Re: Update on me... Dee in Ohio :o)

[Guest guest]

Dee,

Not that you should push it too much yet, but your diarrhea may get better as

you start more food. Your body has nothing to bulk it up right now. It is

most important to get those fluids in though. That is the same thing that

Dr. Hess told me when I left the hospital. He said I know the nutritionist

tells you what you can eat, but I don't care what you eat in the first while,

just be SURE to get those fluids in. The nutritionist told me I needed at

least 1.5 liters a day. So in those first few weeks when absolutely nothing

tasted good, I just sipped all day on my 3 500ml bottles of water (which

tasted like I was drinking medicine). I feel for you. It has been a

difficult journey for you. Hopefully each day will be a tiny bit better.

Dawn

[Guest guest]

Dee,

Not that you should push it too much yet, but your diarrhea may get better as

you start more food. Your body has nothing to bulk it up right now. It is

most important to get those fluids in though. That is the same thing that

Dr. Hess told me when I left the hospital. He said I know the nutritionist

tells you what you can eat, but I don't care what you eat in the first while,

just be SURE to get those fluids in. The nutritionist told me I needed at

least 1.5 liters a day. So in those first few weeks when absolutely nothing

tasted good, I just sipped all day on my 3 500ml bottles of water (which

tasted like I was drinking medicine). I feel for you. It has been a

difficult journey for you. Hopefully each day will be a tiny bit better.

Dawn

[Guest guest]

Hopefully each day will be a tiny bit better

Thank you Dawn... I appreciate your encouragement. I never heard the 1.5 liters a day advice.. but I will try to see how I'm doing compared to that.

It's always so good to hear from others! Thanks again sweetie... Love, Dee

[Guest guest]

Dee,

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about the rough time you have been through. You

will recover 100% and feel SUPER! Please get your liquids in any way you

can, they are so important.

Lupita Estrada

Dr. Baltasar

PS: For me intense itching, is worse than pain. I probably would have died

with the itching you described from your epidural!

>From: wannaBLoser@...

>Reply-To: duodenalswitchegroups

>To: duodenalswitchegroups

>Subject: Update on me... Dee in Ohio )

>Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:20:38 EST

>

>Hi everyone,

>  I haven't posted in a little over 6 weeks.  I have missed you all but I

>have just not been up to much correspondence.  I know there are probably a

>lot of new people here, and I hope to get to know you. 

>

>  I had my surgery with Dr. Hess in Bowling Green, Ohio on Thursday,

>November

>30th.  I had the BPD/DS.  The surgery itself went very well from what I've

>heard.  I woke up in the recovery room still on the ventilator, and I was

>told that it was because I was probably a little over-anesthetized because

>I

>had never had surgery before...   and they had to do a little bit of

>guessing

>as to how I would respond.  That was not fun, but I survived it.  I didn't

>have to spend a night in the Intensive Care, but got to go right back to my

>regular room, and even got up and walked a few steps that very day.

>

>    I had a little bit of a problem with pain after that first day because

>I

>guess I let it get out of control.  At that point it was difficult to make

>it

>go away.  They tried upping the epidural (which was great to have, by the

>way) and finally starting giving me Demerol on top of the epidural.  I was

>still in a lot of pain, but was so drugged that I finally fell asleep that

>second night.  But I was awakened by a nurse in the middle of the night

>because my oxygen levels had dropped so low.  Probably because of all of

>the

>pain killers depressing my system.  They almost put me in intensive care

>but

>once the respiratory people came down and got a mask on me, I was able to

>breathe much easier.  I kept the mask or nasal oxygen for the rest of my

>stay.  

>

>    The rest of the time in the hospital (a normal 8 day stay) was fairly

>uneventful except for the TERRIBLE itching that I got from the epidural.  I

>constantly had to be given benadryl.  Anyone who came in my room would have

>to scratch my skin for me... and I would BEG them to scratch harder and

>harder...  I didn't care if they drew blood, I just wanted it to STOP!  I

>guess this is a reaction that some people have with the epidural.  It was

>not

>fun!

>

>    I did real well toward the end and on the 6th day I wanted to leave....

>my swallow test had come back great, I had passed gas, I was handling the

>liquid diet well...   but Dr. Hess persuaded me to stay an extra day just

>because he didn't want to take any chances.  The next morning, the day I

>was

>expecting to be released, I woke up with a fever and shaking, chills..    I

>was scared to death and feeling lousy.  I had to have another swallow test

>and a chest X-ray.. both of which came back OK again.. Thank God..   They

>removed my central line (the central IV in my neck) and took blood tests to

>determine what was up.   I started to feel better by late afternoon and by

>the next day I wanted to go home more than ever!!   The internist didn't

>want

>me to go because they weren't sure what the infection was.. but the fever

>was

>gone and I was adamant that I was going to leave... so I left.  I was given

>strong antibiotics to take and had a dr's appointment the following Tuesday

>(this was on a Friday).   

>

>    I was never so happy to see the outside and breathe fresh air!  I

>actually had tears in my eyes at the beauty of the snow on the ground and

>just the idea that I had come through the ordeal all right.  

>

>     I made it until Sunday.  My Mom was staying with me, and she had been

>doing some laundry and came in the room and said to me " what's on your

>face? "

>and I said " I don't know " and she handed me a mirror and when I stretched

>out

>my arm to get the mirror I saw that my arm was COVERED with red splotchy

>bumps.  My face and entire body was covered.  So... I had to call the

>doctor

>and was readmitted on the next day, Monday.   I was put on a Vancomycin IV.

>  I was VERY unhappy being back in the hospital.  The internist told me

>that

>I had contracted a staph infection and that the standard treatment was

>15-21

>days on an IV .  I was mortified.  Christmas was just days away and here I

>was stuck in the hospital.

>

>    Luckily, a specialist was called in and he determined that my infection

>was under control and I was allowed to leave the hospital after a few days.

>

>   I was so weak.  I was barely eating anything and the antibiotics were

>playing havoc with my stomach and digestive tract.  But I made it through.

>

>    Now it is 6 weeks from my surgery and I'm doing better.  I have lost

>over

>60 lbs.  I wish I could say that it's worth it.. but those words might come

>later.  I'm still suffering from intense diarrhea.  I'm hoping that it will

>stabilize once my body figures out what's up.  I'm taking lomotil, flagyl

>and

>trying the acidipholus that others have talked about.  I bought some

>metamucil to try as well.. but I haven't done it yet.  I've tried imodium

>and

>it works for about 1/2 a day.    I know that I'm not getting nearly enough

>nutrition because of this problem, but the doctor says to concentrate on

>getting enough liquids in.. so that's what I'm doing.  I do not want to get

>dehydrated and end up back in the hospital.  

>

>    So that's where I'm at guys.  I didn't want to come on the list and

>write

>a big long complaint... but I guess that's kind of what I've done.   I do

>fully expect to be better soon, and I know that the weight loss will be

>something to celebrate once I feel better.

>

>    Thanks for all of you who called me while I was in the hospital.  And

>those of you who have written to me personally with encouragement.  I have

>missed you guys!

>     Thanks for reading!      Dee  (in Ohio) )

>

>P.S. I've been keeping up on the posts from Joy about Joe... I'm so glad

>that he's doing so well now! Every time I read a post I thought that my

>experiences were so great in comparison... and reading what Bridget went

>through as well.. I just don't want anyone to think that I would compare

>my

>situations to theirs... or to others who have had major problems. I am

>willing to answer any questions that anyone might have.

>

>Surgery date:  Nov. 30th, 2000

>Type:   BPD/DS

>Body by Hess

>-62  lbs

_________________________________________________________________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Dee,

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about the rough time you have been through. You

will recover 100% and feel SUPER! Please get your liquids in any way you

can, they are so important.

Lupita Estrada

Dr. Baltasar

PS: For me intense itching, is worse than pain. I probably would have died

with the itching you described from your epidural!

>From: wannaBLoser@...

>Reply-To: duodenalswitchegroups

>To: duodenalswitchegroups

>Subject: Update on me... Dee in Ohio )

>Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:20:38 EST

>

>Hi everyone,

>  I haven't posted in a little over 6 weeks.  I have missed you all but I

>have just not been up to much correspondence.  I know there are probably a

>lot of new people here, and I hope to get to know you. 

>

>  I had my surgery with Dr. Hess in Bowling Green, Ohio on Thursday,

>November

>30th.  I had the BPD/DS.  The surgery itself went very well from what I've

>heard.  I woke up in the recovery room still on the ventilator, and I was

>told that it was because I was probably a little over-anesthetized because

>I

>had never had surgery before...   and they had to do a little bit of

>guessing

>as to how I would respond.  That was not fun, but I survived it.  I didn't

>have to spend a night in the Intensive Care, but got to go right back to my

>regular room, and even got up and walked a few steps that very day.

>

>    I had a little bit of a problem with pain after that first day because

>I

>guess I let it get out of control.  At that point it was difficult to make

>it

>go away.  They tried upping the epidural (which was great to have, by the

>way) and finally starting giving me Demerol on top of the epidural.  I was

>still in a lot of pain, but was so drugged that I finally fell asleep that

>second night.  But I was awakened by a nurse in the middle of the night

>because my oxygen levels had dropped so low.  Probably because of all of

>the

>pain killers depressing my system.  They almost put me in intensive care

>but

>once the respiratory people came down and got a mask on me, I was able to

>breathe much easier.  I kept the mask or nasal oxygen for the rest of my

>stay.  

>

>    The rest of the time in the hospital (a normal 8 day stay) was fairly

>uneventful except for the TERRIBLE itching that I got from the epidural.  I

>constantly had to be given benadryl.  Anyone who came in my room would have

>to scratch my skin for me... and I would BEG them to scratch harder and

>harder...  I didn't care if they drew blood, I just wanted it to STOP!  I

>guess this is a reaction that some people have with the epidural.  It was

>not

>fun!

>

>    I did real well toward the end and on the 6th day I wanted to leave....

>my swallow test had come back great, I had passed gas, I was handling the

>liquid diet well...   but Dr. Hess persuaded me to stay an extra day just

>because he didn't want to take any chances.  The next morning, the day I

>was

>expecting to be released, I woke up with a fever and shaking, chills..    I

>was scared to death and feeling lousy.  I had to have another swallow test

>and a chest X-ray.. both of which came back OK again.. Thank God..   They

>removed my central line (the central IV in my neck) and took blood tests to

>determine what was up.   I started to feel better by late afternoon and by

>the next day I wanted to go home more than ever!!   The internist didn't

>want

>me to go because they weren't sure what the infection was.. but the fever

>was

>gone and I was adamant that I was going to leave... so I left.  I was given

>strong antibiotics to take and had a dr's appointment the following Tuesday

>(this was on a Friday).   

>

>    I was never so happy to see the outside and breathe fresh air!  I

>actually had tears in my eyes at the beauty of the snow on the ground and

>just the idea that I had come through the ordeal all right.  

>

>     I made it until Sunday.  My Mom was staying with me, and she had been

>doing some laundry and came in the room and said to me " what's on your

>face? "

>and I said " I don't know " and she handed me a mirror and when I stretched

>out

>my arm to get the mirror I saw that my arm was COVERED with red splotchy

>bumps.  My face and entire body was covered.  So... I had to call the

>doctor

>and was readmitted on the next day, Monday.   I was put on a Vancomycin IV.

>  I was VERY unhappy being back in the hospital.  The internist told me

>that

>I had contracted a staph infection and that the standard treatment was

>15-21

>days on an IV .  I was mortified.  Christmas was just days away and here I

>was stuck in the hospital.

>

>    Luckily, a specialist was called in and he determined that my infection

>was under control and I was allowed to leave the hospital after a few days.

>

>   I was so weak.  I was barely eating anything and the antibiotics were

>playing havoc with my stomach and digestive tract.  But I made it through.

>

>    Now it is 6 weeks from my surgery and I'm doing better.  I have lost

>over

>60 lbs.  I wish I could say that it's worth it.. but those words might come

>later.  I'm still suffering from intense diarrhea.  I'm hoping that it will

>stabilize once my body figures out what's up.  I'm taking lomotil, flagyl

>and

>trying the acidipholus that others have talked about.  I bought some

>metamucil to try as well.. but I haven't done it yet.  I've tried imodium

>and

>it works for about 1/2 a day.    I know that I'm not getting nearly enough

>nutrition because of this problem, but the doctor says to concentrate on

>getting enough liquids in.. so that's what I'm doing.  I do not want to get

>dehydrated and end up back in the hospital.  

>

>    So that's where I'm at guys.  I didn't want to come on the list and

>write

>a big long complaint... but I guess that's kind of what I've done.   I do

>fully expect to be better soon, and I know that the weight loss will be

>something to celebrate once I feel better.

>

>    Thanks for all of you who called me while I was in the hospital.  And

>those of you who have written to me personally with encouragement.  I have

>missed you guys!

>     Thanks for reading!      Dee  (in Ohio) )

>

>P.S. I've been keeping up on the posts from Joy about Joe... I'm so glad

>that he's doing so well now! Every time I read a post I thought that my

>experiences were so great in comparison... and reading what Bridget went

>through as well.. I just don't want anyone to think that I would compare

>my

>situations to theirs... or to others who have had major problems. I am

>willing to answer any questions that anyone might have.

>

>Surgery date:  Nov. 30th, 2000

>Type:   BPD/DS

>Body by Hess

>-62  lbs

_________________________________________________________________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Lupita and Kris...

I wanted to thank both of you for taking time (and money) to speak to me on

the phone and online and give me so much information and such straight

answers about the DS.

I have an appt. to see a PCP on 1/24, hoping and praying he'll give me a

referral to a surgeon.

I've scheduled an appt. with both a Dr Elariny in VA that does DS Lap, and

Dr. Maguire in Ohio, which most of you know. :-)

I'd just like to see both and make a more infomed decision.

Wish me luck with the referral.. thanks again!

Diane

P.S. I have a surgery date scheduled with Dr. Maguire for 4/17/01 pending

insurance.. *GULP*

[Guest guest]

i am from ohio and wold like to see diane or dee,s story from ohio thank you

kay from ohio

Re: Update on me... Dee in Ohio )

> Lupita and Kris...

>

> I wanted to thank both of you for taking time (and money) to speak to me

on

> the phone and online and give me so much information and such straight

> answers about the DS.

>

> I have an appt. to see a PCP on 1/24, hoping and praying he'll give me a

> referral to a surgeon.

>

> I've scheduled an appt. with both a Dr Elariny in VA that does DS Lap, and

> Dr. Maguire in Ohio, which most of you know. :-)

>

> I'd just like to see both and make a more infomed decision.

>

> Wish me luck with the referral.. thanks again!

>

> Diane

>

> P.S. I have a surgery date scheduled with Dr. Maguire for 4/17/01 pending

> insurance.. *GULP*

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

DEEEEE!

Hi, I'm sorry to hear you've been having such rough time. Hoping you feel

better and better each and every day. You sound tired to all the BS you've

had to deal with. It happens as we're all well aware of. Please post more

often when you feel up to it. You've had a tremedous loss - 60 lbs! Your

body must feel good about that. I know what it's like to feel crappy every

day and not see any end to it. Hopefully it will get easier for you - from

reading about post ops - most start to feel much better after the 3 month

mark - I think! I miss you on the list. Be well.

Resa

[Guest guest]

Resa,

Awww... thank you sweetie. Yes, I do think you're right. I have heard so

many people say that they feel NORMAL again after 3-4 months... so I'm

holding out for that. I wasn't all that normal to start... so we'll see )

I do think that my life will slowly get back to it's routine now that I'm

back at work. AND, I won't have as much time to dwell on poor pitiful me.

I'm serious about that. I think I just was bored some of the time and let my

mine be occupied with how lousy I felt. So now I'm back to helping other

people through work and I already feel better. I hate to think of myself as

being selfish, but I think that I really had fallen into that hole. Thank

goodness I have people around me to offer me a rope to climb out!

Thanks again for your good wishes, Resa... you are such a dear )

Love, Dee

[Guest guest]

I am going to see Dr. Elariny next friday he called me on the phone last

week he was real nice. dose anyone else know anything about him? Dee I live

in Ohio also Where in Ohio do you live? I am in Ravenna, OH . Joyce

Re: Update on me... Dee in Ohio )

>

>

> > Lupita and Kris...

> >

> > I wanted to thank both of you for taking time (and money) to speak to me

> on

> > the phone and online and give me so much information and such straight

> > answers about the DS.

> >

> > I have an appt. to see a PCP on 1/24, hoping and praying he'll give me a

> > referral to a surgeon.

> >

> > I've scheduled an appt. with both a Dr Elariny in VA that does DS Lap,

and

> > Dr. Maguire in Ohio, which most of you know. :-)

> >

> > I'd just like to see both and make a more infomed decision.

> >

> > Wish me luck with the referral.. thanks again!

> >

> > Diane

> >

> > P.S. I have a surgery date scheduled with Dr. Maguire for 4/17/01

pending

> > insurance.. *GULP*

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kay:

Feel free to e-mail me privately at Whynot8770@... with any questions you

have.

I am still pre-op so I'll answer all I can, however, your best resource might

be to talk to post-ops.

Diane

[Guest guest]

Good to hear from you Dee in Ohio!

You do not sound like a whiner, you're being honest. You experience

is probably more the norm. Not trouble free, but on the road to

recovery.

May all your poops be solid.

Rose

[Guest guest]

May all your poops be solid.

Rose

Rose, that's the best wish I've heard so far!! Thanks so much ) Dee