My Switch Story - 8 months VERY long

[Guest guest]

Eight Months

On 4/20, two days before the celebration of my eight month anniversary, I ended up requiring an emergency surgery for bowel obstruction. A couple days prior to the surgery, I was experiencing some pain in my mid-back, mainly the left side. It was a tired, achy feeling pain and I thought I was perhaps coming down with the flu. On that Friday evening, I started getting really bad gas and bloating, which is rare for me – I got much less gas post-op, then I did pre-op. After taking some meds for the gas, the gas pain turned into severe pain in the stomach area. My hernia was very distended and I couldn’t push it back in. I called the emergency number and was waiting for the on-call doc to get back to me. The pain got so much worse and I began to panic, thinking I had a strangulated hernia or something. I called Dr. Maguire’s nurse, Kim, at home – who is also a very good friend, and she suggested I have bring me up to Kettering and check into the ER. She said it sounded like an illeus (sp) to her (the beginnings of a bowel obstruction). My hubby drove me up there and before receiving pain meds in the ER, I’d safely say that I had a couple hours of the worse pain I had ever felt.

Kim and Dr. Maguire are THE best! Kim called Dr. Maguire at home, as he was not the doc on call. Dr. Maguire had called the ER twice before I got there, to see if I had arrived yet. He made arrangements for me to see the resident surgeon, instead of the ER doc, so that I could get right in as a private appointment instead of waiting in emergency. Upon arrival, I was vomiting and quite the loud paitient due to the pain. I was dehydrated and they were having trouble getting an IV into my already hard to hit, tiny and rolling veins. Dr. Maguire arrived at the hospital about the same time I did and while I was getting ready for the CT scan, he indicated he thought I may have a kidney stone.

He reviewed the CT scan, along with my husband, as they were performing it. Immediately afterward, he indicated I did have a bowel obstruction and that we needed to do surgery right away.

I was in surgery from 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. He repaired the bowel obstruction, which ended up being a kink in the bowel, with adhesions wrapped around it. He also spent time butting away adhesions that had developed since my original surgery. He also used mesh to repair my hernia.

Summary of symptoms:

Back pain

Gas

Severe abdominal pain

Dehydrated

Very pale

Clammy

Vomiting

He indicated that because it was caught in such a timely fashion, that he was able to repair the obstruction with no damage to the bowel. A matter of just a few more hours could have caused some major problems with the bowel dying, becoming gangrenous or causing sepsis. I feel VERY fortunate to have such a conscientious, caring surgeon.

I asked him about the possibility of a bowel obstruction recurring. He indicated that this was even less likely than having a bowel obstruction in the first place, which is a very low percentage.

I was in the hospital 4 nights. Was released on 4/24 after I had been passing gas about 12 hours. In the hospital, I was on potassium to get me rehyrated, an antibiotic, the morphine pump, toradol. It was all pretty similar to the first surgery, as he had indicated it would be. Though, he said it might be a little rougher than the first time around, I found it to be a bit easier. Especially, the walking was easier at this much lighter – I was a walking fool! They even took the inflatable stockings off after the second night, as I was up walking so much. They used the existing scar and the new incision was the entire length – but a bit longer at the bottom. I had a jp drain, which I came home with and have to drain and record the volume twice a day. I go in Friday, 4/27 to have the staples removed and hopefully, the jp drain. The recovery requirements, such as lifting, etc. are the same as they were for the original surgery.

If you have any further questions on my experience, please let me know. Remember that this is very rare – I want to say 1%, though it might be a little higher percentage. Thanks to everyone who was so loving and helpful to me during this time. It meant the world to me. Definitely not the way I would have chose to celebrate my eight month anniversary, but am very grateful it was caught in a timely fashion.

I had a better weight and inch loss this month than last month. And, due to bloating of all the IV fluids, am guessing next month will look pretty good, as well. Until the bowel obstruction, I was feeling really great – feeling almost normal and very healthy. Fitting easily into size 10 and some 8’s. Only 7 more pounds to be “normal” weight and 19 pounds to the goal which was set by Dr. Maguire. I lost 12 pounds this month and 8.25 inches. Below are the accumulated totals of loss:

To-date Loss

Weight

117 pounds

Neck

2

Bust

13

Under Bust

12

Left Bicep

5.25

Left Forearm

1.75

Left Wrist

0.5

Left Thigh

5.5

Left Knee

1.5

Left Calf

2.5

Left Ankle

1

Right Bicep

5

Right Forearm

2.75

Right Wrist

1

Right Thigh

6.25

Right Knee

1.75

Right Calf

2.5

Right Ankle

0.5

Waist

17.25

Stomach

22.5

Hips

12.75

117.25 inches

Obviously, I need to concentrate on more on staying hydrated, so am going to really try and drink only a little Diet Pepsi and try to have water as my mainstay liquid. I continue to take Prevacid for GERD and since I switched vitamin brands, I haven’t had to take acidopholus or Devrom. Will be interesting to see if that changes after this second surgery. I also found I need to continue taking Zinc, as for me, it truly helps stop the hair loss. I hadn’t taken it for 4-5 days when starting my new vitamins, and it started falling out again. Coinicidence, perhaps, but it is the 2nd or 3rd such coincidence. On some of the other lists, it has been mentioned that Nixoin (a shampoo also utilized by chemo patients) helps with the hair loss, as well. The new vitamins I take are Vita 4 Life, specifically for weight loss surgery patients and can be found at:

http://www.vita4life.net

I continue to feel very blessed with the surgery, although I’m disappointed I was one of the few who got a bowel obstruction. I’m not thrilled about having to go through recovery, basically, again. But, am very grateful it was caught in time. Even with this recent surgery, I would do it all again – as it has truly given me life back -- my good health back! The happiness I feel because I’m not disgusted with myself, the energy I feel because I am so much more healthy – makes it all MORE than worth it. I still count myself very fortunate, as I didn’t have major problems and still haven’t. And, may have even taken the obstruction blow statistics for a bunch of you. =)

As I am continuing my recovery, I still plan on getting the ball rolling with the non-profit organization, New Life Teams for Better Health. There will be a website developed at newlifeteams.org. There are groups of folks working on start-up of the organization, education of PCPs and the public, education of insurance companies, funding for those qualified candidates who cannot get insurance to cover them or afford to self-pay, fundraising efforts on behalf of the organization and extended stay projects. If you are interested in being part of the organization, we would love to have your input. You are welcome to subscribe to the yahoo list at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newlifeteams

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to our great cause, or know of someone who would, contributions can be sent to:

New Life Teams

P. O. Box 112116

Cincinnati, OH 45211-2116

Thank you, as always for your wonderful support -- I feel that you are all like extended family and feel very blessed.

Love,

Kris G Cincinnati, Ohio5'7", 40 years old8/22 - 283 - BMI 44.304/22 - 166 - BMI 26ciao to 117 lbs. & 117.25 inches in 8 monthsOpen BPD/DS 08/22/00Bowel obstruction surgery 4/20/01Dr. Maguire, Kettering OHHumanaFreedom Plus Planiwillbefit@...