posted in the wrong state!

Hi, I posted this in the wrong state... so am pasting here.. First off, I have a new photo. This was taken a couple months ago, and I have since lost more weight. Not from trying to. I want to let all know that this surgery was a blessing for me, but what I didn't take into consideration is that if you get a bad virus, whi*****ludes diareah (sp) and or vomiting, or such an upset belly you can't force yourself to eat or drink, run, don't walk to the doc if it last more than a day or two. The weight falls off us so easily and our already tiny tummy shrinks even more, putting us in a dangerous situation nutritionally. I felt rough one night, and just felt like I had the flu. Laid around for 3 days, not able to keep much in me due to running to the bathroom all the time. Figured I had the flu or something. By the 4th day I was so dizzy and weak, my husband took me to the emergency room, they hooked me up to an iv for 4 hours, did blood work, x-rays, etc.. found nothing other than severe dehydration, so said it was a virus, sent me home with instructions to drink a lot, eat a lot and rest. Should pass in a week or so... Well, after 2 more days of getting even weaker and not really able to even get out of bed and stagger to the bathroom without help, my sister stopped in to check on me while my hubby was at work. I was in bed and definitly not doing well. All I could do was curl up in a ball and was freezing one minute, and sweating like crazy the next, yet never did run a fever. I know I must have looked bad, as she called her friend to come out and the two of them helped me get dressed and took me to a different town to the E.R.. Once again, blood work, x-rays and such, i.v. for fluids.. after almost 7 hours in the ER, was released and told a virus, not much they can do but let it run it's course. My sister lives in Clinton, so she said no way was she taking me home, so she took me to her place and called my doc, even though it was a Sat. he met us at his office, looked at me briefly, weighed me, and realized I had lost 13 pounds since I had seen him 4 weeks ago for my yearly visit. He sent me to the hospital to be admited. I was in there for 8 days, undergoing test after test, hooked up to IVs and really don't remember much of the entire stay. Guess I was too weak to have it together. The 8th day, he wanted to transfer me to extended care to monitor me a while longer, as all the test, including cat scans and mri's, showed nothing. he was puzzled. I didn't want to go to extended care so he agreed to let me come home with the visiting nurses coming here, a physical therapist two days a week to help me with my walking (I was by this time using a walker), and meals on wheels for the days my husband worked, along with a lady to come in to help me with my bed baths. I was home a total of only 3 days before I started getting dehydrated and weaker again, so my hubby took me back to the drs. office, and I had lost yet another 7 pounds, so back into the hospital. More test, colon scope, upper GI, more cat scans of my brain and tummy, etc... All my blood work was coming up pretty good. After another 9 days in the hospital, and his wanting me to go to extended care agin, and my coming home and resuming the visiting nurse and stuff, I am now after over 8 weeks of struggling, able to get around without the walker, have gained back 2 pounds of all the weight I lost, and still struggle with having the strength to stay up all day. I have no strength to take care of my family or house yet, but from what the doc and nurse says, it will be months of hard work for me to get back to where I was before I got sick. The diagnosis? Wel, after accumulating over 60,000 in hospital bills, all they can tell me is I must have gotten a virus, and it took a good hold of me. With having the surgery my body had no fat to burn when I couldn't eat or drink, so it started burning muscle. Doc says my muscle mass is almost nill, and I am sure he is right as I have no strength at all. So the plan now is that I have to drink ensure or boost, which almost makes me gag, eat a bit every 2 hours and drink a bit in between. Try to graze every waking hour, if I wake in the night, get up and have a bite of high calorie food. This goes against all I have learned since having my surgery, but I was down to 103 pounds, which for me is way too low. I didn't weight that when I got married at 17, and I was slim then. I look terrible, like death warmed over and like I said, it is a struggle to get thru the day. The doc finally said all he could give as a diagnosis was severe dehydration, malnutrition, and severe weight loss. I have Blue Cross insurance, and they have been very good to me. They called after I got home from the hospital the 2nd time, visiting with me as to how I felt and the plan of action to get me back on my feet. They assigned me a nurse that is employed by them to follow up with me on my care, answer questions should I have them, and also a dietician that I may call during the week with any questions or concerns. They talk with me on what I would like to see happen, how I feel I am recovering, how I feel about the care I am recieving, etc. It was voluntary for me to let them put me in case management, but I am happy for any help they or my docs office can give. I have my 2 grandsons here with me due to thier mom moving in with her parents and only wanting my grand daughter. So the boys came to stay with us 2 days after I was released from the hospital. They are 11 and 8, and I thank God they are good kids, as if they required alot, I couldn't care for them. hard enough to care for myself. Anyway, to end this book.. please, if you get sick, and see you are getting weak and losing some weight, don't drag your feet.. I some days wonder if I will ever be myself again, ever be able to go out and work in my yard and garden, ever be able to have the energy or desire to make love with my hubby. I have been blessed that he is such a wonderful and loving man, as it has been a high stress year for us. He is a blessing for me and the boys. Take care all...

That must have been very frightning. That is one thing being pre-op that I haven't been able to learn yet, meaning, what is it like to have the FLU post-op. I am terribly sorry you had to experience such a thing...who was your Dr? Hopefully as the days move forward and you are able to take in more protien and fluid that you will be able to re-build that muscle that you lost and get back to normal.

I am so sorry you have been through such a rough time! Please keep us posted on your recovery. It is important for us to know we have to treat ourselves differently now when we get ill. Thanks for the wake up call. Jan

Welcome back Jan! I can't believe you are up and posting already. How did it go?

Cindy: Well, its no picnic but I think I have done pretty well. This was my first abdominal surgery. The pain decreases dramatically every day. I was even able to sleep on my side the last night. I am just trying to look forward. I have only taken 2 pain pills today and I took my first shower (came home yesterday). Still sleeping a lot but then you don't sleep much in the hospital! The hardest part is getting in the liquids and food. I just finished my delicious (and I mean that sincerely!) dinner of 1 tablespoon pureed chicken and 1 tablespoon mashed potatoes. I have to wait another 10 minutes to drink again. My DH brought me home some tomato juice which I began sipping before supper and it is soooo good. I am missing my diet cola. It is hard to drink enough without drinking too much in too short of a period of time. It is all a new learning experience now. I need to get out and walk tomorrow. It is hard to walk to far in the house! Thanks for asking! Jan

I'm glad to hear everything went well and you are on the mend. Sounds like we are going to have good weather next week for you to get out and do your walkies!

Wow! What an ordeal! I've wondered what would happen if I caught something like that. It was bad enough getting dehydrated after my tummy tuck. So dizzy I couldn't stand up. Went to ER and got 2 liters of IV. That was enough to make a believer out of me. If I ever get the vomiting and diarrhea at the same time, I'm just gonna check myself in. I hope you are headed the right way now. If you drink milk, you might try double milk. One cup skim, 1/3 C powdered milk, and SF Nestle Quick. Double the protein. I mix a few frozen strawberries in it and it makes a great smoothie. Take care of yourself!

I hope I am headed in the right direction also. I just wanted to be sure to inform everyone that they need to be very careful if they catch a bug.. it takes ahold fast! Thanks to all *****sponded.. bye for now!