Lisbeth/4 Week Follow-up Visit

[Guest guest]

Hi Lisbeth,

I think I'm finally back now. One of my goals during my recovery,

though, has been to help my dh find a job. He was unemployed for a

year and then decided to go back to school for his Associates degree.

He finished up in December and has been looking for a job, but with

the economy slump, no one seems to be hiring. I thought maybe while I

was home I could help him by searching the internet and

creating custom tailored resumes.

So, that has used up a lot of my computer time at least the time I've

even felt like sitting at the PC...

So how have you been doing? I've thought of you too and wondered how

you fared with your Open DS and if you bounced right back better than

I didn't!

No, I can't believe it's been a month!! Pretty amazing stuff, this

surgery! I still cannot believe the difference in my eating habits!

When I think of how I could sit down with a HUGE bowl of pasta, or

plate of Mexican food and just polish it off -- I can't even *fathom*

anymore how I used to do that! No wonder the weight just comes off!

Sure I miss eating some things, but I have never told myself I cannot

have something. If I really feel like eating it, I have a few bites

and that is enough! Amazing.

Well, I hope to get my dh working and then have more time to spend

chatting with y'all. I usually respond to my emails first, so if any

newbies out there have any questions for me, that is the best way to

get me. I've been getting a lot of inquiries from people who have

stumbled on and read my profile page. I am so glad to share this

wonderful info!

Thanks for hanging in there with me, my dear surgery sister!

Terri Hassiak

BMI 61.8

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=H980366398

Appealed " Out-of-Network " Ins. Denial - AND WON!!!

Laparoscopic BPD/DS with Dr. Pomp on 6/25/01 - Down 34lbs in 4wks!

email(no spaces): bunsofluff @ hotmail.com

> > Hi everyone,

> >

> > Sorry for being so vacant these last few weeks.

> > I've had a bit of a rough

> > time. Nothing too major, but affected my desire to

> > sit in front of my PC.

> >

> > It turns out that the upper abdominal pain I

> > experienced for 8 days during

> > my 3rd week post-op was a bout of Acute

> > Pancreatitis. The bloodwork Dr Pomp

> > ordered last week confirmed it. Chronic

> > Pancreatitis is ongoing and is bad;

> > it signals an overall breakdown of the pancreas and

> > it's ability to secrete

> > enzymes. Acute Pancreatitis just means isolated,

> > individual occurrences of

> > swelling of the Pancreas. It is brought on in about

> > 75% of cases, by abuse

> > of alcohol. The other 25% are caused by a variety

> > of things, including

> > trauma or major abdominal surgery. It resolves

> > itself and there is no real

> > treatment for it other than to control the pain

> > (darvocet works *wonders*!).

> > Generally there are no lasting effects as long as

> > it doesn't become

> > chronic.

> >

> > So the painful stuff went away last week and was

> > replaced by icky daily

> > nausea and vomitting. I've been dealing with that

> > and while I have good

> > days and bad days, it is hard to think about

> > returning to work and life when

> > the bad days are outnumbering the good. It has made

> > the difficult pre-op

> > job of getting in one's protein nearly impossible.

> >

> > But I went to my first post-op follow-up appt today

> > and discussed all my

> > concerns. Got a script for Prochlorperazine

> > (compazine?) to alleviate the

> > nausea. Of course Dr Pomp said some nausea is

> > actually normal with the DS

> > though it is not generally mentioned too often. He

> > said it is one of the

> > things that keep us from eating too much and

> > stretching our tummies out too

> > soon. Be that as it may, the nausea I have had

> > needed to be addressed

> > unless I was supposed to go on disability for the

> > next 6 months. I started

> > the meds this evening and if they don't improve

> > things for me I am to

> > contact Gee who will get me a script for

> > something else.

> >

> > But the biggest news of all - my weight loss! I

> > think my PCP electronic

> > scale registers about 15 lbs higher than Dr Pomp's

> > electronic scale. I am

> > comparing my pre-op weight from the higher

> > scale to the weight today. Conservatively I have

> > lost 34 lbs in 4 weeks and

> > it might be as much as 49 lbs!!! Woo Hoo!! I will

> > get to compare on the

> > same scale at my PCP visit this Monday.

> >

> > One thing I did confirm in my visit with the

> > nutritionist (I knew this

> > anyway) is I definitely have not been getting in

> > enough water. Some of my

> > weight loss could be dehydration; which would be

> > bad. She even said one of

> > the signs of dehydration is nausea. Bad catch 22

> > thing going on... Anyhow,

> > I'm gonna be working on this one. Hopefully the

> > anti-nausea meds will help.

> >

> > Guess that's about all for now! Still trying to

> > catch up with everyone's

> > posts/progress as pre and post-ops. Hopefully as

> > the meds start to do their

> > thing I'll have more stamina.

> >

> > Hasta!

> > Terri Hassiak

> > BMI 61.8

> >

> http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=H980366398

> > Appealed " Out-of-Network " Ins. Denial - AND WON!!!

> > Laparoscopic BPD/DS with Dr. Pomp on 6/25/01 - Down

> > 34lbs in 4wks!

> > email(no spaces): bunsofluff @ hotmail.com

> >

> >

> >

> >

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>

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