Think I'll check in, too....

Hi all Have not posted in a long while. Have been hit and miss reading posts, but have tried to keep up to date with the 'newbies' etc. I am still upright and moving. Am almost to my one year anniversary. Just blew a very long 'bouncy' plateau out of the water with a 12 lb loss. I still am doubting the scale.......yet I can feel it. So am down 115 lbs since surgery, 137 since highest. As a rule I don't have any food or liquid tolerance issues. Still have a few days where food is repulsive, then a few days of wanting to eat everything insight. (darn hormones). In November I started having some abdominal pain. Long story short, after a CT scan and HIDA scan, it was determined that the gallbladder was practically non functioning. So Dr G removed that on Dec 7th. (2 days after Dixie, I was thinking about you!!) While he was in there he 'looked around' and discovered a tennis ball sized mass, around the intestine, where it hooked to the new pouch. He couldn't tell what it was but decided it didn't need to stay, so he got knife happy and gave me a pretty 'little' 7 in*****ision down my tummy. I was still very groggy and I heard a nurse say "she has a midline, right?" and my fuzzy brain is like 'whoa!, wait a minute, thats not right!" Anyway, ended up spending the night and was basically 'kicked out' the next day (another long aggravating story). Spent the next week at my folks'. What a blessing to have them there. The mass was totally benign. Dr G did tell mom that the mass could have very well have been causing some of my abd discomfort. Am healing fairly well, but am watching an open spot around the belly button very closely. So I am plodding on..........go back to work this afternoon. Not really looking forward to the holiday, due to some personal issues, but must keep the 'reason for the season' in perspective. And of course my last minute surgery put a bit of a kink in my holiday schedule with cards and the few gifts I need to get etc etc. I wish each and every one of you, and your families, a very Merry Christmas and good hope for a very good New Year. Hugs Sheila (my new years resolution is to get a picture posted.......I think it is about time!!)

So glad that your doctor found the causes of your problems. I am sure you will feel much better once that incision heals. Those darn open spots seem like they take forever to heal but they eventually do. Congratulations on your plateau break too! I have not been postop long enough to hit one yet but I am sure it will be a big bummer when I do. I hope you have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I also hope you do not keep plodding but Dance, Dance, Dance!!!

Yes, Sheila, it's time we see your beautiful face. It took me almost 2 years to get the courage to post mine so I shouldn't say anything, right? I am so glad that the mass ended up not being very serious & also glad Dr G saw it. I am not real impressed with his bedside manner but as a surgeon, I don't think you can do better than him. I'd have him do surgery on me in a minute if it was necessary and know that if any of my family needs surgery, he will be the one. However, I was told by both the surgery/recovery nurses & the floor nurses that I am not allowed to have surgery anytime again soon. And I was nice & gave them gifts this time! When I had my GB surgery, I asked Dr G to not mess up my belly. How's that for vanity? I am especially fond of my belly button after the tummy tuck & he looked at it & said it was pretty. He did do a good job. I have a small dimple above the BB but it's not bad. I don't know what I'd have done if I woke after surgery & learned I had a 7" incision. I think the nurses would have had to hold me down as I'd be going after him. But then again, if there had been a mass in my abdomen, I'd have wanted it removed even if it did mean an incison. I may be vain but I'm not stupid! I hope your recovery continues going well and you have a blessed & joyous Christmas. Dixie