I MAY be getting better!!!!

As you may recall, I have been nauseous and vomiting since about two weeks after my DS surgery a year ago. I have a lot of updates on the situation.  On Sept. 9 I went to my surgeon who sent me to get three liters of fluids and arranged for me to have a picc line put in and for me to get TPN (IV nutrition) through home health.    I was on that for 10 days and I woke up with a 101.5 temp. I went to the ER where they quickly took out the picc line and started IV antibiotics. I had sepsis. I spent five days in the hospital on the antibiotics. When I was released I had to go to an infectious disease doctor where I had a mid line installed. (I had never heard of all of these lines before this!) I was given IV antibiotics to administer at home for ten days. They did blood samples frequently and toward the end of the ten days, my potassium was so low that I had to go in for a four hour infusion of IV potassium. My midline was removed and I was discharged from the Infectious disease doc on Oct. 12. I went for a follow up appointment with my surgeon on Oct. 15. He put me BACK in the hospital that day with the goal of getting my nutrition up to where it should be and then do exploratory surgery to determine why I am so sick.  My admission diagnosis was malnutrition, dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. As I write this, I am STILL in the hospital. Thirteen days this time around. I THINK I am going home tomorrow.   Tons of things have happened since I have been here. I am anemic; my hemoglobin was 7 and finally is back up to 11.5. The hematologist is going to follow me for a few months. If it doesn’t get stable I will have a bone marrow biopsy.    I had a CAT scan to look for anything in my stomach that might be causing my problems. They found nothing there but……………………………I had an impaction in the colon which sounds weird since I have had diarrhea for a year. But come to find out, that is not very unusual. Four enemas later, I am cleaned out. The biggie was that the CAT scan also showed a spot on my lung. The following day they did another CAT scan and THINK it is scar tissue. My father died of lung cancer and I quit smoking in 1985. The pulmonologist is going to follow me for a few months to see if the spot changes. If so, I will have a lung biopsy. Needless to say, I don’t want any other tests done. I’m afraid of what might be found!    On Monday, I was finally strong enough and cleared enough to do exploratory surgery on my stomach. .  Hallelujah he found something wrong!!!  My stomach and liver had grown together in one spot.  He separated them, put some fat between them and glued that in place to make sure they stay apart.  He also found a lot of scar tissue which he removed, and where my small intestines were connected to the large intestines, he found a piece that was kind of like a hernia and he repaired that.   The doctor told me I needed to walk so I set out and found two gift shops in the hospital  and promptly bought a new purse. I am sure that will help me heal better than any medicine! I am scheduled to go home tomorrow and can hardly wait.    By the way, for those of you suffering with diarrhea, my doc gave me Colestid which is a medication for high cholesterol. I don’t have high cholesterol, but I do have the nicest formed poopers for the first time in a year!    I hope this information has helped somebody out there with some of the things they are dealing with. The real success is yet to be tested since I am still on a liquid diet, but some of these steps will surely help. I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks to LaShelle and Deborah for keeping you posted and for coming to visit me.  They brought some balloons and at night I look over there and think there is another person in the room!  Pain meds do strange things!  Jama

Hello Sweetie,
I'm so sorry that you have had so many problems, I truly hope that you get to feeling better really soon. As you know that with your insides growning together the way they did is rare, but crazy things to happen to some. I know that you were very scared, but I'm glad to hear that you are OK. My prayers are with you as you recover.

Hug's
Jeannie

Jama, I am so glad that they found the problem and corrected it.  You have been in my thoughts.  I hope the other things they are following will work out to the good and you will be up and going before long.  Take care of yourself!!
Linda

Jama,

Im so glad that they were able to figure out what was happening and correct it!  I hope that you will be on the road to recovery very soon!! My thoughts and prayers are with you!  
Big OH HUG!!!

G

I think we better change "MAY" to "AM" getting better.   Better yet let's claim you are already healed and well!

You know the tongue is a powerful tool and we have to speak things as though they already are what we want them to be!
(Romans 4:17)


You have been through so much, and I believe God wants you to have a full and happy life.  Sometimes it takes us going through a trying desert experience to truly appreciate the gift of life God has given us.


There is something special about you Jama, and I bet you'll have a great furure. You have so much to share with others.



                                              



By the way that was Ginger L. Who came to the hospital with me, not Deborah.   Funny story you mentioned about the balloons. I had a similar experience when I had my DS. I thought that dang balloon my mom gave me was posessed cause it kept looking at me.  They must have been pumping some powerful drugs into me.


                                                                  

I am so sorry you have had to endure all of this. I am glad they found out what was wrong and were able to correct the situation. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Hope you get feeling better soon.

 

Heather

So glad things are looking up, Looking up! 
I know you must be looking forward to going home and sleeping in your own bed!