All About Me, Or How I Got The Sleeve & the bumbs along the way

MenagerieNik · July 4, 2011

I'm in my early 40s, married with three little ones. I live in southern CA and work as a freelance writer. I've been overweight my entire adult life. From decision to have WLS to actually getting a sleeve took 19 months due to insurance issues. I was sleeved on June 30th, so I am newly post-op. I did a 7-day liquid diet per my doctor. It was tough the first couple of days, especially because I couldn't find a Protein Drink that did not make me gag. I finally found a couple of Isopure pre-mixed that I can tolerate. Lost 13 lbs pre-op, so thought I was on my way...

My surgery had an unexpected surprise; apparently my liver is not in good shape. My surgeon was thrown by it and it was clear from talking to him that he thinks it is something serious. He was asking me about exposure to hepititis and things like that. As far as I know, I've never been exposed to it, and I know I was tested for it when I was pregnant both times and came back negative. I have some cirrhosis of the liver, which can be caused my many things, including fatty liver. He took a biospy and some photos and did the surgery as planned. He then sent the photos and biopsy to a liver specialist. The specialist came in and talked to me a couple of hours after surgery. I barely remember him. Tim said he was not freaked out, like my surgeon, and that he ordered a battery of blood tests. He is leaning towards it being something called NASH which has to do with fatty liver. To be honest, I haven't even looked it up yet. I'm to meet with him in two weeks. I may call next week and see if I can meet with him earlier as two weeks is a long time to wonder. My recovery is harder and taking longer than I expected. A lot of pain, and I forgot that hospital beds always trash my back. (Those beds have to be official torture devices. Forget waterboarding; you tie me to one of those for 24 hours and I'll tell you anything you want to know!) I'm only taking the pain meds once a day because they make my vision blurry and all I do is sleep. They keep saying I have to get up and walk to get better sooner so that is what I try to do. I take the pain meds at night and try to sleep then. I think I'm going to be doddering about for a few more days and then hopefully will feel better. I really don't know what to think about the liver thing. I had all the requisite testing done before the surgery and everything came back fine. They are saying this is the reason I am always so very tired, so perhaps some good will come out of it and I will eventually have more energy. At any rate, I will try not to worry myself into nutsville in the meantime.

Griselda · July 4, 2011

I have been diagnosed with Nash for about 10 years. I've had two liver biopsies ten years apart and there was little change. I am hoping that the weight loss helps. I expect that my liver enzymes will be a bit higher since the liver gets handled during surgery. I have just been told to keep eye on it.

SeattleSue · July 5, 2011

I hope your recovery improves... I agree with you, a phone call is probably in order to ease your mind. I hope that the weight loss does indeed help with the liver issue! Take care of yourself...and "keep on swimming!"