CoCo's Corner

It's been four months, today, since I had my gastric bypass reversed.  In four days, it will be four years since I had that bypass to begin with.  So, I'm giving an update. First off, I'm expressing how it's affected me mentally.  In my brain, I feel like I never got to enjoy or relish being a smaller size.  Maybe for a minute or two, but not real feeling young, healthy, sexy, fabulous.  And I was far from feeling strong.  This messed with me mentally.  I had done the bypass to lose weight to get my knee replaced.  But, inside my brain, I was actually looking forward to a smaller version of me - being wild and free; able to walk, not feeling like a blob.  I went from that blob to a skeleton. My BEFORE picture I went home after having my gastric bypass to having diarrhea for four years straight.  And some days, it was worse than others.  I steadily got weaker and weaker.  Which I thought was due to my very first Covid experience...

I've been hanging out in my house for the most part.  Hiding from germs.  Hiding from phlegm.  Hiding from coughs.  Hiding from sneezes.  Hiding from snot. Trying to stay healthy until surgery day.  Not that I can hide very well.  Roommate daughter is literally coughing a lung up.  So, she can only hang out with me if she is wearing a mask.  I am bathing in hand sanitizer when I remember.  I'm taking elderberry gummies with a bunch of zinc and vitamin C in order to boost my immunities.   Poor Roommate. Not that I would know much if I did have a cold.  My nose has been running constantly since the day Jeff was pushed up my nostril.  I have a constant sore throat, due to the tube rubbing in the back of my throat.  The worst part is when I'm laying down and roll onto my left side.  It starts to move around and I feel like I'm choking.  It doesn't do it every time, but most of the time.  And I don...

  Well, the day has come and gone.  I got my new and fancy attachment coming out of my face.  It was a horrible experience.  I thought I was going to go absolutely insane and take out the people putting it in me.  But, let's talk about it real quick. I got an NJ tube.  I thought I was going to be getting an NG tube.  What is an NJ tube?  It's a tube for feeding that is placed through the nose and snaked down past the stomach and into the jejunal.  The jejunal is in the small intestine.  The nasojejunal tube is more complex and has a few more risks than the nasogastric tube.  But, apparently, it's the best choice for me.   So let's talk about the actual procedure.  I knew from the beginning, when they squirted lidocaine in my two nostrils to kind of deaden it that it was going to be COMPLETELY horrible!!!  And then needed me to sniff it down to kind of deaden my throat, to make the tube a little more comfortable g...

  It is a never-ending cycle.   People thinking I do not eat, and that if I did, all my issues would be solved.  All my issues would be corrected.  That I'm just doing this to myself, because I refuse to eat.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I may not eat what many people do.  Not as many calories, because I really have the smallest of pouches, so I get full faster.  My meals tend to be cut into smaller and more frequent.  For example, I have first breakfast.  I have second breakfast.  I have lunch.  I have midafternoon meal.  I have dinner. Then a snack a while before bed.  And finally, I take a snack to bed with me.   My gastric surgeon told me, that when I get my NG tube, I will need to keep an intricate diary of my food, to see what I am taking in.  What I am eating.  And how many calories.  So, I did a practice run and by the end of the day, I was around 1450 calories....

Sun wasn't even up when I headed to the hospital Today, I had my first albumin infusion.  I have it at the Cancer Center.  It lasts about four hours.  They get an IV started and slowly infuse the albumin.  Today, I learned a lot: Don't take your own snacks.  They have great snacks and beverages.  And you don't have to haul all that stuff. Four hours, sitting in a little curtained room, is really not bad.  I snoozed, I snacked, I watched TV, I played on my phone. Make sure you take your power pack. If they ask you if you want a heated blanket, the answer is always YES.  I had three by the time I left.  I told the adorable CNA fella that I planned to just look like a pile of blankets by the time I was ready to leave. In October, we wear Halloween fare The side effects are headaches and achy muscles.  I'm the lucky one that gets both.  I'm doing ok tonight.  I don't get headaches, I'm used to achy muscles.  I limit my intake ...

I am exhausted.  Physically.  Mentally.  Is there anything else??  Because I'm sure that is exhausted, too. I went to the doctor today.  I knew it was going to be a lot of information.  I had made a list.  I had my notebook.  I printed out all of the information from my emergency room visit on Saturday to take with me.  Blood tests.  CT Scan.  Urine test.  Plus, I brought my CT scan from March, because I noticed on it that I have a small umbilical hernia.  I was ready.  And I knew what I needed to fight for. I also came armed with gifts.  I love this doctor and his medical assistant so much.  I took them a gift of tortilla chips and homemade salsa.  And I wrote a love note on the bag.  That is how much I appreciate him.  They both loved it.  It even made Hayley get a little weepy, cuz she was having a bad day. I gave him all of my documents, and he went through the blood tests and such fr...

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...

 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...