CoCo's Corner

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...