CoCo's Journey - How Did I Get Here??

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 Omeprezole that long.  

I had done diets.  I always had great results with Weight Watchers, and then something would happen and I would get bored or go off and never get back on again.  Here comes the weight.  I had done HCG, the shots and you ate 500 calories a day.  Yeah, I lost weight.  I lost a lot of weight.  And it came back.  I did Zumba, water aerobics, alot of walking.  I actually love walking.  I need to do more of it.  Anyway, my point is, I have done all sorts of things to lose weight.  Like 99% of women out there.  

Prior to 2022, I had spent about four to five years dealing with my right knee being in pain.  I started seeing a knee specialist.  She gave me cortisone shots in my knee.  The first two times, it was good for about a year.  I had no pain during that time.  The third time I went, she did X-rays.  She said, you are bone on bone, you really need to see about getting a knee replacement.  But, you're too fat.  No surgeon will touch you.  You're too fat.  You need to lose weight before you can even consider it.  I did "chicken fat" injections - a once-a-month injection for three months to try and replace some of the cushion.  They didn't work.  Again, she says, you're too fat.  No surgeon will touch you.  You need to lose weight.

It was then I decided to check into weight loss surgery.  I just got my Delta insurance.  So I decided not to go to Mexico to do it.  I went to local doctors and chose a surgeon.   It took several months, but I had that on April 27, 2022.  I got Covid for the first time in June 2022.  And then I had my knee surgery October 25, 2022.  I dealt with a lot that year.  But I kept thinking on the surgeries, my deductible is met, my out of pocket is met, my knee surgery is free.  

After Covid, I had a very difficult time eating.  Especially, the protein I desperately needed.  I got weak and tired pretty quickly.  I figured out the connection and tried to drink protein shakes every day.  But mostly I lived on Saltine crackers.  After my knee surgery, I quickly weakened.  I was so weak, on November 19 after my surgery, I collapsed and went down.  Brand new knee and all.  I was taken by ambulance to the hospital.  That was the first time I heard I had malnutrition. 

A few months later I had my first experience with TPN.  It did what it needed to do.  I gained weight.  My numbers improved.  Things were going well.  I was eating.  After having my PICC line removed and going back to just eating, I lost all the weight I had gained, and then some.  I was under 100 pounds.  And nothing I did or ate changed that.  I literally decided I was going to eat and drink anything I wanted to.  And I did.  But it did nothing.

The thing is, at this point, I've learned that pretty much nothing I do is going to do anything.  Because I now eat.  I eat quite a bit.  Some days, I eat a lot and some days I don't eat as much. But, because of malabsorption, I cannot absorb the nutrients or the important things in food to keep me going.  This has developed into malnutrition and the fact that I went down to 94 pounds.  Big difference from the 245 pounds.  Due to the malnutrition, I have extremely low protein levels.  And due to the low protein, I have developed cirrhosis of the liver.  What a horrible and sucky circle of life.  

At this point, my treatment plan is helping.  Taking Creon with every meal is helping me absorb some nutrients.  IVY is helping me get nutrition and vitamins, etc  I'm hooked up to her for 12 hours a day.  I start back to work on September 16, so I'll be adjusting my IVY schedule around my work schedule.  Which means all of my home time I will be hooked up.  But most of it is when I'm sleeping.  My weight is up about twelve pounds since starting her.  And my numbers are improving in my weekly blood draws.  The diuretics are keeping water off of me.  So, I have all of that to be pleased about that, right??

The nutritional value of the things
Chef Piccard and IVY are delivering
to me.  You can see that in addition to 
what I'm feeding myself, they are 
giving me 1350 more calories,
vitamins, minerals.

I keep saying I don't care if I wake up one day and I'm 245 pounds again.  I can totally be happy as a fat-bottomed girl again (it's still my funeral song).   All I want is to spend my days happy and healthier with my family, friends and garden.  I'm not ready to face mortality and at this point, my doctor does not believe that is the case.  If he's wrong, I'm damned well for sure not going down without a fight.  I have too many people I love and want to live for.