Frustr8

Patience is a virtue, but at 73 the rest of my vitue is long gone, living on grit, determination, 12 hours of TPN a night and hoping my story will end as well as my Bari-Bud ??(aka MouseCat), so so proud of Her success! Oh got to believe it's only a Matter of Time, never planned to be like this 5 months out from surgery. And oh it started out So Good , 2 weeks in. my stoma strictured, the ulcerations started , they should have known , I already had a gastric ulcer I named Hector in the stomach part bypassed, went in with DX of Gastritis, took me off my PPI Dexilent, put me on their ineffectual Omeprazole, may work for many, never did for ME and I have been hanging on the tail of a tornado every since! And when will it END, IDK but sure wish I did! So I chug-a-chugging along on a limited Stage 2 diet, liquids and thin purees once a day, sustained largely on the calories and nutrition from TPN fed through a PICC line in my upper Left Arm. Been there for 2 months yesterday, possibly for 2 more months, at least that was the last recommendation I was given last Friday at my EGJ, 9th endoscopy lifetime, 6th at OSU. Well to be technically correct Transnasally July 2013 EGD June 2015 EGD December 2017 those 3 were at my local Community Hospital KCH in Mount Vernon EGD immediately prior to RnY surgery September 5 2018 by Dr Needleman EGJs because post RnY duodenum is no longer accessible, only your jejunem, the 2nd section of Small Intestine Those were October 12, October 26, November 9th, November 28, that's when I was bad enough I was hospitalized and PICC l8ne inserted next day, all these done by Sabrena Noria MD, my surgeons partner who just ?doing endoscopies. And lastly January 25 2019 by their Senior Resident Noah J Stinson MD, Dr Noria was over- booked, I guess. He wasn't too bad, this time they attempted stretching my stomal stricture part way, did it work permanently? Doubtful, Dr Noria tried in October, snapped right back where it was before, a virtual pinhole that lets only liquids through. Does THIS happen often? Oh I am so dang special I nearly stink, and I did not request to be! I WANT to be like all the others out there, my surgery day twins are on Stage 4 or Normal diets, and I'm lagging behind. Wahhh!???

And remember WE ARE HERE for you, many of us have fought such battles, Many Successes but a good portion of us are still writing our stories, mine is atypical but will still be a good read, overcoming against odds, but I haven't given up, least of all on ME, I am a strong resilient 73 year old Birdie, life can't wring my neck if they can't catch me, my wings are still flapping strong, I'll ride on the wind currents until I can sail into Victory Lane. So if you need a friend , I'm almost always near my cell phone. My weight loss has slowed because I am on TPN and have been,for 2 months yesterday, maybe a couple months more? But I did still lose 3 pounds in a month, maybe 60-65 since my Liver-shrinking diet last August, went down 15 pounds in that month alone, and I do,not regret my RnY, I am not blaming my wonderful Bradley J Needleman MD or my facility, Ohio State University Hospital- Wexner Medical Center ( whooee what a title!) in Columbus Ohio, my body just has reacted in a weird manner, if anyone can be blamed its my Dang-Fool metabolism and my tendency to produce ulcerations in my pouch and small intestine. That is why I am on TPN, to give my beleagured GI system some rest! 12 hours on , 12 hours off, I'm getting healthier but I'm still a Plump Princess, but Praise God I am still alive, kicking and bitching, but moving around enough my son doesn't have to dust me! So let's be friends through this all, okay??

Wear the smaller size with pride, you may be the vanguard of a Style return, let them follow your lead!

You could try some Zicam, shouldn't hurt, might help, keep your hands washed to slow down the germs getting YOU.

Well Good luck and may you have a Peaceful Smooth Surgery. I'll be on the other side ready to welcome you to Kangaroo Kamp, because, like me --you and Curvy Mom too will have a pouch. Welcome to My World!???

If you have a C pap you will have to tote it to the hospital with you. Thought I was being smart, took mine with new clean tubing along, left one critical piece at home, 50 miles from my home, couldn't find a matching piece at OSU, ended up on 02 my entire stay. Guess it served me right for not checking things out better!?

Yes I would accept overweight, at 73 I may never reach what BMI cells Healthy or Normal, my desire is to leave Morbidly Obese far far Behind. Existed in that range for years, I want to be merely Overweight and have a chance to Truly Live!?????????

Probably, they are not all that bad, I use one myself.

Is that the one where you may get bile reflux? I'm afraid most people' s info on this operation is sketchy, not that many surgeons in U.S. seem todo it and cite negative studies on it.

Odd that you should mention that Sarah , my mother and I had ours out within a year of each other.Never speculated on it before.

Don't have one but I know- Single Anastomosis Duodenal-Ileal switch, all but 10 feet of small intestine get rerouted but your pylorus( the valve at the bottom of the stomach ) is spared and functional. Adherents say it is better than RnY or sleeve, you have pretty quick weight loss but can eat most all foods or so I have been told. Don't do as many in the U.S. as overseas. There is a forum for DS on Bariatric Pal.

And when they take your staples out it might sting and hurt, but when mine were removed from my right knee, maybe it was because of static electricity but I felt a little electric jolt as each pinged open and off! Anybody else ever have that?

What a cutie pie she is, know you just have to live her to the moon and back!

Well hi TeeBeau, very glad to make your acquaintance. I'm Frustr8 from Central Ohio, a 5 month old RnY which I received at. 72 years 8.5 months, a poster child for "never too late" I fought the obesity Wars almost from birth myself. I lost 15 pounds in my liver shrinking diet which I did the entire month of August 2018. It was well worth it, my liver was small, smooth and shiny healthy and that made it easier on me. I went to Ohio State University- Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, approx 50 miles away but we'll worth it when you consider the excellent care I got there. I still had 6 incisions, one up between the lower part of my boobs, that's where the liver retractor goes in , two on the right, two on the left and one in my naval, I already had a tubal ligation scar on the bottom so he used the top, wondered why I was. told to scrub my navel squeaky clean , now I know. You barely can see my scars, they have faded into the background of my stretch marks, I had 3 9 pound babies, each liked to lay slightly different directions, so I joke my belly looks like the roadmap of Indianapolis with all the county and township road marked but he really did a neat tidy job of things. Hey I'll be watching for all you March people, you'll be marching into Glory and I'll be proud of each of you so remember to post back and update us after your surgeries!

Be honest and take the pictures in your undies, sometimes outer clothes mask things, start measuring yourself, that's something I wish I had started out doing but honestly I wasn't sure my surgery would help THAT MUCH, I had tried so many diets, been such a failure(or I THOUGHT so) I couldn't be sure to trust this either! so I truly don't know how,many inches and where, I know my rump and belly (flabby as it is) are going down sliwly, first things to go my lower arms,wrists and fingers then my double chins, cheek fat and now I think my neck looks like a turtle coming out the shell of my body that still is there, I'm leaving 5X 4X and some 3X behind, lost about 60 pounds since my livershrinking diet in August, a good 45 since surgery, but it was spread out all over- not just one area, but I don't hurt with constant arthritic pain, oh it's still there but down to a subdued roar, I actually fit now in chairs with arms, and pretty soon I can sit my purse next to me instead of on my lap. Those are modest gains but still nice As I lose, I gain so much more in my life, and I want it to go on and on!

And if I didn't have a Directions card( formerly Food Stamps) I couldn't afford THAT. It was very hard applying at my age(73) emotionally to request that, but,until Spring comes and I can put a little garden out it helps quite a bit!???

August 15 2015- September 5 2018, maybe Karma wanted to make sure my Life at My Age was worth saving also. But finally I received mine, from a better kinder more professional and I believe smarter Surgeon so that part did end well. The fact my road has gotten bumpier is in no way His Fault or that of the Facility, it's just my healing path is atypical but it's still going to end up GOOD, like the 60s song IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME.????

My two gripes today? Hmmm only 2? My stomach pouch,aka Precious that won't let me eat anything above thin puree, the fact Its hard to take my showers with a PICC line, have to stick like medical grade contact paper over it, my landlord had Bath Fitter come in and reglaze the tub so I have to use my shower chair to keep from falling, February I'm buying a decent, adhering big bathmat! Constant lower abdominal pain, about menstrual cramp level although I am MUCH TOO OLD for such folders. When I go about every other day, it is thick sticky. dark blackish green in color and hard to wipe off, but I guess that's par for TPN. But,most of all, I regret having more month than money, I have enough for back and forth to blood draw on Thursday and one other maybe tomorrow to the meat market where everything contains less fat than Wally world's trucked-in crappola grade.

And I hope you will enjoy better health now Steven.

Well Good for You! I hope things continue going well and your Barrett s receads, I had a first cousin die of esophageal cancer , not a kind way to die, she was 3 years younger than me and I will always miss her in my life!

I could go for feeling a slight bloat between my boobs, that I could handle, it's the pain, the upchucking and slimeys Precious Pouch produces on solid-er things. but someday I will win the food battle and food really will stay down! Precious is an unrepentant BRAT!

Tooting post surgery that's okay, it's the untrustworthy farts I dislike, but unless I take laxatives I'm dry as the Kalihari Desert after my RnY. That's why I was interested the other day reading about MCT, I'm for things that help slide along and painlessly out. Until then I guess me and Squatty Potty are steady-dating.

What I do is Minute Maid 15 and Nestle Splash nocal water in either lemon or Mandarin Orange, maybe 6-8 oz of each, then I add ice and sip on it for the rest of the day out of my OSU cup they gave me in my surgery pack. Thought it was nice they did that. Of course it would be free advertising anytime somebody saw it. Lets see if I remember it all, eyemask, pair of yellow tready socks, earplugs, hand-gel . my cup and a bottle of Premier Protein yeah I think that's it, no also chapstick in there. Remember I got take- home packs after each baby but didn't expect Grownup Packs, and it came in a choice of Scarlet or Gray small backpack. Got a Scarlet with my surgery, then when I had my November hospitalization I got my PCA to get me a Gray kit. Don't mind publicising them for goodies , I'm thrifty as well as a gleaner of goodies.??

It's almost time for the watercress, my aunt's friend used to bring it to potlucks, had a Miracle Whip and milk dressing, suspect it did contain a pinch or 2 of sugar, but why couldn't you use stevia instead? Mouth waters just thinking about it, used to pick maybe late February or March, had to move fast because if her lambs found it they'd eat it first. Did I ever mention Knox County Ohio is the largest Sheep producer East of the Mississippi? Well it's true, one small item to boast of on here!

Never heard of it but always interested in alternatives, think I'll hang around and see what someone else says.