home, but in limbo

Got home from the hospital about 1 today and feel pretty good... a lot better than i did after my lap gallbladder 17 years ago, at least.  But am really tired and need lots of naps alternating with lots of short but brisk walks.  I have no appetite (not surprising) so pushing myself to consume 64 oz of liquid a day is a chore at this point.

Nothing in my life seems to go as planned, though.  Dr. Pupkova told me she was unable to complete the bypass because she found a lesion on my small intestine in a place that she wasn't comfortable addressing.  In further exploration, she found 3 other lesions (all of different appearances, thankfully) in other areas of my abdomen.  Her unofficial opinion is that none are malignant, but she wants them checked out by an oncologist anyway.  Once the oncologist resolves that and fixes the one on the intestine, she is willing to complete the bypass as planned (after minimal wait of 6 months for healing).  In the meantime, i have a stomach pouch (the first part of the bypass), but instead of it emptying into the small intestine, it empties into the remaining larger stomachm which she reconnected.  In effect, it's kinda like a lap band, but without a foreign body holding the pouch closed.  The down side of that is that the opening can re-stretch really easily, leaving no effect for weight loss, so my job is to maintain the very strict diet as though the bypass was completed.

I'm trying to look at all of this from a very positive perspective.  If anything malignant is found by the oncologist, it would have been found MUCH earlier than otherwise, which is great.  If nothing is malignant, i'll be clear and have things taken care of.  If i can maintain the strict diet, i may not even need to finish the procedure.  Who knows? 

At any rate, i'm happy to be home and feeling as good as i do at this point.  Now if i can just get my mom to stop acting surprised every time she sees me walking that would be great.  (OH... you're WALKING!!! )  HAHA.

And i just can't wait to try and figure out all this with Aetna.

I'll keep y'all posted.

All i can say is that EVERYONE at Barix langhorne was absolutely wonderful throughout this whole process.

WEll congrats on ebing 1/2 way there! lol I will say that Barix and their surgeons are very precautions and keep the best interest of the patient as #1. Walk Walk Walk and Sip Sip Sip - my Mom was taking care of me post op too and was always suprised when I got up. I had my surgery on tuesday and was back to work on monday.

Here's to a speedy recovery and benign lesions so that the surgery can be completed!

Welcome to the loosers bench!

Liz

I am so impressed with your outlook on the situation. You have a wonderful perspective on the situation and that means so much in recovery and mental balance.

You are so right in the fact that this was caught sooner than otherwise. So it was kind of a blessing is disguise. I am wishing you the best with the oncologist and with sticking to the strict diet. It may be tough at times so remember to come here for support and encouragement.

It also is great you have a great support system with Barix. Having a staff that is good makes a world of difference.

Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

Thanks for the good wishes.  This morning, my mental state was not quite as positive... didn't sleep as comfortably in bed as in the hospital bed and I think that made a difference.  But I forced myself to get up early (7-ish), shower, dress, and fixed myself a high-protein breakfast shake and forced myself to fini**** within about an hour.  Then forced myself to go for a walk outside on this gorgeous day.  Suddenly, i'm tired, but mentally feeling a bit brighter. I think the key is just going to be figuring out my "new normal" and making myself stick to it.... an hour at a time or whatever it takes.  Sigh.

Take it  easy for the next week or so;  the afteraffects of the anesthesia will have you depressed, tired, etc.  THIS IS NORMAL!!! 

My unofficial prescription?  Nap as needed.  It worked for me.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that your internal problems are not problems and that you are able to complete your WLS surgery successfully.

Best wishes,

Thanks for the reassurances.  I had actually forgotten that anesthesia can have a mood-depressing effect and was chalking it all up to the frustration and concern over the rest of it.... plus the enforced inactivity (which just goes against my nature).  But you're absolutely right and thank you for the reminder. 

I guess the next steps are just the rest, nutrition, and getting back to exercising as much as I can.  And following up with the oncologist - just can't wait for that.

Karen

wow Karen, what an ordeal. I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this. Hopefully it will all pan out to be nothing and you'll be on your way. But I appreciate how nerve wracking this can be. In my PATs they found several lesions on my liver which put my surgery in to limbo as well. Luckily after some quick CAT scans and further testing it was deemed to by congenital cysts on my liver and nothing to worry about, however the surgeons needed to know what they were dealing with before they went in there and started rearranging my inards.

I hope this is the case for you as well. best of luck and keep us posted.

PS - I'm in Doylestown too.

I love Dr. P!!  She's cautious but proactive all at the same time.

I'm sorry you didn't get the "whole" procedure done and hope that things continue to work out for the best.  And you're right - at least you found this earlier than later, especially if it is something that needs addressing.

Keep sipping and walking (despite mom being surprised!)

Pam