Connie's Craptacular Day

Let me just whine about my Craptacular day. It started early this morning when my doctor informed me that I have skin cancer. Got to the dermatologist right away as instructed and had a chunk of my face removed and another chunk frozen. I'll find out in two weeks if they got it all. In the meantime, call me Swiss Cheese. Got to the office and found that all hell had broken loose. My direct staff are all out of the office in training and I had the joy of dealing with tons of crap on my own. I won't bore you with the details, but today, I hate my job. 3:00 out the door and on my way to a meeting. Pulled into the parking lot and was looking for a place to park when chest pain**** Big pains. Can't ignore them pains. I debated calling 911, but I didn't know where I was. I knew how to get there, but didn't know the address or even the cross streets. I was in a parking structure, but didn't know which floor. I pull out of the parking lot and headed for the nearest Emergency Room. I really don't remember much after that except I ended up at an Urgent Care Center on the other end of town that I had been to before. I walked in and they refused to see me. I asked for a doctor and they told me that I couldn't see a doctor, but would have to go to an Emergency Room. They don't deal with heart issues. I remember stumbling out the door and calling my sister. I didn't want to call 911 because the closest hospital was the worst in the state and I probably wouldn't have survived if I was having a heart attack. My sister got there right away and got me to a better hospital and I got in immediately. 4 million tests later and it seems that low potassium has caused some heart issues. My kidneys aren't flushing my system so I'm on diuretics. The diuretics wreck havoc on my potassium so I take a supplement. I'm not absorbing the supplement so my heart is not happy. It's OK and there's no serious damage, but I'm going to have to lay off the Lasix and look like the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man for a while. After treatment, the doctor agreed to release me only of I promised to see my pcp first thing in the morning. I got home to find that I have no water. I don't know why I have no running water. I just have no water. Tomorrow I will be a bloated, holey, smelly person. OK, I'm done whining. I have to be at work at 6:00 am because nobody bothered to postpone the work chaos until I feel better. These malabsorption issues can be a bear. Connie

Sorry you are having a rough time. I am having anemia problems so the pcp decided he wanted my system scoped out to make sure I was not loosing the blood somewhere. I tried to tell him it was due to WLS but he would not listen this time. Today I am getting twilight at the local hospital so they can scope me from the top down. (I have already had the colonoscopy and other fun test from my bottom up.) I doubt they find anything. I again think this is caused by malabsorption or not taking the vitamins and additional supplements as I should. But again, this is not something I can ignore if I am wrong. Will all this "running" to the doctors and hospitals ever stop? I have had more medical issues and appointments since my WLS surgery than before. I never expected all of this.....guess I was naive. But I still do not regret the surgery.

Martha, I hope they get to the bottom of your issues. You must be frustrated by now. At least by the time you're scoped from bottom to top and top to bottom, you'll have the peace of mind to know that there's nothing wrong with the plumbing. I don't regret the surgery at all because I'd have worse issues to deal with if I hadn't had it. I'd be battling cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, gerd, and ton of other things. I'm still learning as I go and will get there. Let us know how your tests go. Hugs, Connie

Hi Connie! You definately have a spell cast upon you! What a nightmare of a day!!! I hope you are back up to snuff soon! BTW-I haven't stopped laughing about your painted house and the dogs! I printed your post out and shared it with one of my support groups and they just howled!!! I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time but the way you wrote it up was hysterical! This time, the issues are real and difficult, but your ability to write so colorfully about it has made my day! Hugs, Karen

Karen, I'm so glad to see you and hope all is well in your world. This latest bump in the road will pass and I'll be getting in other kinds of trouble before long. The dogs, cats and I are in constant turmoil around here so I'm sure there will be more stories to share. In fact, my neighbors laugh at me on a regular basis because of one of my dogs. I have a fat, shaved border collie named Peabody who escapes out the front door at least once a week. We have the same routine and I never learn. OK, picture this.... Peabody is mostly white with black spots. His coat is very dense and long so I have him shaved in the summer. He looks like quite the fat, spotted pig. To add insult to injury, the groomer leaves a big ball of fluff on the tip of his tail, which is constantly wagging. He's my feather duster. So once a week or so, as I'm leaving for work, Peabody shoots through my legs and out the front door. I drop everything in the driveway and run back into the house for a bag of deli lunchmeat. I chase Peabody down the street in a dress and tottering on high heels, waving a bag of roast beef while my neighbor, Ron laughs his butt off. I never learn. I have no control. It's animal anarchy around here. Hugs, Connie

Skin Cancer - the most treatable; they could carve out your entire face and you'd still be beautiful. Just get the damned C exorcised from your body. The post-WLS related medical issues are very real and need to be addressed agressively. There is still such ignorance about the surgery and it's medical consequences in the health field - we have to be vigilent about informing our own PCPs so that they can partner with us in battling the health consequences, primarily caused by malabsorption issues. My liver is in bad shape; my bowels should be named Sleeping Beauty because they won't wake up for anything. The post-surgery skin issues that plague us are finally being recognized as "deformities" by health care professionals, that's how devestating the resulting redundant skin can be. WLS came with a price, and I can honestly say I was not well-informed about the postoperative ramifications. But the strength and character we present in dealing with all things related to WLS - including what we have gone through to lose the weight in the first place - make me believe that we can endure anything and we will win out over it all. You are in my heart and mind today, Connie, not for your troubles because you will overcome them...but because you are you. Love and hugs, M.

Reenie, I've been here before with the skin cancer so am not too worried about that. It just seems that lately, malabsorption issues are rising to the forefront. I used to wish that my surgeon had bypassed more intestine. Now I'm glad she didn't. I don't think anyone, including the surgeons, knew what the post-op, long-term complications of this could be. If I had known, I still would have had the surgery because these complications are far better than certain death. I'll just pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. I think I found a help for my sluggish colon. Every year when the weather around here dips below 100, I think it's Autumn and start breaking out the sweaters and start cooking stews. Last week it got down to the 90's so I was ready for some home made soup. There is a Mexican soup called Cocido that is essentially Vegetable Soup. I have no idea of how to make a little so several times each Winter, I make big batches and share with neighbors and friends. I made a big batch last week and all the fiber in this soup seems to have kick started my colon. The liquid helps also. I trim the fat from 2 chuck roasts and cut them into bite size chunks. Brown them in a HUGE pot and add low salt boullion, bay leaves, oregano, seasoned salt, pepper and water. Add a couple of chopped onions, celery, lots of garlic and simmer for about an hour or so. Then I start adding chunks of dense vegetables like carrots and turnips. After 15 or 20 minutes, I add less dense vegetables like red potatoes with the skin left on. By the time I'm done, I've also got zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, green beans, corn, green chilis, tomatoes and anything else I can find. I try to use all fresh ingredients, but sometimes I'm lazy and don't feel like cutting the corn off the cob or roasting the green chili peppers so I use canned or frozen for those things. The green chilis aren't hot, but they give a great flavor to the soup. We figured this out one time and I think there were only about 160 calories in a bowl, but there's plenty of meat for protein and plenty of vegetables for fiber. It's also very filling and I'm finding that I don't crave carbs as much and I'm not snacking. I've eaten a bowl of this everyday for the last week and for the first time in a long time, I'm regular. Instead of giving it all away like I normally do, I froze most of it so I can eat it when I want/need to. I've tried canned and restaurant vegetable soups and they don't work as well. Probably because they aren't fresh and don't have the fiber content that this one does.

Wow Connie, When it comes to the "****ty Day Sweepstakes", you get the prize!! I'm really sorry that you are having such a rough time. For what it's worth, I would like to point out that my wife has had several chunks of skin cancer cut, frozen, burned, or chemically removed from her face and body over the years and she's doing fine and still looks and feels great. As a matter of fact, her whole family has a history of skin cancer (English, Welsh, German stock.... forget those TV commercials for pork, this is the real "Other White Meat")!! These folks get a sunburn just thinking about a sunny day. They're living dangerously when they put anything more than a 60 watt light bulb in a reading lamp. I don't think that they would do well in Arizona. Even with the skin cancer issues, they still tend to live well into their 90's. Her Grandmother got her last cancer removed after she turned 100 (she lived to 104)!! As far as your malabsorption issues are concerned, I can only say that I hope that you and your Docs can balance your supplements and get you back on an even keel. I'm afraid that you are right in that you and all of the rest of us are still better off than we were despite these problems. I for one don't consider your post to be "whining"...... if anything, I'm in awe of the fact that you can keep your sense of humor in the face of all of this adversity. You're a hell of a lady and an inspiration to this guy!! I don't dare feel sorry for myself when I see what you and some of the other Marchers are dealing with. Hang in there and stay in touch. Mike

Mike, You made me laugh. I've been dealing with the C for a few years now and it gets tedious, but I do what I need to do. Your white meat spouse is certainly living in a better state than Arizona for dealing with this. We can be members of the Swiss Cheese Club together. It was a ****ty day and probably a ****ty week, but it's not a ****ty life and I'm grateful for that. The bug guy just left and at 7:00 am on a gloriously beautiful Fall Saturday, I could smell alcohol on his breath. As he's spraying the yard, I couldn't help but wonder what life events brought him to place where he needed to start the day with alcohol. I'll take food as my drug of choice and be grateful that I didn't end up with any other addictions. I could have easily been battling other addictions in addition to food. Issues or not, I'm so very grateful that I had the opportunity to have this surgery. My employer no longer covers it and I got in just a few months before they stopped. I feel so bad for my co-workers that would like to have the surgery and can't. In fact, I feel sorry for some of my co-workers who had wls before me because they had the old type and have gained weight back. I'm one of the few at work that is maintaining any semblence of weight loss. Hugs, Connie

Hi Connie I don't have the Cancer to deal with, but I am dealing with some of the liver & malabsorbtion (spelling sucks) issues you are. Have to have a colonoscopy in a couple of weeks & trying to figure out why I can't hang on to iron. I am anemic (classified) at the moment. Probably why I am so darn tired all the time. My sleep is maybe 4 hours a night if I am lucky. If I get 5 hours wow that is a great night for me. I hope you get to the bottom of your issues & you start feeling better soon. The heart issues can be very scary. The cancer issues can be resolved these days. I also retain water like the marshmellow man & have even before wls. That did not change. We are trying to resolve that issue at the moment. Take care & keep us posted. Marilyn, the Bearlady