Hello. My name is Kendra and I am 38 years old. I have 2 children (teenaged boys 14 & 16), and the most amazing man ever!! Here is my story.
In 2009-10 I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, heart disease - I found out through heart cath that there is scar tissue on the end of my heart from an unknown previous heart attack, sleep apnea, edema in my legs, restless leg syndrome and a barrage of other weight related health issues. I weighed in at 348 lbs at my top weight. My doctor suggested that because of my age and the nature of my health problems that I consider having a bariatric surgery.
After researching and talking things over with my hunny, I decided to go through with having the RNY bypass. My reasoning was that the follow up care would be more manageable than the Lapband as the follow up appointments are mainly just that - checkups!! I wanted to be around for my family and watch my boys do what all parents get to see their children do, graduate from high school/college, get married, start their families, etc. This surgery would give me a very powerful tool to help me gain control over my weight and the medical issues. My biggest and most challenging issue related to weight was never about WHAT I ate, it was more about the portion control and this would definately help me with that problem.
So I went in for my surgery on December 1, 2010. I had lost 35 lbs on my own during the insurance required 6 month doctor supervised weight loss prior to the surgery. I weighed in at 313 lbs that day. The surgery went well and things were wonderful. I was dropping the weight quickly and some of the medical issues (Specifically my diabetes had resolved within a month!!) and things were progressing wonderfully. Life could not have been better at that time.....and then........
In July 2011, I had to take my eldest son for a visit with his father. His father lives in Michigan and we meet in Ohio. As everyone knows, traveling doesn't always allow for alot of room in the wallet for things especially when the traveling is mandated (by a court via custody agreement), and the funds are just tight all the way around. That being said, we stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. I had ordered the 4 piece chicken nuggets. I peeled all of the breading off of them and sopped out as much grease as possible before I ate them. We had our meeting and was heading home and 20-30 mins later I began to have sharp, stabbing pains in my stomach. By the time I made it home that day, I was doubled over in pain. I called my doc the next morning when the pain had not receded. He ordered testing for my gallbladder, my stomach, my pancreas, etc. All of the test results showed "Normal" results. My doctor gives me some meds and a few days goes by and the pain is gone.
About 2 weeks later, while enjoying an intimate moment with my other half, I felt that burn again. It begins like a small ember left in the campfire overnite and theyn you add some stuff to that little ember and voila you can reach a full blown inferno in moments. I called my doctor and he instructed me to go to the ER. I did. This doc orders a CT scan to make sure of no leakages or obstructions. She does x-rays to ensure there is no blockages. The results all come back the same, NORMAL, no significant findings. She gives me meds and tells me to follow up with my PCP.
TIme moves on as it always does and yet another episode is upon me. I go through what has become a protocol for when the pain begins. I call my doc, explain the symptoms, and he instructs me to the ER. He says that since all of my testing is coming back and showing no problems, he doesn't have any idea and that I need to just go to the ER. ER doc looks at my record, sees the various appointments and testing that has been done, does some additional x-rays and gives me the meds and sends me home to follow-up with my doctor....Ok.......
Ok people this is enough!! This pain is not stopping or changing and what is causing it??!!?? So I decide to call my bypass surgeon's office and explain to him is going on. He has me go to his office and they decide that I need to have a laparoscopic surgery so that he can go in and "look around". He found that I am a "text-book case for gastric bypass". That is what he reported to me and my better half after the procedure. Nothing. He gives me more meds and sends me home. He states that should this "pain" come back, I am to go to the ER associated with his practice and there will be a mark put next to my name and the ER will admit me and he will go in during an "episode" (as I have come to refer to them as), and see if he can see anything.
Now at this point I have been dealing with these episodes for over a year. I am frustrated, angry, emotionally and physically drained because of this stomach pain. When the pain hits me it can become debilitating. My PCP hasn't a clue what is going on. My bariatric surgeon says that there is nothing wrong, but I FEEL the pain. My BP goes way up. My family and close friends can see an episode coming on because my palor changes. I can't eat. I can't drink. If I try to force myself to eat or drink during an episode I get nauseous and gag (due to the bypass I cannot vomit) and dry heave. These episodes have included fevers, hot and cold chills, I get occular migraines during these episodes, I can't move around too much, I can't be on my feet too long. Basically when these episodes hit me, all I can do is curl into a fetal position with a pillow balled up in my stomach. The pain is severe and sometimes these episodes last for only a few hours and sometimes they come and go for weeks or even as long as a month!!
When I talk to the doctors it seems to me that they don't really HEAR me. They do the polite listening, but I don't think that they HEAR me. I am frustrated and angry. I chose to have this surgery to help me get better and I am better in some aspects, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, etc. but how am I in a better place with my health when I have had to quit 2 wonderful jobs because of the pain. I lose out on time with my family because of being layed up in bed due to the episodes. The pain is real. The gagging and dry heaving are real. I am honestly at my wits end right now.
Recently, I made an appointment at a Digestive Disorder clinic who has a very great reputation. I went there and they had me see the first doctor who was doing a fellowship with the doctor I was there to see to become a GI doc. Well he listened to me and we had a very educating discussion about what I was going through and about the neuro-receptors in the gastro tract and how they can become overly active and there is a few meds that will help with this problem. Just when my hopes are up for an answer the doctor I was there to see comes in the exam room and proceeds to inform me that he is going to order another CT Scan with a pancreatic work up but he "expects that the results will be normal." He is only doing the CT scan to "reassure himself and me that he looked around", but that these symptoms are all in my "head" and caused by my depression and anxiety and that I need to go to a physchiatrist and a pain management doctor and get my medications for these problems right and I will be better. NOTHING that the first doc and I discussed was even approached. I was told that I do not "NOT" have an appetite, I just think I don't. The medication that my PCP just put me on is going to be worthless to me and it will not provide any relief (Just an FYI, the new medication brought an episode to an end that had lasted for over a week and a half by the time he gave me the meds) and I should stop taking it. This doctor also indicated that he believes that I have a dependency problem with the pain medications I have received minimal doses at random times and which I do not take them until the pain is so intolerable I cannot handle it anymore. I talk to my counselor about the pain meds weekly. I come from a background that has included watching close family (Mother) become addicts and I want nothing to do with that aspect of the situation, therefore I am doing everything I know to prevent the addiction by limiting my intake of them to as NECESSARY ONLY!! I completely understand how dangerous these types of meds can be but I am not an addict. I am an educated person, who is having problems and the doctors have classified me into a general category. I have been accused many times over the course of the past two years of being a "drug-seeker". Technically, I guess that these accusations are true in that I am seeking drugs to make my stomach stop hurting because none of the doctors can give me an answer to why I am having the pain and there are no hopes of "fixing" the problem, so Yea, I want the drugs to make the pain go away!! Not just for the thrill of taking the pill!!!
I am frustrated and angry!! I am tired of being treated like a crazy lady making up this pain. I am tired of losing time with my family that I will never get back. My boys are growing up fast as all children do. I had this surgery to be around for them, not laying in bed all the time because I am sick. I completed college recently and earned not only one but 2 Associates degrees that I can't use because this stomach pain causes me to miss work and not be a dependable employee. I have had to quit 2 AWESOME jobs due to this problem. I have been trying to work at a convenience store very PT and that is not working out too well either. I don't know how long I can stay working. I have children that I would love to spend time with and family things I would love to do but am more limited now than I was prior to "Helping myself get healthier" by having the surgery. I am just looking to see if I am alone in these things or if there is ANYONE out there going thru the same thing??? I feel quite alone. My family and friends try to help, but they don't understand. They just know that they see how sick I get, how much I don't eat/drink, how miserable I am, how badly this gets to me and they just feel like I do -- hands tied with no relief in sight! Anyone reading this, your input is appreciated, and I thank you in advanced.
