Fall is Here...

Although things have been really hard for me since surgery, I haven't really had any pain. I stopped using the morphine 24 hours after surgery and never used any pain medication at home. I have been very thankful for that because I know that my sister's mother-in-law had a lot of pain after her surgery.

Last night, I woke up at about 2:30am. I had a pain so bad I woke up crying. I have never felt anything so bad in my life. I curled up in a fetal position and just cried. My husband woke up and asked me if I was OK. I told him that it hurt and he asked where. I could really explain it so I poked him where it hurt. My lower right abdomen. At first I was very scared and just wanted him to hold my hand. Then, as we tried to talk about it I began to realize that this could be pretty major. This should have made me even more scared but instead it somehow cleared my head and I realized we just had to do something about it.

I guess my husband was thinking the same thing because he said we should go to the ER. He helped me get dressed, down the 2 flights of stairs and up into the truck. The ride was excruciating. Plus, it was so cold out that I began to shiver and the shaking hurt even more. We arrived at the ER just before 4am.

I talked to a triage nurse. I talked to a Physcian's Assistant that was there doing an observation and then I talked to the doctor. They thought maybe I had appendicitis. The symptoms fit. I peed in a cup and they took blood. They gave me an IV and then we just waited.

My blood pressure was up. My pulse was up. My white count was elevated and there was a small amount of blood in my urine. Great. Now it could be appendicitis or kidney stones.

I had several X-rays. They gave me a chest x-ray and an abdominal x-ray. Then they decided I needed a ct scan. To have the CT scan, I needed to drink some contrast material. The nurse said I had an hour to drink 1 liter of fluid. They flavored it with orange crystal lite. I had to remind her that with gastric bypass I would not be able to drink that much fluid. She said to do my best. She also brought me a straw, which I can't use but I didn't tell her that. I drank 2 of the 3 cups that she gave me. By the time I was getting to the bottom of the second one my stomach was starting to feel really nauseated. About this time, the technician came to take me to have the scan so I didn't have to drink the 3rd cup.

When all was said and done, at around 8am. They sent me home with instructions to rest and call my surgeon to make sure that the pain wasn't related to the gastric bypass. In other words, they have no idea what my problem is. The pain is now bearable but still uncomfortable, especially when I walk.

I called the surgeon's office and he's not in the office this week or next. The nurse called me back this afternoon to talk about my symptoms so she could determine whether there was any sort of emergency that needed to be address by the surgeon on call. She told me that although my problems aren't common, she has seen a handful of patients that have alot of the same problems I have. She moved my appointment to see the surgeon up as far as she could but that is still 2 weeks away.

Its frustrating for me to keep hearing that things will get better and to just have a little more patience while my body heals. I give up. Really. I mean, what's the point. I just need to resign myself to that fact that I am going to feel like crap for the rest of my life and if it turns out differently then "bonus."


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Side Note: The following has nothing to do with my gastric bypass. Its just a little something about me.


My husband and I met 3 years ago this month. It seems like it has been so much longer. I mean this in a good way. I hardly remember what life was like before I met him. I know that things have been just wonderful since we met. We've hardly been apart for the past 3 years. I can't think of a single day since I met Walter that we haven't talk to each other on the phone or in person.

In the beginning, we talked for 3-4 hours on the phone. Many nights I would have to force him to hang up because he was falling asleep while we were talking. He'd say some random thing that had nothing to do with the conversation and it would get me giggling. Till this day, he still denies falling asleep while we talk but most nights he falls asleep while I am still gabbing away. :-)