rest of the day.  I am realizing how much of my previous eating habits were out of bordom, or it's time to eat. AND I spent so much time either eating or fixing to eat. 
We eat out with friends alot, so far I have not had problems, and now that I am on more solid foods, it will be easier to find something I can eat.
My clothes are fitting better, I begin school next Tuesday, I will not have such a difficult time finding something to wear, even though I only go 3 times a week.

Today is DH birthday. On Friday night we usually have a hamburger night with several other couples at a restaurant. Since this is DH birthday, I needed to go with a cake for everyone.  Potato soup is free on Friday, I called ahead to see what was in it, and decided I could sip it.  Everyone had hamburgers or pizza, I thought the soup was good. I sipped very little, I am so afraid I will have a bad reaction, but good so far. The bought the cake, looked sooo good.  It was not awful to not eat, and I did not feel left out.
Tuesday, I go back to the dr., I am anxious to see what she says.  After that I will probably start on blended food.
I have been sipping chicken stock with some potato in it.  I got a Bullet a few weeks ago. It is wonderful as a food processor, and just the right size. You can put a whisk on it, or put it on top of a small container that comes with it and has blades in the bottom. Lots of potential for use.
My soreness is working out.  I am able to get out of the recliner easier, and the bed has been a real challenge.  It is a high king size. I have not tried the car yet, I drive a Jeta VW, that will be another challenge.  We live in an gated area with a big golf course.  Tonight we took the golf cart to the restaurant, so nice to be out riding, DH was very careful to miss bumps.  It is good to get out and visit with friends.

4 days post op. Where do I begin ?  The surgery went good, I had the NHY, gallbladder removed, and hernia repair.  Now, I am trying to organize things a bit.  Vitamins, liquids,etc. My stay in the hospital was not great.  You know, I was there 2 nights and about 2 1/2 days, some of the head nurses where nice, some were not!  Those that were not really messed things up.  I now think a person should go to a specialty hospital.  I did not check on that before I chose a surgeon.  My son went to an orthopedic hospital when he had a wreck and broke his leg, wonderful! They only did orthopedic procedures . That would be my suggestion to people looking at gastric surgery.
I have been drinking just about everything, water, Propel, jello, soup and Popsicles.  I came across a post this morning, a person was eating baked potato all so, a few days out of surgery.  Well, I thought about that.  I called DH to bring home a potato.  He baked it, warmed up some soup, then mashed up about a tablespoon of potato in the soup, added salt and pepper.  It was soooo good.  I felt I had eaten.
On of the incisions really feels like it is pulling, but I am moving easier. 
I am getting bored, I need to get out.  Friends have offered to come over, but I am ready for them yet. Oh, well.
Tomorrow will be better, today was not awful.

Today was a big day-well, yesterday was also.  I had pre-surgery test yesterday, and to add to the 3 pre-tests, they added a cat-scan.  Besides the cat-scan I have had 2 ultra sounds, 2 EKG, 3 blood test, colostomy, pap smear, mammogram, and probably something else.  What did they find? Nothing-which is wonderful.  Today I visited with the surgeon and paid fees.  I have been reading allot on this website, and feel pretty knowledgeable about the processes.  My Dr. does not require a liquid diet, no protein shakes.  Three meals a day starting with protein. Lots of vitamins.  The dr. things the protein shakes start bad habbits, and adds many calories. She said when I feel like starting meat, do so. 
My surgery is scheduled for Wed. Aug. 6.  This week I am suppose to stay on protein, 1 veg. & water. 
I have all the emotions others have had.  Not too scared, just want to "get her done".

I can always use some prayers.
Jan

My journey the past few months.  I did most of the tests required in March.  Then in May, I missed an appointment with the nut, because of everything going on, end of school and my husband starting a new business.  After I talked to the patient advocate, she said I would have to start all over on my 6 nut visits.  I got so down, I thought this is not going to happen, why fool with it, it is a game.  For some reason, I continued and went to the next nut visit.  Later I called the patient advocate, and asked her if the insurance could count the first semiar I went to and also the support group I go to.  She told me probably not, because it has to be dated and official.  Later I visited with the advocate about finishing the tests, and if they had received all my paper work.  She told me I had been approved by the insurance co. (???)  And the last phone visit I had with her, she said if the dr. approved all the tests, I might be able to have surgery next week. (!!!)  Well, someone called today, and I did not get the call, the message was to call them asap.  Unfortunately I did not get the message until around 9 p.m. so they are closed and I guess I will have to wait until Monday.  What about that?  Such a surprise.  I guess I am close.

  -----

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny! LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART! Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Everyone needs a friend who is all ears. There's no such thing as too much candy. All work and no play can make you a basket case. A cute tail attracts a lot of attention. Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day. Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits. Some body parts should be floppy. Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans. Good things come in small, sugar coated packages. The grass is always greener in someone else's basket. To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell. The best things in life are still sweet and gooey. May the joy of the season fill your heart. AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU! Happy Easter!

   
 
 

Account of my week, a friend sent me the following email:

Dave Barry's colonoscopy journal:
======================
I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.
A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis .
Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.
I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'
I left Andy' s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven.
I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.
I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.
Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation.
In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor..
Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep.  You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water.  (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug.  This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.
The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'
This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.
MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but:  have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch?  This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.  You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently.  You eliminate everything.  And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.
After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.
The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic.  I was very nervous.  Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage.  I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?'  How do you apologize to a friend for something like that?  Flowers would not be enough.
At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said.  Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.
Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand.  Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down.  Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep.
At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode.  You would have no choice but to burn your house.
When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist.  I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere.  I was seriously nervous at this point.
Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.
There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA.  I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.
'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.
'Ha ha,' I said.  And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade.  If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.
I have no idea.  Really.  I slept through it.  One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.
Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt.  I felt excellent.  I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors.  I have never been prouder of an internal organ.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

On the subject of Colonoscopies...
Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:
1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!
2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'
3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'
4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'
6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'
8.  'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!
10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity..'
11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'            And the best one of all.
13. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

 

When I got home from Austin, one of my first thoughts was 'I can't go to San Antonio Monday, I tired of traveling'.  So, first thing I did Mon. was call and try to cancel my appointment with the nutritionist.  I was told if I did, I would have to start over, something about insurance.  So I got myself together, the GPS and drove to S.A., which is more than a 2 hour drive, and the traffic is heavy.  I have lost about 5 pounds, which is a surprise, after being gone last week and eating out.  We did walk alot.
Last week I had a mammogram, and blood test.  Wed. I have the wonderful colonoscopy. 
I hope I have a date soon, or I'll be tested out!

You know, when I don't have to worry about tests and appointments, my life will be easier.  Although, I don't have that many tests, I want to get them finished, I guess so I can wait and wait. 
I have 3 test scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, then my hubby sold some property, and I have to present for the closing--which is Monday.  So there goes 2 appointments.  I'll have the other two later.
This will be a busy week, Wed. I leave for Austin (Tx.)  for a conference, and will be back Friday evening.
Here's to all my friends on this site - Have a good week.
God bless you all.
Jan

Oh boy!  I bought an adult tricycle from a friend.  I know how to ride a bycycle, but thought this might be easier---NO.  Sometimes this vehical has a mind of it's own.  Once or twice, I thought I was going in the ditch, then I had an oh-ho minute and determined if you don't keep the back wheels level, it is not balanced.  We don't have the best pavement around here, so sometimes I push it through the bad spots.  I can sure tell when I am going up hill-puff-puff-puff, then the fun comes going down hill.
I don't have any more test this week, next Monday I have three, then I'll have 5 down, 2 to go.
What a JOURNEY, I'm going to make the most of it.

Jan