the story of my trip to the ER

[FatToPhat 83]

Chow - I just got back from vacation and have just now read this post about what you have been going through. I am SO sorry to hear about the problems you have been having! I hope you are doing better at this time. Sometimes gallstones can be a byproduct of rapid weight loss, so it is possible that it may be related. However, it is also entirely possible it has nothing to do with the surgery, as they have stated. Please keep us posted when you can on how you are doing.

[chowchows 100]

Thank you all for all the well wishes. I am hanging in there...some days are better than others...evenings are much worse. I have an endoscopy scheduled for early Oct. That is the soonest they would get me in as the hospital facilities are booked up until then. If my pain gets bad again, I have my doc's direct number though and am supposed to call him, day or night. They want to rule out 100% any other problems with my reflux or other issues, as I have had stomach pain too that they don't think I should be having with the pancreatitis/gallbladder. That being said, my docs did not realize that the hospital never checked my pancreatic enzymes again after I started eating, so at this point we do not know if my enzymes went all the way down to normal. Blood work should be in by Monday to tell them what everything looks like. Once we figure out if there are any other problems, gallbladder is definitely coming out and they will do anything else they might need to do at the same time. New GI doc says nissen wrap pretty much unnecessary as there are so many other ways to treat if reflux is still my big issue (which I'm not sure it is). As for the gallbladder, GP wrote in my chart that based on the look of the gallbladder he thinks this has been going on for some time and is unrelated to surgery, and more likely related to yo-yo dieting in the past along with obesity in general. All of my personal docs (minus one jerk female GI doc on call in the hospital) have been super positive about my surgery and weight loss. GI doc told me that I looked great and he thought it was a positive move for my health and well being.

When I get sick I get very down and fatalistic...I haven't been on the boards in the last few days because I was in pain and didn't want to sound negative. Feeling much better today...I pray that it stays that way. My baby Chow girl (the one I used to have as my avatar) has to go in for two major surgeries, the first one Monday. She got sick during the middle of all of my issues, so that didn't help. My Chows are my kiddos, so I have been stressed about her, big time! I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate the concern and support. It has helped so much! I will keep you guys posted when I have more details.

Best wishes, good health, and fast weight loss to you all!