Christmastime internal hernia.

Apr 20, 2010


It all started at McDonald's.  Yup, I admit it.  I was eating a happy meal, and started to feel... icky.  Couldn't put my finger on it, but I was just "not right".  I went back to work, and figured I was dumping.  As I sat there though, icky turned to pain.  I thought maybe I was cramping or something, and expected a trip to the restroom.  Didn't happen.  I kept drinking water after waiting an hour after eating.  I went to Walmart, I went to meet up with some friends, but just felt so awful.  I tried to lay down while waiting in car, but laying down was much less comfortable.  I went home, with pain now in my abdomen and my back (i have a back injury that likes to flare up when I'm freaked out).  I took some tylenol and some muscle relaxers and went to bed at 7pm.  I was still convinced I was dumping (6 hours later...).  The only comfortable position was fetal, and even that wasn't comfortable.  The drugs eventually just knocked me out.

When I woke up in the morning I was still miserable.  I put a call in to my surgeons office and started googling away to find out what was wrong with me.  I figured it might be my gall bladder since I still have one and the onset was during a fatty meal.  When i finally spoke to the surgeon's office, they told me to come in right away.  I was there in 20 minutes.  They looked at me and decided to send me for a MRI, and admit me to the hospital.  I was admitted, and waited 3 hours for my MRI.  the oral morphine was not touching this pain.  When i finally got the MRI I had to lay flat, which sucked since that was the most uncomfortable position. 

Within an hour of coming back from the MRI the nurse came to my room and told me I was having surgery.  I didn't know what for still... no one had really told me anything.  They finally explained that I had an internal hernia - that with all the weight loss, my insides were loose and my intestine had wormed it's way upward and gotten kinked and needed to get untangled ASAP. 

Thankfully my delay in heading to the hospital did not cause me to loose any of my intestine, no perforation, nothing.  This complication is a real risk that we face as bariatric patients.  I think 5-10% of us will experience this.  Once they fix it, we're good, and will not experience this kind of hernia again.

Lesson learned - if you've never felt the pain before - CALL YOUR SURGEON!
3 comments

no one prepared me for this!

Nov 12, 2009

i used to have straight hair.  Now I have curly hair.  you can watch the changeover in my progress photos.  It's funny. 

 

and I'm wearing size 6 jeans!!!  They used to be my sister's so maybe they're well worn size 6, but I've got a bunch of size 6 pants.  I'm not gaining or losing, but it's all still changing!! 

Happy Surgiversary to me!

2 comments

life goes on

Aug 23, 2009

Since my last post I have temporarily moved into my mom's house (she has a pool and it's finally hot, so this ain't so bad!).  I move into my new apartment Labor Day weekend.  I even am treating myself to a new living room set (I've never had brand new livingroom furniture!). 

My ex and I are on remarkable terms.  I'm not sure how he is taking the break-up, as we don't really talk about that, but we've helped eachother out as far as packing and moving out, etc.  We've seen eachother a few times, including today when i picked up and dropped off the dog for a visit with me at the pool. 

I had my 9 month visit with my surgeon where he declared that I have lost 81% of my excess weight and thinks I can stop losing any time i want.  I also met my first goal of weighing 160.  I originally picked 150, but was worried that it would be too small, so i aimed for 160.  Now that I'm here, i think i'm gonna try and push for 150, but my REAL focus is getting in shape.

My brother-in-law and I are going to run a 5K together in October, so i've been training for that.  I've never run before, so this is a real exciting thing.  When i participated in the breast cancer 3-day and walked 60 miles in 3 days, I wanted my next physical accomplishment to be running.  5 years later, (and 113 lbs less) i'm DOING IT!

i'm so grateful.  for the OH community, for my friends and family, my surgeon, my employer who didn't exclude surgery from my insurance!!!!

I'M LIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 comments

Time to check in again

Jul 12, 2009

A lot has happened since i wrote last.  I've met a few of you in person, which is great!  I truly believe that they way to "win" here is to stick with the losers!  I may go to the 0-6 month meeting at my hospital forever if it keeps me on task!

I bought my first size 10 pants last week.  I was planning on saving them until fall - they were a bargain at Sierra Trading Post, but i tried them on when they arrived, and HELLO, they fit!!!! 

Unfortunately, immediately after that, my boyfriend and I broke up.  Literally...i went downstairs to show him the new outfit, we got into a petty argument, and then the shit hit the fan.  This has been a long time coming... we've both tried working hard at our problems, but the truth of the matter is, sometimes there are irreconcilable differences.  No, my surgery did not cause this break-up.... it may have sped it up, and for that I am grateful.  We are two great people who didn't need to struggle for any longer than it took to learn our life lessons.  

I sound very optimistic about this, and I am - I know that i can get through the break up, even as I'm sitting in my mom's house because I'm staying with her for a few days while I look for an apartment.  BUT - no matter how much you know something is the 'right thing' for you, doesn't seem to take the pain away.  he was staying with friends, but i had to get out of our place because everytime i looked at the dog I cried (he's keeping the dog).  I think it will be fair to split up the time we spend at home.  he gets weekdays and I get weekends.  My mom lives close to work, he's with his friends on weekends 1/2 the time anyway. 

Other good news - i was stuck in a bit of a stall for a while, hovering at 98 lbs lost.  then i lost 1.  then 2.  this week 4!!!!!!  I'm down to 167... my original goal was 150, then i pushed it up to 160.  Now i'm just stunned.    7 lbs from 160.  People refer to me as 'tiny'.  I'm going to a family function in a few weeks and i look forward to having my picture taken with my family - so I can see what i look like in relation to people i think are tiny. 

ok, that's enough rambling for now.  Please keep me in your prayers during this difficult time.  and pray that i eat.  I've got that anxious knot in my ....stomach?  i don't know where it is...but I'm not interested in food.  But I'm doing all i can to keep up the protein and water.
6 comments

Size 12. To me, that's skinny.

May 27, 2009

So I made it into a size 12 last week while i was on vacation.  I didn't mean too... I just put on some short that my sister gave me for my birthday, and happened to see the size 1/2 way through the day when i was in the bathroom.  12???  Sure enough. 

12 is what thin people wear.  My sister was a 12 for many years.  She looked great.   She was skinny.  I was a size 24, and apparently I was fat.  She's gone on to lose some weight and is a 6/8.  I'm a 12.  I guess I'm skinny now too.  It's hard for me to see that when I look down.  All i see are lumps of skin here there and everywhere.  When I'm dressed, I kinda see it.  pictures are good, especially when I'm wearing "supportive" items under my clothes. 

It's very confusing, loving and hating my body simultaneously.  I'm finally thinner than I ever thought I would be (seriously, I've never been on a diet), and while I do appreciate it, I still feel like i look weird, clothes don't fit right, look at these thighs in a bathing suit!!  I'm petrified of plastic surgery, and my mother almost acts like I'd HAVE to get it...and she might even pay.  There's something unhealthy about all of this, I'm sure of it, but I can't sort out her stuff when I've got my own to contemplate.
1 comment

well, i haven't blogged in a while!

Mar 10, 2009

SOOO much has happened!  I finally got the fiber under control.  That has made life a lot easier.  I've experimented with food as far as fat content goes, which isn't the greatest choice, but it's a realistic choice for me.  My goal continues to be to eat all things in moderation, and to substitute whenever possible.  I've not yet had pasta, and I got my first hint of bread the other day when eating a hotdog (i ate a little bit of the bun).  I haven't had a "piece of bread" though... cuz protein first!!  I've added more protein drinks back into my diet since I feel like I need that boost.  It also adds to my fluid intake.  As of Monday I have lost 71 pounds from my highest of 272 and am very excited about that.  Oh - I tried my beloved diet coke recently...didn't like it at all.  What a gift!

Over the past few months I have gone from 22/24 pants to 16 in the misses section (i have dress pants and jeans in that size, so I think I'm solidly there).  I have started buying size Large shirts, rather than XL (or 2X and 3X).  this is all very thrilling for me.  Clearance racks are my friend!

Right around 2.5 months i noticed my hair shedding a bit more, and now at 4 months, it's really thinning out.  I'm not balding or anything, but for my usual thick coat of hair, it has thinned out a bit.  I cut it short-short now, just so I don't have to see the longer pieces clogging the drain.  I knew it was coming, but it just freaked me out a bit too much.  I'm a fan of short hair, so it wasn't a sacrifice to cut it for a while.  Perhaps in the fall I'll grow it out a bit when the thinning period should come to an end.

My body is also changing... I mean, it's been changing as the progress pics show, but now when I look down, I can actually see the changes.  Not that I think I look smaller, just saggy.  it's a bummer, but a reality of the surgery..at least for me.  My breasts are getting longer, things jiggle a lot more.  A good bra helps a lot and I've finally bought some belly support undergarments to wear when I want to look especially firm.    I might have to get the bike short style too.. my thighs are really sad looking, but thankfully my new jeans have some stretch to them, so they give support.

What's REALLY important is my health.  I'm off all diabetes medication, blood pressure medication, I avoided cholesterol meds and it dropped 30 points in the first 3 months after surgery.  I got my hearing tested last week and my low-frequency loss is GONE!  The ENT suggested that my loss may have been caused by high blood sugar, so YAY for my hearing returning to normal.  THAT is one miracle I didn't expect my RNY to provide me. 

Anyway, that's a quick recap of the past few months.  Hopefully I'll update more often.
2 comments

the name of the game is FIBER

Dec 21, 2008

i had the worst night a few days ago.  I really needed to go to the bathroom.  I was actually happy that i felt the need to move my bowels since that's been all over the map lately.  The problem came when i just couldn't GO.  I pushed.  I took deep breaths.  I gave up.  i took some Milk of Magnesia and waited.  A while later i felt like i needed to go, so i figured M.O.M. was working.  more pushing.  more pain.  i had brought the phone and a bottle of water into the bathroom with me.  I had to call my boyfriend on the intercom (he was asleep) and ask him to come help me.  i was in tears, losing feeling in my fingers and hyperventalating.  I took stool softener.  i took anti-anxiety meds.  i called the surgeon.  i waited.  this horror finally passed, with a clunk and the need for a plunger.  THEY SHOULD WARN YOU ABOUT THIS. 

The next morning before the second of 3 storms arrived I went to the pharmacy and bought some chewable Benefiber, and some drink mix Benefiber.  I had a hard time believing it would leave no taste or texture, but it sure as heck doesn't.  Not even in water.  I'm now considering protein and fiber my most important intakes, next to water.  I didn't have great fiber intake before surgery.... but no one told me about the possibility of passing out on the potty.  Not the intimacy i was aiming for when i moved in with my boyfriend. 

oh well.  live and learn.  Fiber shall be my friend.
2 comments

gone gone gone

Dec 03, 2008

Today i am 3 weeks out.  i haven't taken any medications for diabetes since 3 days out.  I am no longer morbidly obese.  I'm thrilled to be rid of these things. 

I'm doing well on my post-op diet - though i am desperately looking forward to advancing next week.  I'm having cravings, but am mostly satisfied by the yummy things i do get to eat.

I love not being hungry.  i get a kick out of friends thinking i have some sort of self-control when i eat so little.  it's not self control, it's self preservation!  i know nothing good will come of stuffing food in...or eating something crappy.

the mental part is hard.  i hate being tired and not getting things done.  i know this is all just temporary, but it's hard.  i've suffered from depression for many years...and this feels all to familiar.  may be time to up the meds a little!

one week

Nov 19, 2008

Surgery was one week ago today.   I've spent most of the last few days snuggled up under a blanket on a recliner watching TV.  Today i  modified the plan.  My "sister" Lisa came over and we went out.  We were going to go walk downtown, but it was so damn cold that i told her i could walk just as well in a Walmart.    We went to a few stores and shopped around a bit.  It was nice to get out and do something - and nice to hang out with Lisa.  I got to see her 'new' house and she saw mine.  i think we're going to go out again on Monday.  Tonight we are going to a play at MCC where Z's friend is acting.  Seemed like a nice enough outing that didn't require much physical exertion.  i hope i can stay awake!

I think I'm starting to feel some hunger pangs once in a while.  they go away when i eat - so it would make sense.  i haven't felt full yet.  i do miss tasting things and chewing things..but in a few weeks i can start solid food again.  YUM.  This Friday i will see the surgeon, check on how i'm doing.  I'm looking forward to that.  i can step on the official scale.  no shoes, no layers!

sweet emotion...

Nov 09, 2008

I'm coming down the home stretch here, and the anticipation is making Zeke and I nuts.  Neither of us are very good at handling suspense.

Everyone i see is now wishing me good luck and best wishes - which is wonderful to have such support, but i guess it's making me realize the risk that i'm taking and i'm starting to feel new emotions about it.  People are proud of me, scared for me, supportive of me... I'm pretty fortunate.  Some people don't get it.  One of my mom's friends sent me a card wishing me luck and godspeed and said something about looking fine the way i am.  I guess she doesn't get that this isn't an exercise in vanity.

I have to go to work one more day, and hopefully i can keep my emotions in check.

About Me
Nantucket, MA
Location
25.0
BMI
RNY
Surgery
11/12/2008
Surgery Date
Mar 17, 2008
Member Since

Friends 107

Latest Blog 28
gone gone gone
one week
sweet emotion...

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