Monday, November 4, 2019

Good morning, Vietnam! :)

After nearly a month of being absent or barely present, the least I can do this "New Beginnings" Monday is to start off our daily thread.

And yes ... until we shuffle off this mortal coil, New Beginnings are what's for breakfast. I'm thinking this morning about our collective challenges from hypoglycemia, staph, surgeries, family members' challenges, deaths of those we love, fatigue, and other things we did not invite but must deal with anyway.

So in response to DD's priest's invitation yesterday at their All Souls Sunday morning mass, I'm saying your names out loud: DianeO, DianeS, Liz, David, Devon, Paula, DD, BonnieB, Bonnie150, Shirl, Ceci and Shel! You are loved.

This morning I finally climbed back up on the scales and saw the number 142.2--shocking because I expected a much higher number. I'll take it.

Last night was the longest I've slept (6 hours) during an appropriate time slot (9pm - 3am) since returning home nine sleeps ago. So that's good, too.

I had such a wonderful time in France. Upon reflection, my favorite parts of the trip, even more than the many beautiful places I saw or food I ate or wine I drank, were my interactions with kind, interesting people. Human beings are just da bomb!

What I REALLY wish I could do is live about twelve lives simultaneously in different settings. There seems to be so little time left to do and go and feel and learn everything I haven't experienced yet.

But having said that, this trip really wore me out. I neglected to mention earlier that during my week in Paris and most of last week here at home I had a mild tummy bug of some kind. It seems to be gone now, so no more excuses to lay around and take it easy.

This morning I'm headed to The Big City to see my therapist for the first time in seven weeks. Will be good to see him.

Today's theme: Wake up, wake up, you sleepyhead! Get up, get up, get outta bed!

..... live, love, laugh and be happy !! Thanks for that ear bug, Ann !! I'm still trying to find the balance between neutral data collection and obsessing. In the hospital environment, I was being poked or prodded on an ongoing basis. I have to wonder if the 18 hour fast prior to my upper GI and/or two stomach biopsies and/or flu shot I had, all within two days of the hypoglycemic crash, were contributing factors. I don't want to make a lot of knee jerk reactions that may be unnecessary. I would, however, ask you all to keep nonreactive hypoglycemia on your radar.

Walking two miles then doing the strength circuit at the Y today. The only change I'm making is a healthy snack before and after.

Love and health to all !

Diane, you're right ... that's a LOT of factors (not to mention interactions) to try to interpret accurately!

I think your approach going forward makes perfect sense.

My electronic medical record lists the appropriate term as Hypoglycemia Due to Hyperplasia of Pancreatic Islet Basal Cells.... or when pancreas of a bariatric patient goes wonky and makes too much insulin too fast.

"There seems to be so little time left to do and go and feel and learn everything I haven't experienced yet". That sure resonates with me after being in a caretaker mode for several years and still unsure about how long DH will continue on.

But, the sun is out even though it was literally freezing when I walked Justice this morning. Speaking of which, I did some training with him off-leash on the beach yesterday giving him small treats every time I called him and he came (which he did every time). He did so love the freedom. Once I don't have to watch him as closely, I need to video him as he is so happy and carefree.

Today I get to be a caretaker again as DS has his double-hernia operation. Luckily I don't need to drop him off until after yoga and I can go to my support group meeting while he is there. I am dreading the aftermath until the anesthesia wears off as he will likely not be pleasant. He has warned his doctor about that. He woke up from his first surgery for an umbilical hernia at age 6 with a scowl on his face before he even opened his eyes and that is the pattern of his post-anesthesia since then.

But the sun is out! Have a moving Monday.

Look into Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS). It is an actual protocol for patients who have difficulty coming out of anesthesia .

General anesthesia doesn't set me off, just the normal responses. By sedation, like for oral surgery, I am weepy and a somewhat inconsolable. Fun times for DH. I dislike it so much, I do many procedures without sedation even though my insurance will pay for it.

And my surgical anesthesia experiences have all been fine. Only problem is when they give me "twilight" or "amnesia" anesthesia, and I emerge from surgery to tell the surgeons and nurses EVERYTHING they said while they were operating on me.

Those *******s! ;)

OMG! That's what happens to me, too! I don't go all the way under for as long as they think - sometimes not at all.

In July of my 19th year, I held my mouth open for the surgeon when I had a tonsillectomy and had to tell him I needed more novocaine on his initial incision.

In December of that same year I was having a deviated septum fixed with a little rhinoplasty on the side at the surgeon's insistence - gotta love that, right? During surgery as they were trying to break my nose to reset it, the surgeon and resident were talking about breaking my nose. The resident said, "It won't break." The surgeon replied, "It takes a while to weaken it. Just keep tapping." Each attempt to break my nose the surgeon or resident said "tap, tap" and followed that with hitting my nose in the same rhythm with a surgical mallet and "chisel" type of thing. It took all I had to muster up the voice to ask them to stop so I could relax. But I did it and someone said, "Oh ****! He's awake!" Then I heard, "Put it in the IV." Next thing I knew I was floating, but still aware. When my nose finally broke and and the doc checked it, I thought he was actually wiggling my nose from one side of my face to the other. Then I remember waking up again at the end of the surgery with tears streaming down my face and the nurse telling me it would be done soon, to just hang in there, the splint was almost sutured in place. I wasn't crying, but I was so done I guess. My 3-4 hour surgery ended up being a 7 hour job. OUCH!

Yeah, I woke up during my blepharoplasty, too. Booooooo! Thank God, VSG was under general!

I'm traumatized just reading this. Good heavens, what you endured!