CoCo's Corner

This is not a health update. I decided to talk about life, in general, since 2014.   Today, I realized that eleven years ago today was my last day at my previous job, my previous career, my previous life.  I loved my previous life, until I didn't.  And that all turned around the end of 2013.  I was a 911 dispatcher for 32 years.  I started on March 1, 1982 as a records clerk.  Moved into dispatch as a call taker and dispatcher, was promoted to supervisor and finally was the deputy director at the end of my career.  That last part was probably the worst decision I ever made.  And maybe the best.   I was there through so many crises and events.  The day I took my application in, I was told pretty much everyone was gone "to the funeral".  A police officer had been shot and killed the week before and nobody was there to take my application.  This was LONG before the internet.  It was a handwritten application and ba...

 I was asked for an update.  So - I waited until my last appointment with my liver doctor to see what he was going to say.  What we were going to do.  What the hell is going on.   So - a little recap.  Mid August I was admitted to the hospital due to liver disease.  The initial diagnosis was cirrhosis of the liver due to malnutrition, which was caused by malabsorption. After a biopsy, that diagnosis was changed to pre-cirrhosis.  I had over two liters of fluid removed from my belly by needle aspiration the first day.  I left the hospital five days later with a PICC line with IV nutrition.  IV nutrition supplemented my regular diet for four months.  My PICC line was removed in December and now it's a matter of how my body adjusts as to what the steps are. Since August and having the IV nutrition, I gained over 40 pounds.  I was a little over 140 pounds when they disconnected IVY (my PICC line/nutrition/bag - that's her name...

 Today I finally got answers!!!  I do not have Cirrhosis!!!  I am Pre-Cirrhotic.  Very close to that precipice but still not falling over the edge and falling into a place that I cannot get out of.  I had seen my gastric bypass doctor a while ago - and was given the wrong information.  I think he was looking at the headline and had not read the story.  It's something I'm good at, too.   My doctor explained that when I was overweight, the fat in my body was damaging my liver.  Then I had gastric bypass and that should have helped my fatty liver.  But, then I wasn't able to absorb the calories, so I became malnourished. My liver was not getting the proteins I needed in order to supply my body with the proper nourishment.  Every organ you have needs protein, and it starts in the liver.  So - the malnourishment started to affect my liver.  Leading to the state I'm in now. The thing I need to work on is getting off the diu...

Today was the day I was dreading. My doctor had been threatening it since the first time I saw him. When I got the awful news that my issues had progressed to actual cirrhosis, he said - you need a liver biopsy. Today was the day.  Waiting to go back for my biopsy They called me yesterday and told me to be there at 9:00 a.m. Nothing to eat after midnight. I could drink clear liquid until 7:00 a.m. and then no more.  Or just a sip to take a medication.  And I needed a driver.   We got there in time, got registered and they came and got me.  The process itself was really quick.  Once they took me into the ultrasound room, they did a quick ultrasound, the Nurse Anesthetist gave me some drugs that kind of knocked me out a bit.  He said he would give it to me and then five minutes later give me more.  And would do it every five minutes until the procedure was over. It was over so quickly, he only had to do two doses. The only thing I felt dur...

When I get my dressing charges I must wear a mask.  The nurse, too.  So we don't get germs on it!! So, I thought I would share a little bit more about how I got here.  But I'm going to be discussing how I was medically gaslighted, (gaslit -- who knows) and was not treated properly.  And due to that, I am now where I am. When I had my collapse on November 19, 2022, after my knee replacement, I was taken to the emergency room.  The doctor there is the one that told me I was malnourished.  He told me I needed to follow up with my primary care physician (PCP).  When I went to make an appointment with said PCP, I found out my PCP had left the organization, and I no longer had one.  After explaining my situation, they decided to set me up with an appointment with Dr. Z.  I was fine with it, because I needed to get to a doctor.  My first visit, he seemed OK.  But I found him a bit odd.  I'm completely fine with odd, as long as they kn...

Malabsorption - definition - Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal tract.  Impairment can be single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality.  This may lead to malnutrition and a variety of anaemias (blood disorders). I have heard the term before.  But the first time I had heard it in response to me was a little over a week ago.  I was with my roommate daughter at her appointment and her doctor pointed to IVY and said, what's up with that??  So I told him.  And he said, people have no idea how hard it is when you have malabsorption.  People think you can just eat to make it better, but you can't. So let's go to the beginning.... If you have known me at all in the last few decades, you know that I was "morbidly obese".  I topped out at 245 pounds.  I had Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disease and stomach issues (gerd) for the last couple of decades and had taken...