CoCo's Corner

 I get asked at times if I "regret" making decisions I made as far as having gastric bypass.  First off, if you ask questions like this to people, DON'T!!!  Why on earth would you ask someone, who made a decision that was right for them at the time, if they regret it is a non-sensical question.  None of us know how a decision today will affect our tomorrow.  I'm sorry, but if you knew you were going to get into that nasty divorce, would you ever have married them in the first place? The other question I get asked is, if you knew what was going to happen would you still have gastric bypass?  Again - you're asking for crystal ball revelations.  Nobody knows how a decision we make today will affect our tomorrow.  If you knew you were going to go flying off that cliff, would you have gone a different way?? First off - I didn't have gastric bypass to lose weight.  Was I excited to lose weight, yes.  But, it was also a very soul-searching time...

Enough said!!!  It's been a rough couple of weeks.  But, this whole drama started on March 17.  Yep - St. Patrick's Day.  I woke up in the middle of the night and was in crazy pain.  I was sure my appendix was about to burst or something.  I laid there for a bit and dozed.  About an hour later, I woke up again and was in so much pain I couldn't think.  I called in sick to work.  I was so disappointed, I had my green beads and my four leaf clover earrings all ready to go.  Got up and simply dressed myself and dragged myself out to the garage and drove myself to IHC Hospital in Murray.  I just didn't want to wake anyone up, so I just did it myself.   Tests were run; blood, urine, CT scan and all that regular stuff.  I was given medication for pain.  I was told that I had a kidney stone that was making it's way down to pass and that is what the pain was.  My emergency room doctor was amazing.  She said I s...

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...