 |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Surgeon: Dr. Clark Warden (The Cross Over Bridge); Ocean Springs, MS
by Liane: I'm 37 years old, more or less newly-married (10/28/00), and I've been overweight since early childhood. When I was 3 years old, my weight tripled in a month, without any changes in eating habits or activities. My pediatrician said it was a growth spurt starting and I'd grow out of it... Welllll... I'm still waiting, lol. I'm guessing I should be at least 7.5 feet tall when this "spurt" ends. I weighed 150 pounds in the fourth grade. I wasn't put on an official "diet" until I was 12 years old, but it was made clear to me that I was "bad", and not allowed the oreos and ice cream that my (thin) sister ate as snacks. My first diet was the original liquid protein gig... remember the bright red/cherry-pink stuff? I lost weight, mostly because I poured my "food" into the flowerbed rather than gag the stuff down. A long string of diets followed. The ones I remember are Atkin's, Air Force, Grapefruit, and one my mom cut out of a magazine that followed a strange "Days of the Week" Plan. None worked very well, and anything I lost was quickly gained back. Plus more. Meanwhile, my sister is sitting on the couch eating oreos and telling me that if I would just stick to a diet, I'd lose weight. Meanwhile, I was out playing baseball, football, swimming on the neighborhood swim team, climbing trees, riding my bike all over town and back. I was not a sedentary child. When I look at the distances I used to ride my bike now, it amazes me, because I was the little fat girl. In many ways I was lucky -- I was blessed with a sunny disposition, and I never had trouble making friends. I shudder to think what my self-esteem would be like if I'd been very shy or less rambunctious. The summer I turned 16, something happened... I lost 50 pounds... without trying or doing anything! The boys I'd grown up with were suddenly opening doors for me. Everyone was telling me how wonderful I looked. But when I looked in the mirror, I saw the same old me. Still fat. The day I put on a size 12 dress and looked in the mirror, did I see how good I looked? Nope... I was too busy cringing at the sight of my thick legs and ankles. I knew from the clothes I was wearing that I was smaller, but I just could not see it... but I saw it when I started regaining it... even though I essentially stopped eating in hopes of stopping the pounds from coming back. Since that summer, it’s been a steady upward climb. Diet, gain, etc. Fast forward to 1995... I was in clinical nursing studies, and a nurse I worked with regularly had a VBG and lost a great deal of weight quickly. I decided that when I had insurance I was getting this wonderful surgery. Then when I got insurance, I got scared; why should I be approved? I hadn't succeeded yet. So I dropped it. But it stayed at the back of my mind. Eventually I found the AMOS site and started researching. I decided the RnY sounded too scary. I had had dumping problems many years earlier after some "nervous digestive problems" (my quotes- they never did find the cause of it). Plus, what the heck were "marginal ulcers"? Then I started getting patients on my floor, women who were balding, sick as dogs, and looked terrible... their diagnosis? Gastric leakage secondary to weight loss surgery. Looking back, they were probably victims of the very old WLS that is no longer done, but I'll never know for sure. Then I met this really sweet man... now my husband. We used to go hiking, walk all over in state parks, etc... then we decided to get married. I gained even more weight. On our honeymoon in San Francisco I quickly found that I got tired too quickly to be climbing hills, even in the city. The piece de resistance happened on the flight home. We were assigned bulkhead seats. The arms don't go up. My behind could not have fit in that seat if my life had depended on it. I stood there, in tears, as the steward found someone to trade places with me. When I got home, I found a letter from Eric at AMOS asking me if I had gotten WLS. I went back to the site, started researching, and to make a long story short, I'm scheduled to see Dr. Dennis Smith in Marietta, GA for my first consult on 3/21/01. I hope that, God willing, I will be switched by July 12. My birthday. It just seems appropriate. My loving husband is terrified he'll lose me, but has promised to stand by me and whatever I decide to do. 3/22/01: My Consult! Next we went to Dr. Harris.. this visit was not so teriffic. I loved Dr. H., but I could have done without all that I've learned today. In 3 hours, I went from "healthy but obese" to "slightly asthmatic, slightly enlarged heart, and slight heart murmur... and obese." Heh... guess it’s a good thing I committed to this surgery. Oh well.. I got quite a bit done today, at least. Guess this gives my insurance co. a great reason to approve me, huh? Siiiiiiggggghhh.... 3/29/01: I called Coty today on an unrelated matter, and she told me that my LOMN is on her desk and will be mailed TODAY! FINALLY, I'm on my way! Yeeee-HAAAA!! 5/29/01: did my preop blood draws, talked to the hospital insurance lady, now what? I want my hair french-braided up to keep it out of my way in the hospital. Found a great lady named Rose who braided it up for me.. she took me asap, so I tipped her really well.. plus I'm very pleased with how she's fixed my hair up. I won't look too shabby and I won't have to even think about it. My DH took me out to see Shrek- it was really cute! He kept me out until ~ 12:30, so I haven't had time to fret about the surgery! 5/30/01: Got up around 7-ish... the bowel prep kicked in, heh. Took my Hibiclens shower #2, scrubbing my stomache and any area that would be affected surgically over and over. Should I leave any skin on it? Heh.. Got to the hospital at 945am.. they took me straight back, did the preop stuff, then took me upstairs for my central line insertion (Yes, I was Awake..). Don't recall too much after that, only bits and pieces... the recovery room RNs yelling at me to cough and deep breathe.. my hubby meeting our stretcher in the hallway and asking if he could follow us back... what seemed like 50 hands working over me as I was put to bed on the unit.. Being told to take a nebulizer treatment.. My hubby telling me that he was here, and taking his hand. I must have looked bad... he was so whitefaced. I think he thought I'd sail through it like I have everything else. I remember being told several times that first night that I had a fever... and getting up to stand next to my bed for a few minutes. 5/31/01: They d/c'd my foley today.. I feel so much pain. Dr Warden has ordered Toredol as well as my pain pump. Got up to pee, shambled around the unit once, fell back into bed. Got to sip some water, and wondered if it was supposed to hurt? Switched to room temp water, and that felt much better. Slept a lot, ambulated twice more, slept some more. 6/1/01: They took my pain pump today.. I had a REALLY horrible morning. Didn't find out until days later that the night nurse didn't give my scheduled toredol because I was asleep and didn't ask for it. sheesh.. what does scheduled mean to you????? Now I'm on Lortab elixor.. it helps some, but i still hurt. Plus my O2 sats won't come up, so I'm on O2 while in bed. Rah. walked 4x today, hoping that the pain would get better if i walked more. 6/2/01: I hurt so much in the mornings.. why?? getting up is the worst... I have no pain tolerance at all... walked x2 first off.. having tons of rumbles, but no gas passed yet.. Told Dr Kim about my concerns about my O2 sats, also that I still hurt quite a lot. Rah. Walked 3x more times, visited w/the other girls, had a chest x-ray done. Passed gas while in xray- yay!!!! I've been so emotional since surgery.. partly from no paxil, I'm sure.. but I cry soo easily. Its embarrassing. 6/3/01: I had a BM!!! I had a BM!!!!! I can probly leave today!!! yay!!!!!! I called Grimm the second I got out of the bathroom, and said be here asap- I wanna go hoome.. if you're here, maybe he'll let me leave. Dr Kim came by at about 9am, and as soon as my central line and j-p drain are removed, I can go hoooome!!!!!!! I had the best nurses.. except for the one at night who didn't give me my toredol, they were all super, super ladies!! 6/4/01 at midnight-thirty: I'm home, didn't get the great pain meds everyone talks about (lortab elixor 30cc q. 4 hrs and scheduled toredol q 6 while inpatient, now tylenol #3 elixor 10cc q4hrs outpatient. It is official.. I am a huge WIMP). It got really bad going through one stretch of louisiana- bump BUMP, bump BUMP, bumpBUMP... for 3 hours, but I survived.. and I'm gonna have Dr Kim's ears for breakfast, dammit. My poor hubby was beside himself.. kept apologizing. I told him it wasn't his fault, and I just wanted to go home, so keep going. Nothing is staying in.. it goes right through after about 10 minutes. I think I need some acidophilus and yogurt. But hey, I survived the worst, so its gonna get better. My absolute worst "What-in-gods-name-have-I-DONE- to-myself????" moment was in postop.. I woke up having my very first asthma attack- the recovery room RNs kept yelling at me that I had to breathe deeper and cough, and I couldn't.. I kept saying, "I need my inhaler!! I need my combivent!!! I CAN'T breathe deeper!!!" I heard someone say, "WHAT inhaler?? There's no record of her having an inhaler???" lol.. I just kept begging for it, and once I got a breathing treatment I was OK. Scared me bad, tho- my O2 sats wouldn't come out of the 60s-70s. Guess who carried her inhaler EVERYWHERE after that, lol? I sure hope I never have another attack like that, tho. Anyway, when we pulled into our drive, and my dear DARLING priceless much adored hubby said, "go on in and do what you need to do to get comfy, and I'll unload the car. " I crawled upstairs, took a shower and washed my hair, and cleaned and dressed all my incisions and tape burns. I feel better, but can't sleep, so here I am, online.. Got a question for postops- 6/4/01: Jeez.. now I know why I'm hurting so.. Dr Kim thought I was only taking tylenol #3 in the hospital.. noo.. this is wimp-child, Ms No-Pain-Tolerance here. They're talking to my PCP now about calling in something stronger.. yay!! I also got some acidophilus from my mom, and other than a liquid BM this am, no problems since. Its the super-concentrated-extra-potent stuff, so for those with the runs, think ACIDOPHILUS and YOGURT!!!! I'm sooo glad things are looking up! 6/10/01: Started having some problems on 6/7.. vomited twice, but thought it was that I ate too fast or something not agreeable.. on 6/8, was started on Bactrim for a UTI.. now throwing up more often. 6/9- constant vomiting. I think I might really be sick here.. called Dr Warden - he advised Reglan and to stop the Bactrim. Called my PCP, and he wanted me to go to the ER and get checked out... I think it was partially my fault.. but I was just so sure my upchucking was because of something I was doing wrong, I blew it off. The ER gave me a liter of saline to rehydrate me, phenergan for my "nausea" (boy did THAT make me stoned.. was the room supposed to spin..?), and Pepcid for the terrible heartburn. Then they did a set of x-rays to try and make sure there was no staple line disruption or obstruction. I got sent home with scripts for a new antibiotic (seems I did have a UTI) and phenergan. We (poor hubby and I) came home and went to sleep - first on the couch, then to bed! I staggered to the bathroom a time or two, but I slept for like, 12 hours after we were released. I still feel very fuzzy.. I was diagnosed with viral gastritis, mild dehydration, and a urinary tract infection. Got a nice little ER doc.. he actually looked over the info I brought with me.. said he wanted to read it, but he was hopping, so he never got to do much more than scan it. On the bright side, the only pain left is in my sore back.. I sent my hubby to get liquid tylenol to take for the back pain.. its not severe enough to take vicodin for. Anyway, I'm home.. I'm sort of awake.. and back on clear liquids until I feel comfy advancing. Dole makes some great no sugar added juice pops, yanno..? 6/11/01: OK.. I do need Reglan.. the ER doc said I have great bowel sounds and didn't need any Reglan, but when I took my antibiotic last night, everything STOPPED.. and I vomited the nastiest-tasting medicine I've ever tasted, all night long. Spoke w/Lisa, Dr Warden's nurse, and she promised to call the PCP's office and advise them that I still need some Reglan. I sure hope this is over.. I'm HUNGRY, lol.. for the first time since surgery. 8/5/01: OK, OK.. I've been lax in posting updates.. I had my followup with Dr. Warden on 7/20, and at that point had lost a total of 43 lbs. YAY!! On the downside, the very same day I started having frequent uncontrollable watery BMs.. Until 8/1, everyone kept saying that this was normal.. but it’s not. I was put back on Flagyl and clear liquids, and I'm hoping that 7 days of flagyl augmented by acidophilus and bifidus capsules will kick this awful diarrhea.. I tried to go back to work on 7/23, but after one lovely day when I changed clothes twice in less than 3 hours, I gave up.. I'm trying to get my disability reinstated, because this is all unpaid time off otherwise. I'm discouraged by my body's weaknesses, but I still have no regrets about having this surgery! And my surgeon, his nurse, and everyone at the LifeShape Clinic have been terrific! Dr Booth HIMSELF called me to talk about my symptoms, and what he felt I should do about them. Hopefully, this will end soon, but we'll see.. but I am NOT giving up yet.. I'm just pissed off, dangit!! 8/26/01: Things have GREATLY improved over the past 5 days, and I think I'm finally back to normal.. it hasn't been verified yet by the MDs, but this is what I feel happened: Until week 4, I had multiple occurrences of viral gastritis. Weeks 5 to 7 were typical postop- I was getting into a routine, feeling human, building up my strength. At the middle of week 7, I went to Biloxi for followup with Dr. Warden... I feel that I got a mild case of food poisoning from a restaurant there. That was my original thought.. but the diarrhea never went away. At week 9, I was prescribed a round of Flagyl. I was also told to take a potent form of acidophilus toward the last few days of Flagyl. It didn't seem to help.. everyone thought it was from the surgery. I got tired of hearing that it would just take time, and started searching the internet, and I found out that severe diarrhea-prevalent cases of irritable bowel disease can be triggered by bacterial infections, most notably, those usually responsible for food poisoning. This made sense to me, because I could not figure out why I was having IBS-like symptoms if this were due to the surgery (I have had mild IBS in the past, but only very short-term). I decided to treat it like I did my past cases of IBS (massive overdoses of immodium, fiber, and lowering my stressors), and lo and behold.. things are looking up! I am to see a gastroenterologist for a formal diagnosis, but just knowing what this probably is has decreased my stress levels tremendously, and yes.. my symptoms have decreased. I decided to take a lower-stress job to help me to finish healing, and I start my new job on Monday. I feel better and I definitely have no regrets about having the surgery.. if I could change anything, I'd wish that I'd had tests done early enough to prove it was food poisoning that triggered this whole mess.. that way my short-term disability people would pay me that pittance for the last 3 weeks I missed <G>. I also think that if I had had a lower-stress job I might have been able to go back to work earlier. All in all, its been interesting, but now I'm definitely ready for the "fun" parts to start (well, ok, 63 lbs gone is pretty fun, but I mean the bike riding, walking, running around types of fun!). November 18, 2001 May 30, 2002- MY 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I am having an aggravation of an old problem these days.. I have an old anal fissure (had it preop) that had never given me any troubles.. well.. its killing me lately, and I need surgical intervention to fix it. Guess I better start praying that hubby gets insurance quickly at his new job (he was laid off in January and just got a new job). I'm dealing with it nonsurgically, but its not working as well as it did in the past. Once again though- it could be worse! I know a lot of people get caught up in how they look postop, new clothes, etc.. but to me its been feeling better. Granted, I'm not to goal yet, but since my personal goal is to just wear clothing in the 'teens again (18, 16, 14..), I know I'll never be a size 4. But I can walk all day now, garden all day, RUN up the trail at Hamilton Pool (its a nature reserve we love to visit), and do things I had been forced to give up as my weight crept ever upward.. I'm pretty happy. Life is (mostly) good. =) 11/27/02
|
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
Email the site administrator with questions, corrections, or suggestions. Copyright © 1999-2006 by The Duodenal Switch Information Zone, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. |
|||||||
