NJ September 2008 Chat

[Kat817 19]

Darcy----SOOOOOOO good to see you! My band has been successful, but I fully expect to lose it this week. I am feeling so bad right now, I almost don't care!

My Dr. joined me at the hospital today while I rec'd my IV's and shared my bloodwork with me. He said bloodwork done 2 months ago could have been used as a guideline for others, but after I let myself get so dehydrated....I was lucky I finally come in when I did, I would not have lived another 48 hours! Scared me pretty good, he showed me my kidney stuff----of course none of the names are anything I can remember.....also an issue of dehydration!

I don't feel like I failed the band, nor that the band failed me.....I did not plan on getting the stomach virus.....it happen and it was like flipping a light switch. I have not eaten food in 6 days now----every single bite that goes in my mouth or every single sip----I throw right back up. A person cannot live with going to the hospital night and day for IV's. I want to be well again!

I know my friends here will not treat me like I am less if I lose my band. And we won't treat you any differently regardless of how you are doing with your band, or what has gone on in your life. We care about you and have worried about you!!! I have wondered how things are with your DD. If you enjoyed the cabin you moved to.....we truly missed YOU-----not just you of a certain size!

Well I am sipping away on assorted fruit juices, and anything else I can find and drink that tastes decent. Soft drinks just burn my tongue! Not sure why. It really doesn't matter----I do a LOT of water---it is all coming back up anyway!! I cannot wait to see my Dr, on Thursday, I am ready right now!

Sherry, this has been such a scary ordeal, and such a hard call to make, knowing it might end my band....but I cannot deal with worrying about it happening again! I feal weak, like I am giving up. But I am melting away! I have lost so much weight it is ridiculous! By the time I get anything done I will be good to weigh in somewhere around 140. I have not updated my ticker, because the weight loss is not something I have worked for, I have worked to try to eat! But I will hit the 140's tomorrow at the rate I am losing. At 5'9" and my build, I look as sick as I feel. Now I know there are LBT-ers out there who will blast me for that statement, but I am talking about me, not anyone else. I really right now don't care whether they think these bones poking out are attractive----I don't!

I want to be well......whatever that entails. I am not ready to give up my life yet! I am supposed to get my 5 year cancer free goal this month and I am not even well enough to do the testing!

Don't run away from us for not being the perfect bandster-----I don't think any of us are! And I may not even be a bandster next week-----but I am still gonna come here to see my friends!

Kat

[nightingale2u 42]

Oh Kat... I am so sorry for what you are going through! Even with the trouble I have had with my band ... I can't even imagine such awfulness! You have such a positive attitude... you are completely amazing! I wold have been standing at my surgeon's door with my suitcase and an anesthesiologist by now for sure! It made me cry buckets that you took time to offer me kind words when you are feeling so awful and going through so much. ((((HUGS)))) This last year would have obvioulsy been a whole lot better with my Jersey Girls!

Sherry... Thanks so much to you as well! ((((HUGS)))) I guess life without a struggle is just not the type of living that enriches the spirit is it??? Those moments of Joy that come along now are much more appreciated after such a span of difficulty. Again... how did I stay away from such a special group of women for so long??? Let's call it temporary insanity??? :thumbup:

Pat... Thanks so much for letting me know that I would be welcomed back without pressuring. By the way... you look wonderful and I am so glad to be back to fully enjoy your sassiness! I'm going to need some updates on how life has been for you this last year other than your being a total POGO goddess!

Eileenie... Oh my how I have missed ya girl! Gosh those puppies sure are cute but I can only imagine all of the beautiful substances they will be blasting out all over the place...lol. Save my eyes some strain and give me a little update on life's happenings. Hey... is Beans still hanging here???

Betty... Okay... I think I am understanding the body parts that are healing for you now. :frown: I've sure missed you and I sure hope everyting has been wonderful for you this past year. Get plenty of rest... Protein, fluids and TLC iffin you can. I'll sent you a very careful (Hug) Don't wanna smoosh the "girls".

Michaele... I hope I spelled that right? OMIGOSH on the breathing tube experience! Hope to get to know you better. :laugh:

Okay... that is all my brain can remember at this point... looking forward to getting to know all that are posting and hope to see other familiar faces as well!

[HarleyNana 10]

Darcy, you made me almost cry with your warm return :frown:.

Oh yeah, Pogo goddess, I think I like that better than the way I refer to myself as a Pogo junkie, LMAO. Welcome back and no slipping away from us again, we need YOU as much as you may need us.

Kat, I so hope everything works out for you. There is a very high Protein vial that they sell at GNC that I may try. A new band buddy told me about it this am, 42 grms of Protein in one vial, not fat, no sugar. I'll let you know.

Sherry, what are you doing special with your days off work? I know, why don't you mosey on down to VA :thumbup:.

Betty, how are the "girls"?

Hugs all around.

[Kat817 19]

Pat right now none of it does me any good......whatever I take in....from free tap Water to high dollar juice drinks, stays down about 10 minutes and up it comes again. The only thing keeping me alive at this point is the twice daily IV fluids. Nothing at all passes.

BUT I do want to know what it is for recovery. I may be on my own, and seriously need some help ahead of me!

Darcy, it is good to have you back. Update us on your life.

Lets see, with me----kids are hanging in there. Son turns 29 today!! He is good, just had hernia surgery, and is recovered well. His little boy Connor is a wild child of 2 and Granny loves the heck out of him!!

Oldest DD Manda is experiencing some heart issues with her RA. We find out on the 23rd whether she is headed for heart surgery. Her DD Kinsey, stays with me most days, she is 3 1/2 and the light of my life!

Younger DD Abey is pregnant due in December, had a rough start with a bleeding tear on the placenta. I really thought she would lose the baby....but they pulled HIM through, and he is due New Years Eve!!!

Rick (DH) is good. He is taking good care of me through this----so making me a bit crazy----but he is good!

Other than that, you may have been gone, but I do a lot of the SSDD stuff!!!!

Going to go stand by the stove, I am freezing....I am soooooo ready to be well again!

Kat

[Trishadish 0]

Darcy, you made me almost cry with your warm return :tongue2:.

Oh yeah, Pogo goddess, I think I like that better than the way I refer to myself as a Pogo junkie, LMAO. Welcome back and no slipping away from us again, we need YOU as much as you may need us.

Kat, I so hope everything works out for you. There is a very high Protein vial that they sell at GNC that I may try. A new band buddy told me about it this am, 42 grms of Protein in one vial, not fat, no sugar. I'll let you know.

Sherry, what are you doing special with your days off work? I know, why don't you mosey on down to VA .

Betty, how are the "girls"?

Hugs all around.

I actually had the 42 gram protein bullet (grape) from GNC early this morning. After the first taste it wasn't too bad. Great way to get that protein in. (I'm having an upperGI this afternoon with a 2nd fill, so I wanted something nutritious before I had to stop my liquids for the day).

[Trishadish 0]

Pat right now none of it does me any good......whatever I take in....from free tap Water to high dollar juice drinks, stays down about 10 minutes and up it comes again. The only thing keeping me alive at this point is the twice daily IV fluids. Nothing at all passes.

BUT I do want to know what it is for recovery. I may be on my own, and seriously need some help ahead of me!

Darcy, it is good to have you back. Update us on your life.

KAT: It is so scary to hear all that you've gone through. Emotionally, you sound VERY strong and that's such a good thing. I'll keep positive thoughts for you! You'll get through this, you are doing all the right things. Thank goodness for IVs when you need them!

Darcy: Welcome! This is a great group and I'm so glad I found them!

Pat: A POGO queen, eh? I overtook my son's account last year and visit it from time to time when I need to de-stress!

[NJSoldierwife 0]

Hi ladies!

Kat, I am praying for you every day, hopefully this is all going to pass and you will on your way to recovery any day now.

Darcy, nice to meet you, thank God everything is good now

Everyone else, HI!!!

Oh, btw, look at my ticker! Today was my first follow up with the Dr and I lost 15 pounds since the surgery!!! WOO HOO!!!!

Oh and that was only 9 days ago!!!

hee hee hee!!! I am so freaking happy about that!!! PARTY ON THE PUREEDS!!!!

:lol::lol::tt1::tt1::tt1::tt1::tt1::tt1::cool2::thumbup::w00t::thumbup::tt2::biggrin:

[NJChick 3]

Good Morning,

I just wanted to pop in here and say hello before I head on off to NC for the weekend. Nothing other than that is going on :smile:

Kat OMG girl I'm so sorry I haven't been in here. What a scary thing to say the least. My prayers are with you sweetie :thumbup: I can't stop shaking my head.

Darcy what a happy surprise to see you *hugs* I have to read back a few pages to catch up but boy its good to see you.

Pat, Sherry, Trish, Betty, Michaele and the rest of you lovely ladies....have a wonderful weekend.

Catch you later :smile:

:smile2:

[HarleyNana 10]

Eileenie, where are you going in NC for the weekend? Don't even tell me OBX, LOL.

Have a safe trip.

[Iluvharleys 15]

HI y'all!

I tried to post twice last week, had really long posts too and lost them each time. I got mad and just quit both times.

I had problems with my surgery and developed an infection so I was worried to say the least. The doc put me on medication and gave me 3 days before going back to surgery to do something about it. The meds are working and I am back on my way to recovery. It is going to take a while for me to heal up though. I sure will be glad when this is all over though and I can do normal things again. I really do like my new girls though, and I am not sorry I did it but I am ready to get my life back to normal.

Kat - I am so sorry you are having so much trouble. I hope by now you are feeling better. I think about you every day. Do you think your surgery had something to do with all this? It sure seems like you were fine before that.

Darcy girl - I have missed you so much! My computer crashed and I didn't even have your address so I couldn't check up on you. lol Hang in there missy, I too am struggling with my scale. I think we all do at times. It is a hard thing to do control our weight and we can just do the best we can and that is all we can do. One big, big, big hug coming your way! love you girl!

Pat - You are so bubbly now, I just know you feel so much better with your self since your surgery.

Micheale - Congrats on the weight loss. You are on your way!

Eileen - Hope you have a great trip!

Trish - What's new your way? How is your MOM?

Well, I am going to try to post this before I lose it. I have company coming any minute so I have to get things done.

[Kat817 19]

Hi girls, Thanks for all the well wishes.

It has been a time let me tell you! I was literally on my way out, I have no doubt in my mind! We left at 3 AM on Thursday to go to my band Dr., in Colorado. He had me go straight to the hospital for some Xrays (done by his wife!). Then to his office, where I got the first bit of news that yes my band had prolapsed---although he could not tell about a slip without further looking.

Your band is supposed to sit pretty horizontally on the stomach, and when it slips, one side becomes loose, and slides up or down resulting in the band sitting in a more vertical direction, and blocking off the flow through it.

Prolapse happens when the stomach tries to work back up through the band itself.

So he did an EGD in his office/surgical center, and my band placement looked perfect he said, but it had become loose. When they originally banded me, they stitched the lower stomach up and over the band, he said the adhesions were smooth and taut, looked great. Then they also suture the base of the stomach down. Well when they did that I had over 100 pounds holding it in place snuggly. Now I have lost the stomach, and he said I have very little fat on my stomach inside or my liver inside--so those stitches had become very loose, and allowed my stomach to kind of flop around freely.

The biggest problem I had though was not band related at all----I had a kinked intestine. In the upper part of the large intestine it had kinked and twisted, just like a garden hose----so when I vomitted with the twist there, the pressure pulled the stitches on my stomach loose.

I had surgery Thursday afternoon, and they managed to unkink the intestine without resecting it ---- and they re-sutured the stomach down snuggly again. It was an emergency surgery, as they did not know if the intestine was leaking or not----they were worried about me becoming septic. But in the end all was good.

I am drinking again without issue, and without any reflux, or nausea or anything. I am on liquids for 10 days. Then I can begin adding in easily digested foods.

Was pretty scary!!! I am super sore, and swollen like an overfilled tire at this point-but even though I am recovering from more surgery----I feel better than I did going into it---I was failing fast, and knew it!

I have no fill, and he said I have no restriction, that there is lots of room in there.

The TT did not cause this to happen, but it removed the pad of fat that was possibly holding the lower stomach in place in a tighter position. But he said with the little amount of interior residual fat, that something as strong as the vomitting with the intestinal kink could have caused it anyway.....there is just no way to know.

Thanks so much for all the good thoughts and prayers. Sherry----I have to tell you, my DH is somewhat of a skeptic of things anyway, but I told him what I needed to do while getting my IV---sit quietly with my feet on the floor and imagine the light.....he never blinked an eye. So I go in to get the IV, and my blood pressure was so low, she kicked my recliner back so my feet were in the air. I was going to sneak them down---but Rick said he would help me, so he held my hands and kept his feet flat on the ground! When I opened my eyes, and saw him so intent on it--despite his usual skepticism----I felt so lucky to have him and friends who were trying so hard to help me! Thank you more than I can say!!!

I will be in and out as my energy allows----kind of wiped out today-----thanks again everyone!!! You are such wonderful friends!!!

Kat

[Iluvharleys 15]

Oh Kat, I am so happy you are better now. I have been so worried about you! I am happy you didn't lose your band along with everything else. Now take it extra easy and gain your strength back. Enjoy some of that food you haven't been able to eat for a long time too. You can spare to gain a little now. lol Hugs and hopefully a quick recovery!

[SherryW 4]

Kat So good to hear you're doing ok and on your way to recovery. What you're DH did to help you was perfect! Even more meaningful because he was there to help and did even through his skepticisim. I think that's great! It felt good to send the energy and I hope it helped. You were definately in our thoughts and prayers and you are now for a speedy recovery.

Betty - You feeling better now and the infection cleared up? Did they say what caused the infection? Scarey stuff...geesh!

Just got home from a ride that took MUCH longer than I thought. I was a great ride into NH but, I have so much to do UGH. Isn't it always the way? I guess I'll have to squeeze the work into the after hours times during the week. Fortunately I made Stuffed Green Pepper Soup in my crockpot yesterday so that's todays dinner :biggrin: At least dinner is made haha. I just love my crockpots :girl_hug: I have 4 of them and I have my eye on a 5th maybe for Christmas. Different sizes are great to have :sneaky: Well I need to start some laundry, that won't wait for during the week because I need the clothes for work. I don't have many to choose from so it's wash and wear every week for me anyway.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and I hope you have a wonderful week!

[novbeginning 0]

Does anyone know of a support group in Monmouth or Middlesex County?

[NJSoldierwife 0]

My Drs office is having a LB support group meeting on October 1, at 7 p.m. the office is in Plainsboro, NJ

Other than that, I do not know of any right now. I am in Monmouth County and will look around and let you know.