The saga continues

Since I have been home from the hospital last week I have continued to deal with twinges of pain and a headache that won't quit.  I have not felt "right".  I followed up with my PCP (the most wonderful Dr. Josh Bloom) as well as with my GI Doc (the equally wonderful Dr. Hutzenbuhler).  Dr. Bloom was stumped and felt I needed to give my body a break from all the "noise" and just rest.  He felt that the physiological and psychological stresses that I have been under were causing my body to just cry UNCLE.  I couldn't agree more.

Then I went to see Dr. Hutz.  She said I was presenting with classic symptoms of having a stone stuck somewhere - like in my common bile duct or pancreatic duct (remember that I haven't had a gallbladder since 06).  We decided to follow up with an MRCP - which is basically an MRI of that area.  She said there were some problems - one is they wouldn't find a stone - which could also mean that I'm getting them and passing them but the act of passing them is painful.  Two is they would find a stone.  Normally you would then need an ERCP.  An ERCP is like an upper endoscopy - they just go down further past the stomach - and use the instruments in the endoscope to perform manometry on the Sphincter of Oddi (doesn't that sound like a bad word?).  It's actually a pretty simple procedure - in and out.  Problem is - not for someone who has had gastric bypass surgery - visualizing the SOD, etc... is very difficult.

I saw Dr. Hutz Monday morning and on Monday afternoon I started in with the pain again.  At work again.  This time it was accompanied by pretty bad vomitting.  I called Dr. Hutz and she sent me to the ER.  Have I mentioned I hate the ER?  I was there in extreme pain for over 6 hours before I was seen by a doctor.  I hate the ER!  By then I was so dehydrated they had a heck of a time getting an IV started - 6 times they tried!  They finally had to use doppler to find a good vein - even then they had a hard time threading the catheter.

I was admitted again.  My blood work was fine, but I was still having pain despite the good pain meds and obviously something is going on here.  So I was made comfortable for the evening and this morning an MRCP was performed.  The MRCP did not show any stones, but did show that the ducts and sphincter were dilated and inflamed.  So this fed the idea that I could be getting stones (or small stones) and passing them - causing these "attacks" - or I had some sludge build up at the SOD and it was acting kind of like a dam.  Dr. Hutz consulted with some other GI surgeons about how an ERCP could be done on a gastric bypass patient.  A former partner of hers does have some experience with this and consults with my bairatric surgeon (the incomparable Dr. Enochs) on a regular basis for them.  Dr. Enochs actually goes to the OR with them and helps them to visualize what they need to do the sphincterectomy.

So that is the plan - to have a sphincterectomy done here in fairly short order.  I don't have too many other details than that, but I am encouraged that I'm not just being told "We don't know what's wrong with you."  Pissy Pam takes up residence here at Rex when you tell her you don't know why she's in pain or when it will stop or get better.  :)

So the sag continues and I will update everyone on what is found and done next.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me - it means a lot to me and is very helpful.

I'm Leavin' On A Jet Plane ...

I think I mentioned on here before that my sister has seen that I am in desperate need of a break from reality - a getaway - and has graciously arranged for me to come visit her. I am leaving tomorrow evening to go down to Clearwater Beach for the rest of the week. There will be no children and no husbands - just us sisters sitting on the beach and doing blissfully nothing. Expect to see pictures posted here so I can torture you all. :)

In getting ready to leave I have had an interesting problem - finding clothes that fit. I have found a ton that fit, but now the problem is deciding which to take with me! It's so exciting to have cute clothes that fit. I drove my husband crazy last night trying on a gagillion things and going "Does this look OK?" Of course, he's not that crazy about me going without him - so he could care less if I look OK or not. :)

I am looking forward to sleeping in, napping, sitting in the sun, walking, reading a book without being interrupted every 5 minutes, and just basically not living by anyone else's timeline.

When I come back I have an appointment with my Primary Care Physician (Dr. Bloom) to discuss some hip pain I have been having. I went to the chiropractor about the hip pain earlier this week. He said my hip was mis-aligned, but he also feels that because of the rapid weight loss I have my hips are having some bio-mechanical issues. He feels physical therapy is in order because my gait has probably changed. Right now my hip locks up randomly and really hurts when it does. So we'll see how physical therapy helps.

Adjusting

So it does appear as though I hit on something with the lactose intolerance stuff. I have avoided all things dairy and when I haven't been able to avoid those things I have taken a fast acting lactaid pill. I have not gotten sick yet. Yeah! So while I am disappointed to have developed this lactose intolerance, I am very excited to know what the problem is so that I can address it.

I have tried chocolate Silk and that is pretty good. Plain Silk - not so much. Lactaid milk is OK - kind of sweet actually. Just trying to figure out what I can do to replace my milk obsession.

I was playing around with recipes in the kitchen again today. I made up one today that came out pretty good. I'm not sure what to call it, so for now I am going with Pam's Chicken and Pasta.

I took 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts and put them in the crock pot this morning with a jar of spaghetti sauce and let that cook all day. When I got home from work I cooked up a box of Barilla Plus penne pasta. When that was done I put it in a casserole dish. Then I turned to the chicken - it was so tender that it shredded. I shredded it and mixed it with the pasta sauce and then spread that on top of the penne. On top of that I put some mozzerella cheese and baked it at 350 for about 15 minutes. It would be great with a side salad and some garlic bread. It got a thumbs up from my family.

I have been having a hard time seeing the difference in myself while I am loosing all this weight. So tonight I pulled out a before and a current picture to put side by side and see if I see a difference. What do you think?

The Divorce Continues

I have mentioned before that this process is really a divorce from food. I had no idea just how painful this divorce was going to be.

I am totally addicted to milk, and to me cheese makes everything better. But I think that I have become lactose intolerant since surgery.

As I have stated on this blog before - I and my surgeon have been thinking that I am suffering from a stricture. But I did have a few times that I ate and did not get ill afterwards. So it got me to thinking - what was the difference? I started going back over what I was eating and realized I was having an awful lot of dairy in my quest for soft foods. Soft cheeses, cottage cheese, milk whenever I could get it. So today I decided to test my theory and see if I could go without anything with lactose in it. I made it most of the day and I was not sick! But then at dinner tonight I decided to make my kids some heart shaped waffles. One fell apart and I took a couple of bites of that dry waffle - which was made with ... milk!!!! In about 30 minutes I spent the next 2 hours in absolute misery.

So the divorce with my favorite foods continues. Before surgery I was talking to someone I go to church with who had the same surgery - with the same surgeon about 8 months before me. He said to me "It's like learning to eat all over again." Truer words have never been spoken!!!!

Stricture

So after a few days of misery I was able to get in to see Dr. Enochs today. Gotta tell ya - that man's smile makes it all OK. :)

Anyway - I have been having a lot of difficulty eating lately. Liquids stay down, but I am sore after I drink. Soft foods - well that is hit or miss. Sometimes Kanga refunds the Roo. When she does that has not been pretty - have had blood come up with it, etc... If the Roo stays down I am in pain for hours.

Dr. Enochs thinks that I may be working on a stricture in the area where my new stomach (a.k.a. Kanga) attaches to my intestines. Because I'm only 5 weeks out from surgery - it could just be swelling having to do with healing and not necessarily scar tissue. He wants to wait and let me heal a bit more before trying to go in there with endoscopy to fix things. He doesn't like to go in before 2 months has passed. So he gave me a script for some steroids to see if that shrinks things and makes it easier for me. I am to do the steroids for a few days and go back to liquids, and then try to advance to soft foods and see what happens. If I am still having trouble at the end of February then they will have me see the GI doc for an endoscopy. If things get worse before then they will address it. He would just like to give me a few more weeks if possible.

I hope that the steroids work. Not being able to eat and being in pain a lot of the time is getting really old.

YUMMY!

So today was full liquids day! YEAH! I had a Carnation Instant Breakfast first thing this morning. YUM! Chocolate! WOO HOO! I got to have Lemon Meringue Pie Yogurt for lunch - it took me an hour to eat it - but I got it all in. And this evening I made Potato Soup with a little cheese added in - OH YEAH! That was the best. It was so good - so good - so good! In between meals I have had some high protein snacks - like protein bullets and protein shakes. I have started journaling everything I eat. I carry my fun pink journal with me everywhere. I record what I'm eating - how much protein, carbs, fat, and calories are in it. I am noticing hunger, but also noticing fullness. The hunger isn't bad - it's OK to be hungry.

I am watching The Biggest Loser tonight. I've never actually watched it before. I have lots of friends who love it and watch it all the time. I wouldn't watch it before because I simply didn't want to be constantly reminded of what I wasn't doing for myself. But I'm ready now.

I've had a little bit of pain today - not as bad as last night. I'm trying to rest and that seems to help. I'm hoping it won't be raining tomorrow and if it's not I hope to walk as much as possible - possibly at lunch at work and maybe in the evening when I get home. There I said it - now that I have said it and put it out here - I will have to hold myself to it. :)