Dr. Gerald Kirshenbaum - Considering Dr. Kirshenbaum

[MissMom24 2]

Hi All~

Donavon had his surgery on Tuesday afternoon. It lasted around 3 hours. He

ended up needing the big incision versus the laprascopic one. I was upset

at first and realized that this had to be a blessing as they found a 2nd

mass that was undetected by all of the previous tests. It was up higher and

was lodged, therefore needing the incision to come out.

They took out approx. 13 inches of his colon and the 2 masses. They have

been sent to lab and we will know on Thursday or Friday if it is cancer or

not.

He is in ALOT of pain right now, and very much out of it. They will

hopefully have him up and moving by tomorrow and then hopefully he can

drink. He is VERY upset that he hasn't been able to drink anything! He has

been allowed ice chips though.

They took his bandages off and he looks like a zipper has run its way

accross his stomach. He did great today (Wed) he sat up, stood up and was

even without his pain meds for about 5 hours. He did need them again

tonight as he was in pretty severe pain. My heart is torn, as he is wanting

me there yet I have 4 kids I know that need me to. Pray for me that I can

divide my time up. This weekend should be easier as there is no school.

I will update more, when I know what the test results are. Please don't

call him, he is having a hard time keeping up and is afraid to rest that he

will "miss" something. You can call me on my cell phone and I will relay

anything to him. 303.847.6105. He is at Platte Valley in Brighton if

anyone wants to stop by this weekend.

Brandy

[MissMom24 2]

BTW each mass was the size of an orange. Ouch

[MissMom24 2]

Sorry but that is teh short scoop and that was the mass email i mailed to everyone. I am to tired to type it out again. No one needs to stop by, unless they really want to !!!

[minidriver 0]

Oh Brandy, thanks for letting us know. That has to be so scary for both of you. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. Hang in there and know that there are many many prayers and positive thoughts coming your way.

[ShelbiCallie 0]

Big hugs, Brandy, thanks for posting. Been thinking about you all day. Please make sure that YOU are eating and resting, too! You must. Because I said so, that's why. ( I'm channeling my mama here.) Seriously, I'm concerned about all of you and praying for a clean report and smooth recovery. Please post again when you can, but don't worry if you can't fit it in. We understand. More big hugs. More big hugs again.

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Shelbi, You are doing fine. I have never done BFL with the band so I am trying to figure out where I will need to adjust the program. So I had the same experience as you today....got in about 3 1/2 meals. My goal is 4. So I think if we shoot for that, we should be ok. Just make sure your Protein Drinks are not low carb (unless you are adding a carb like fruit, or something to the meal), because you will need the energy....at the same time watch out for sugar.

As far as the weight training sessions go, just do your best to hit a 10. Best case scenario is that you do the method they prescribe, but if that machine you need is not available for you to immediatley jump on, you might as well stay where you are at and just try and find a way to hit a 10 there. The next time you do that muscle group I would make an effort to use another machine or mix it up a bit. I would be happy to give you ideas if you are trying to figure out exercise options for certain muscle groups. Today I did a cardio session with BFL intervals because I needed to schedule my week so that my legs are not sore on Saturday, since I intend to do a mongo hike on that day...I figure that will be my lower body workout from hell.

Overall, my goals are to get my workouts in, get 4 BFL meals in, drink more Water, and complete 12 weeks. I don't want to be nit picky since we have the "band factor" going on, we cant chug water all day or eat a lot, so we just need to modify a bit. Dont skimp on the Protein. Your body will need it to repair itself from the weight workouts. Don't skimp on the workouts.....they will change your life:-) and your body. Let me know if you have other questions. Congrats on day one....how does it feel. Any other BFL'ers out there that want to report?

Hey Kidlings!

I thinK I did pretty well today! But the eating part is the easy part for me. I just forced myself to eat very very very (smaller than band) meals so that I could eat every 3 hours. I did have to drink a Protein Drink, but I only drank half - two different times. I also eat a lot of those tiny soy burgers. They have a lot of protein and they are very small. Don't take much space in your tummy.

I did my arms today. It was tough. But I am hopeful it will get easier. I had my book with me. I'm sure I looked like a dummy!

Thanks Life and Shelbi for posting how your day went!

Tomorrow is a new day!

Love ya,

dee~

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Hi All~

Donavon had his surgery on Tuesday afternoon. It lasted around 3 hours. He

ended up needing the big incision versus the laprascopic one. I was upset

at first and realized that this had to be a blessing as they found a 2nd

mass that was undetected by all of the previous tests. It was up higher and

was lodged, therefore needing the incision to come out.

They took out approx. 13 inches of his colon and the 2 masses. They have

been sent to lab and we will know on Thursday or Friday if it is cancer or

not.

He is in ALOT of pain right now, and very much out of it. They will

hopefully have him up and moving by tomorrow and then hopefully he can

drink. He is VERY upset that he hasn't been able to drink anything! He has

been allowed ice chips though.

They took his bandages off and he looks like a zipper has run its way

accross his stomach. He did great today (Wed) he sat up, stood up and was

even without his pain meds for about 5 hours. He did need them again

tonight as he was in pretty severe pain. My heart is torn, as he is wanting

me there yet I have 4 kids I know that need me to. Pray for me that I can

divide my time up. This weekend should be easier as there is no school.

I will update more, when I know what the test results are. Please don't

call him, he is having a hard time keeping up and is afraid to rest that he

will "miss" something. You can call me on my cell phone and I will relay

anything to him. 303.847.6105. He is at Platte Valley in Brighton if

anyone wants to stop by this weekend.

Brandy

Oh My Goodness Brandy,

I am sorry you and your hubby went through so much. Poor man. Poor you! I will pray that you will find the energy and time to care for your children and your hubby. I will pray that the results will be good and he will feel better with each day. I will also pray that you will take care of yourself, rest and eat as you should to have the strength to do all that you must do to get through each day. You're such an amazing woman. You have been through so much with your children and your hubby. I have so much respect for you. I hope your tummy is feeling better. And thanks for posting. We were all very concerned. Take care My Dear Friend, Love, dee~

[munchkin392 1]

EXCUSE ME!!!! Those were the shit elves who got into my diaper. DUH!!!

Congrats on your pants. That is so freakin' exciting. You must feel so good. Oh I can't wait can't wait can't wait.

Um, I thought I was the only one lucky enough to be haunted by shit elves?

[munchkin392 1]

Where are you from again? I lived in Missouri for a while and corn and soy fields were all around us. I really love the midwest. i miss it a LOT!:crying:

I am from the Quad Cities, not sure if you know where that is, on the northeast part of Illinois/northwest part of Iowa, about 3 hours from Chicago. I live on the Illinois side, but all you have to do is cross the bridge and you are in Iowa. I work in Iowa. I love the midwest too. I love Iowa especially. Guess that makes me a hick!:wink2:

[munchkin392 1]

Hi All~

Donavon had his surgery on Tuesday afternoon. It lasted around 3 hours. He

ended up needing the big incision versus the laprascopic one. I was upset

at first and realized that this had to be a blessing as they found a 2nd

mass that was undetected by all of the previous tests. It was up higher and

was lodged, therefore needing the incision to come out.

They took out approx. 13 inches of his colon and the 2 masses. They have

been sent to lab and we will know on Thursday or Friday if it is cancer or

not.

He is in ALOT of pain right now, and very much out of it. They will

hopefully have him up and moving by tomorrow and then hopefully he can

drink. He is VERY upset that he hasn't been able to drink anything! He has

been allowed ice chips though.

They took his bandages off and he looks like a zipper has run its way

accross his stomach. He did great today (Wed) he sat up, stood up and was

even without his pain meds for about 5 hours. He did need them again

tonight as he was in pretty severe pain. My heart is torn, as he is wanting

me there yet I have 4 kids I know that need me to. Pray for me that I can

divide my time up. This weekend should be easier as there is no school.

I will update more, when I know what the test results are. Please don't

call him, he is having a hard time keeping up and is afraid to rest that he

will "miss" something. You can call me on my cell phone and I will relay

anything to him. 303.847.6105. He is at Platte Valley in Brighton if

anyone wants to stop by this weekend.

Brandy

Brandy-

From an ICU nurses perspective, all things considered, it sounds like he is doing great. Sending lots of hugs, prayers, and love your way!!

Oh, and tell him to LISTEN to the nurses and do what they say!!! No stubborn manliness is allowed right now! Your nursies know best! :crying:

Edited September 18, 2008 by munchkin392

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

That is a fab story. It is my female lab that is a bit selfish (go figure). She often greets me at the door with THREE bones in her mouth. She is just not a one bone kind of gal I guess!

You know I've always been a one bone kind a gal too!!! One just One!

BFL UPDATE:

BFL has kicked my butt! Not the exercise today, but getting in all the food and water! Dee & Lifesaver, I realized that I drank 3 cups of coffee today and, according to the book, for every cup of a diuretic you have to drink an additional cup of Water. I didn't get near my Water quota. I'm a total coffee addict and I've got to work on that! I think I'm going to have to resort to Protein shakes twice a day to get the water requirement. I got 3 1/2 meals in and now it's bedtime -- too late for a meal. How the heck can anyone get in 6 meals a day and still get a decent night's sleep! Another question -- for the strength training: For a muscle group, we're supposed to do 5 reps of an the exercise and then immediately switch to another exercise within that same muscle group for the "high point" -- how do you do this is you're working on the strength machines? It takes awhile to clean the equipment, find a free machine, sign in to the fitlinxx machine, etc. Can't I just do all reps on one machine for that muscle group? I hope I'm making sense.

You're good with the exercise, I'm good with the eating... let's just make one person out of us and we'll be successful! We could be the Sheldee~

So I had a coupon for my fave store, NY & Co, so I headed there to see if they had any sweaters yet. They really didn't, but they did have these way cute wide leg jeans. I am really into the wide leg jeans this fall, even though I always have to get them shortened because I am a midget.

I looked for a 14 in the ones I wanted to try, but all they had was a 16. Their jeans run small on me anyway, so I tried the 16. They were SWIMMING on me. So I tried on the 12, and holy crap, they fit!!

So, I thought for sure this was a fluke. I bought two pairs of jeans at the Gap outlet when I went to Chicago a few weekends ago, and just got them back from the drycleaners from being shortened, and had not tried them on yet. I had bought a 14 and a 12. I tried on the 14 and they are too big already! The 12 fits perfect!!

I almost pulled a Mini and pooed in my diapers girls!!!:crying:

Another trip to the Gap outlet in Iowa City is in order, I hope they have the same jeans because I love the ones I bought and can't believe one pair is too big already.

Miss Brandy-I am finally catching up with you! :tongue:

Oh, and I soooooo rubbed it in my sisters face. All these years she has made fun of me, even addressing Xmas cards to me as "Nurse Big Butt"...and I wear the same size as her skinny little Marine butt now!!

That's great!!! I had the same thing today! I bought a pair of jeans from Old Navy online. It was during their big jean sale, $9.99 a pair. I got some really cute ones! BUT they are all huge on me!!! Yikes! Really huge! I can pull them off and on without unbuttoning them! Size 22! AND I started at size 32! Don't you love it! I can't believe you're wearing a 12!

Thanks, but it isn't technically a mountain. Really you drive halfway up the mountain and then climb to the peak. It only took an hour:thumbdown:, but someday i want to hike it in 15 minutes!:wink2: it is pretty steep in some places and a great workout. my butt was killing me afterwords and my legs were Jello.

Mountain, hill, ant hill -- it's all an achievement! AND something to be proud of!! Congrats! that's a great NSV!

[munchkin392 1]

Speaking of nurses knowing best....this weekend we had a patient with a recent diagnosis of lung cancer and he had a fairly radical removal of his lung with chest tube, etc. He had taken his oxygen off and his pulse ox was only 63%. He was not my patient, but I went in and told him he needed to put his oxygen on. He didn't do it. So I put it on for him, and he took it off again and slapped my hand away. I told him he needed to put it on or he was going to end up on the ventilator because he was desaturating so quickly. (I don't mess around when someone has a pulse ox of 63%...it is the one time I get really bossy). Then told me "I don't want an opinion from a NURSE, I don't care what a NURSE has to say, I want an expert opinion from a DOCTOR."

Whoa....dude, if you haven't noticed, it is the nurses that are there with you 24/7, not your doctor!! I know I shouldn't have been offended by it, but I was....it was a slap in the face to all the nurses in the unit. Later on in the weekend I had a talk with him and explained to him that I know it was hard getting his diagnosis, etc, but that he was going to have to deal with a lot of doctors and nurses in the upcoming months, and he was going to have to learn to TRUST us a little bit. We also explained to him that generally you have to have a pretty functional brain to be an ICU nurse, so he needed to listen to us when we tell him to put his oxygen on, or he really will end up on the ventilator. I then had the DOCTOR he wanted the expert opinion from tell him the same thing in the morning. Oy......it is frustrating to be a nurse sometimes!

Just had to vent that story to all my fellow nurses out there...

[munchkin392 1]

You know I've always been a one bone kind a gal too!!! One just One!

You're good with the exercise, I'm good with the eating... let's just make one person out of us and we'll be successful! We could be the Sheldee~

That's great!!! I had the same thing today! I bought a pair of jeans from Old Navy online. It was during their big jean sale, $9.99 a pair. I got some really cute ones! BUT they are all huge on me!!! Yikes! Really huge! I can pull them off and on without unbuttoning them! Size 22! AND I started at size 32! Don't you love it! I can't believe you're wearing a 12!

Mountain, hill, ant hill -- it's all an achievement! AND something to be proud of!! Congrats! that's a great NSV!

Dee-That is awesome about your jeans!! Use the free return shipping and send them back and get a smaller size! Or better yet, go to the store and see if you can fit in the misses size 20 yet! The Sweetheart fit was the best for me when I was transitioning over into misses sizes. The Diva fit is a little snug.

In all honesty, I am not consistently wearing a size 12, my other Gap jeans are size 14, but two different brands of size 12s is a good start. I can't believe it either. I was wearing a size 20/22 when you last saw me! :crying: I just gave the outfit I wore home from surgery to Goodwill last week!! I wish I had some good before pics, but I really don't. My aunt took a picture of me at Xmas last year (right after I was banded) that was absolutely horrifying-I may see if she can dig that up. (As much as I don't want to look at it!)

[PrtyAntOvrYt 6]

Speaking of nurses knowing best....this weekend we had a patient with a recent diagnosis of lung cancer and he had a fairly radical removal of his lung with chest tube, etc. He had taken his oxygen off and his pulse ox was only 63%. He was not my patient, but I went in and told him he needed to put his oxygen on. He didn't do it. So I put it on for him, and he took it off again and slapped my hand away. I told him he needed to put it on or he was going to end up on the ventilator because he was desaturating so quickly. (I don't mess around when someone has a pulse ox of 63%...it is the one time I get really bossy). Then told me "I don't want an opinion from a NURSE, I don't care what a NURSE has to say, I want an expert opinion from a DOCTOR."

Whoa....dude, if you haven't noticed, it is the nurses that are there with you 24/7, not your doctor!! I know I shouldn't have been offended by it, but I was....it was a slap in the face to all the nurses in the unit. Later on in the weekend I had a talk with him and explained to him that I know it was hard getting his diagnosis, etc, but that he was going to have to deal with a lot of doctors and nurses in the upcoming months, and he was going to have to learn to TRUST us a little bit. We also explained to him that generally you have to have a pretty functional brain to be an ICU nurse, so he needed to listen to us when we tell him to put his oxygen on, or he really will end up on the ventilator. I then had the DOCTOR he wanted the expert opinion from tell him the same thing in the morning. Oy......it is frustrating to be a nurse sometimes!

Just had to vent that story to all my fellow nurses out there...

It's very frustrating being a nurse sometimes! I'm really feeling the frustration right now! A problem I've dealt with in the last 8 years has been the concept that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse! WHAT? NO! This is absolutely not true! I wouldn't want to work on an ICU unit. Not that I don't like adults, I do, but my talent is with neonates. Yet hospitals have no problem assuming if you have a nursing license, you can work with any population, any diagnosis, on any unit. The years of floating were the worst! Let's try taking a Plastic surgeon and tell him, "while you're in there doing that face lift could you also remove that brain tumor?" NOT! Everyone always respects their speciality. But why can't they respect the nurses'?

Personally, I would love to be able to move from unit to unit and be completely competant, but I can't and I won't!

okay, I'm getting off my soap box now! Munchi, you opened this can of worms and I just reached in!

[munchkin392 1]

Mini, WTG on the video, let us know when that is.

Munch, I can come help mess with the neighbors if need be.

Have them re-ck and keep bugging them til they do.

I am so happy for you on the new jeans. Isn't that just the best feeling?

I will take you up on the messing with the neighbors thing. In fact, maybe I will just fly you all here, and we can have one heck of a time messing with the neighbors!!! Waa haa haa!!! We would be their WORST nightmare if we were all together!!!!!:crying: