So I'm kinda known as Ms. Hand Sanitizer. I carry it with me at all times and use it quite frequently. So of course this week I got sick. I started sniffling on Saturday (after being with a bunch of germ-carriers on Friday night at my son's football banquet at the most popular kid hangout in the county) but it was clear and just kind of annoying. By Sunday night, it had moved to my lungs and with my asthma, it's not a good combination. I made a call first thing Monday morning and they worked me in.
My PCP gave me a prescription for an antibiotic in the tetracycline family. I didn't realize it till I got home and was reading the insert that came with the prescription. Well sure enough, tetracycline is on my list of do not takes so I called my surgeon's office. The nurse conferred with another nurse and they agreed it was ok to take but double up on the prilosec. So I took the first one about 4:45 pm. It hurt my tummy SO bad. I had wave like cramps and could literally trace it as it went down my intestines. Took about 2 hours. I consulted OH for tips on the drug but got lots of hugs and no help. So I reread the directions. The first time I had taken calcium (via cheese) a short time before I took the first pill. I read that it could interact with the meds to not allow you to absorb and to take it on an empty stomach. So I listened and took it on an empty tummy with lots of water about 12:45.
OH.MY.GOD. I thought I was going to die. It hurt SOOOO fucking bad. I was in agonizing pain for 2 hours, pacing the house back and forth because it felt better to be walking than it did to lay down and brace through it. I decided that was it for that med and called the doctor this morning and told him to give me something else. He gave me a z-pack and lesson learned to avoid all tetracycline drugs in the future.
I'm feeling a bit better tonight after running the humidifier for three days straight, taking lots of robitussin and drinking lots of water. Vites haven't been too great but I think today I'll get them all in. I only have my multi left for the day.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Three Weeks Out Today
So today I'm three weeks out. I started soft foods yesterday (a day early) and things have gone down pretty well so far. I ate too fast this afternoon and have learned what that feels like so won't be doing that again. I do get hungry, but it's not like it was preop. I just kinda get a sucking empty feeling but my stomach doesn't gurgle.
The pain in my right side is pretty much gone but still flares up if I try to do too much (like tonight I tried to fold laundry and it came back with a vengeance). I'm worried about going back to work as I'm worried it's not healed as much as it should be. The doctor said it's muscle related - that things are probably healing in a certain way and when I move, it's pulling where it's trying to scar over. It's not like I have to do heavy lifting at work but at the same time, I need to be able to sit at a desk for 8 hours and pain wise I'm not there yet. I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm going to follow up with my doctor to see what he advises.
I tried pasta for the first time last night and I didn't have gas so I'm not sure if I didn't eat enough to do anything (maybe a tablespoon of macaroni and cheese) or if carbs aren't going to give me gas. But then I tried spinach and artichoke dip tonight and it didn't sit well so I guess it's still a lot of trial and error with what will work.
I have been having a lot anxiety issues since my trip tot he ER last week. I went in and saw a therapist today to go over everything and he was really helpful in giving me some tools to help me through when I'm feeling anxious. I came home from the hospital with some xanax, which has saved my sanity a couple of times but I don't want to be on it long term and I'm happy I took the step today to talk to someone. It really eased my mind that I wasn't batshit crazy, and he gave me some perspective.
Gas hasn't been an issue at all, BM's have been formed and regular. I go mostly in the morning, which is super annoying to me. I'm just not in the frame of mind to do that so early in the morning. LOL No nausea to speak of except after trying some baby food. I took a nap just after I ate it and had a dream I threw up. I woke up and there was the nausea! LOL
I've lost a grand total of 25 lbs so far. My doctor's goal for me is 165. If I'm doing the math right, that's just at about 20% of what they want me to lose. I can't tell the difference at all yet. People are saying my face is thinner, and in my two week update I mentioned that my bewbies are shrinking quickly but all my clothes still fit (though some are getting loose).
That's it! :)
The pain in my right side is pretty much gone but still flares up if I try to do too much (like tonight I tried to fold laundry and it came back with a vengeance). I'm worried about going back to work as I'm worried it's not healed as much as it should be. The doctor said it's muscle related - that things are probably healing in a certain way and when I move, it's pulling where it's trying to scar over. It's not like I have to do heavy lifting at work but at the same time, I need to be able to sit at a desk for 8 hours and pain wise I'm not there yet. I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm going to follow up with my doctor to see what he advises.
I tried pasta for the first time last night and I didn't have gas so I'm not sure if I didn't eat enough to do anything (maybe a tablespoon of macaroni and cheese) or if carbs aren't going to give me gas. But then I tried spinach and artichoke dip tonight and it didn't sit well so I guess it's still a lot of trial and error with what will work.
I have been having a lot anxiety issues since my trip tot he ER last week. I went in and saw a therapist today to go over everything and he was really helpful in giving me some tools to help me through when I'm feeling anxious. I came home from the hospital with some xanax, which has saved my sanity a couple of times but I don't want to be on it long term and I'm happy I took the step today to talk to someone. It really eased my mind that I wasn't batshit crazy, and he gave me some perspective.
Gas hasn't been an issue at all, BM's have been formed and regular. I go mostly in the morning, which is super annoying to me. I'm just not in the frame of mind to do that so early in the morning. LOL No nausea to speak of except after trying some baby food. I took a nap just after I ate it and had a dream I threw up. I woke up and there was the nausea! LOL
I've lost a grand total of 25 lbs so far. My doctor's goal for me is 165. If I'm doing the math right, that's just at about 20% of what they want me to lose. I can't tell the difference at all yet. People are saying my face is thinner, and in my two week update I mentioned that my bewbies are shrinking quickly but all my clothes still fit (though some are getting loose).
That's it! :)
Monday, November 9, 2009
What's your top 10 best decisions / things so far?
Kerry posted on the OH form asking about the top 10 best decisions or things in our lives so far and I shared my answers with them. Here they are!
I love reading all of these! I don't think I'll have 10 since I too am still a baby but here goes...
1. Marrying my husband - and staying married through a couple of tough times. We got engaged, found out we were pregnant, got married, had a baby, lost his father and bought a house all in one year. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and are still going strong.
2. Deciding to have our son - I had rabies shots after being bitten by a stray cat before I knew I was pregnant. None of the doctors,makers of the vaccine, distributor, specialists, etc could tell me what that vaccine would do to a child, and I still had several rounds of it to go while being pregnant. I was told that if I did not finish the treatment, that I could die. I trusted in God and decided to carry the pregnancy through the vaccine series. Though I was considered high risk and underwent tons of testing, I had a perfect baby boy who is the absolute light of our lives.
3. Deciding to quit working full time and go back to school full time to finish when my son was a year and a half old. I was going part time at night and it would have taken me two years to finish and I was killing myself and never seeing my family. We sucked it up financially, and I finished my B.S. degree in business information systems.
4. Working for the company I work for - I took a data entry job right out of college (the economy tanked and my degree wasn't in demand at the time...hmm sounds familiar! LOL) and it has opened so many doors and friendships, as well as given me the benefits to have my DS. The DS is not on the list yet, as we are still getting to know each other.
5. Completing my adoption search. I was adopted at 6 months old and when I was 22 I decided to search for my birth family. God was really watching out for me, and through a series of amazing events, I was able to learn my entire story from the time I was born until the time I was abandoned at 6 weeks old in the middle of the night in Golden Gate Park to being lucky enough to be adopted by my parents.
6. Holding my niece, Caitlyn, after she passed away. She was born premature and we really thought she would make it. I got a phone call the night before she died that I needed to come to DC immediately as things didn't look good. I hopped on the first flight I could but was too late. An angel of a nurse found me wandering in the hall and asked if I wanted to hold her and say goodbye. It was the hardest, yet most wonderful memory I have and I hold it and her very dear to my heart.
That's all I've got so far! :)
I love reading all of these! I don't think I'll have 10 since I too am still a baby but here goes...
1. Marrying my husband - and staying married through a couple of tough times. We got engaged, found out we were pregnant, got married, had a baby, lost his father and bought a house all in one year. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and are still going strong.
2. Deciding to have our son - I had rabies shots after being bitten by a stray cat before I knew I was pregnant. None of the doctors,makers of the vaccine, distributor, specialists, etc could tell me what that vaccine would do to a child, and I still had several rounds of it to go while being pregnant. I was told that if I did not finish the treatment, that I could die. I trusted in God and decided to carry the pregnancy through the vaccine series. Though I was considered high risk and underwent tons of testing, I had a perfect baby boy who is the absolute light of our lives.
3. Deciding to quit working full time and go back to school full time to finish when my son was a year and a half old. I was going part time at night and it would have taken me two years to finish and I was killing myself and never seeing my family. We sucked it up financially, and I finished my B.S. degree in business information systems.
4. Working for the company I work for - I took a data entry job right out of college (the economy tanked and my degree wasn't in demand at the time...hmm sounds familiar! LOL) and it has opened so many doors and friendships, as well as given me the benefits to have my DS. The DS is not on the list yet, as we are still getting to know each other.
5. Completing my adoption search. I was adopted at 6 months old and when I was 22 I decided to search for my birth family. God was really watching out for me, and through a series of amazing events, I was able to learn my entire story from the time I was born until the time I was abandoned at 6 weeks old in the middle of the night in Golden Gate Park to being lucky enough to be adopted by my parents.
6. Holding my niece, Caitlyn, after she passed away. She was born premature and we really thought she would make it. I got a phone call the night before she died that I needed to come to DC immediately as things didn't look good. I hopped on the first flight I could but was too late. An angel of a nurse found me wandering in the hall and asked if I wanted to hold her and say goodbye. It was the hardest, yet most wonderful memory I have and I hold it and her very dear to my heart.
That's all I've got so far! :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Two weeks out
Recovery for me hasn't been the easiest road ever but I'm getting there.
So far, fluids haven't been an issue. I don't have to take these baby tiny sips that I thought I would have to post-op. I can take two normal drinks, same size as pre-op but I can't glug down a huge glass of water at one like I used to. But the normal drinking thing kinda weirded me out at first since I had read so much about sipping. I'm doing chewable vitamins for now, but that will change when these run out and then I'll flip to vitalady's schedule.
Food has been ok. My doctor requires 3 weeks of liquids/pureed foods, and then another 3-4 weeks of soft foods before moving on to everything else. I have one more week of pureed foods, and I'll be happy to move on some soft stuff. I'm eating corned beef hash, refried beans, soups, applesauce, and SF popsicles. My one "cheat" I've had is a laughing cow cheese wedge mooshed really well before it goes down. I seem to be lactose intolerant so hopefully that dies down some in the coming weeks.
As for healing, I developed a small infection where my OnQ pain pump came out and my PCP looked at it and put me on antibiotics for it. Then a couple of nights ago, I started having pain in my abdomen on the right hand side. I had had pain there since post op and the Dr. said to expect that to be very tender but the pain really increased a LOT and my chest area started feeling very tight and it hurt my ribcage to breathe in any sort of deep capacity. I tried to walk it off thinking it was gas but nothing helped and it felt like an elephant standing on my chest when I tried to lay down. After pacing the house for about 3 hours, I gave up at 3 am and went to the ER. They did every test they could do - blood work for infection, a CT scan of both my abdomen and chest, chest xrays, EKG, etc. None of it turned up anything. So I went home with a pain prescription and the doctor's office said that it sounded like it was just things healing up and scarring and my body was having a tough time with it. I am confident in that answer as they had ct scans from the day after surgery to compare it to. My thought at this point is that the abdomen pain is from healing/scarring and that the ribcage pain was brought about by how I was holding my upper body to compensate for the pain.
Other than that little bump, so far so good! I'm down 20 lbs in two weeks, but am still so swollen that I can't even fit in to my pre-op fat jeans - hopefully by next week things will be less swollen and I can wear them. My baby is tired of seeing me in sweats and PJ bottoms! :) My bewbies are GONE! My bras are already very baggy in the cups which sucks. I've been wearing a lot of sports bras. I did go through my dresser and have donated all my summer fat clothes and luckily I'm pretty well set up for the next size down so hopefully that will get me through the winter without having to drop too much on clothes.
I can't wait to be totally healed and over the pureed/soft food stages. I'm not head over heels in love with my DS but we're definitely warming up to each other! :)
So far, fluids haven't been an issue. I don't have to take these baby tiny sips that I thought I would have to post-op. I can take two normal drinks, same size as pre-op but I can't glug down a huge glass of water at one like I used to. But the normal drinking thing kinda weirded me out at first since I had read so much about sipping. I'm doing chewable vitamins for now, but that will change when these run out and then I'll flip to vitalady's schedule.
Food has been ok. My doctor requires 3 weeks of liquids/pureed foods, and then another 3-4 weeks of soft foods before moving on to everything else. I have one more week of pureed foods, and I'll be happy to move on some soft stuff. I'm eating corned beef hash, refried beans, soups, applesauce, and SF popsicles. My one "cheat" I've had is a laughing cow cheese wedge mooshed really well before it goes down. I seem to be lactose intolerant so hopefully that dies down some in the coming weeks.
As for healing, I developed a small infection where my OnQ pain pump came out and my PCP looked at it and put me on antibiotics for it. Then a couple of nights ago, I started having pain in my abdomen on the right hand side. I had had pain there since post op and the Dr. said to expect that to be very tender but the pain really increased a LOT and my chest area started feeling very tight and it hurt my ribcage to breathe in any sort of deep capacity. I tried to walk it off thinking it was gas but nothing helped and it felt like an elephant standing on my chest when I tried to lay down. After pacing the house for about 3 hours, I gave up at 3 am and went to the ER. They did every test they could do - blood work for infection, a CT scan of both my abdomen and chest, chest xrays, EKG, etc. None of it turned up anything. So I went home with a pain prescription and the doctor's office said that it sounded like it was just things healing up and scarring and my body was having a tough time with it. I am confident in that answer as they had ct scans from the day after surgery to compare it to. My thought at this point is that the abdomen pain is from healing/scarring and that the ribcage pain was brought about by how I was holding my upper body to compensate for the pain.
Other than that little bump, so far so good! I'm down 20 lbs in two weeks, but am still so swollen that I can't even fit in to my pre-op fat jeans - hopefully by next week things will be less swollen and I can wear them. My baby is tired of seeing me in sweats and PJ bottoms! :) My bewbies are GONE! My bras are already very baggy in the cups which sucks. I've been wearing a lot of sports bras. I did go through my dresser and have donated all my summer fat clothes and luckily I'm pretty well set up for the next size down so hopefully that will get me through the winter without having to drop too much on clothes.
I can't wait to be totally healed and over the pureed/soft food stages. I'm not head over heels in love with my DS but we're definitely warming up to each other! :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Tired of feeling like poo
I've decided I'm tired of feeling like poo. I knew that it would take a while to feel better post op - like I wouldn't feel better in a week, but it's been almost two and I'm tired of feeling like poo. Yesterday and today were the worst since I've been home. I started my period yesterday and you just shouldn't be allowed to start that until you're like 3 months out. I'm almost wishing it had happened in the hospital because at least I'd have been on pain meds.
Today my shoulder blade started hurting. Which I've read that if your shoulder hurts it can be a sign of a leak. So that got my nerves up. I took a xanax for it, and it did help, but all day long I didn't feel right. I ended up calling the doctors office in the early afternoon and they took all my symptoms and then called back in the afternoon to be sure I was ok. They basically said that it sounded like my recovered was exacerbated by my period and all the bloating and to call back if I had any escalated pain or symptoms.
Tonight was better. I went to GameStop for the boy's birthday present exchange (he didn't like the first thing we got him so we exchanged it) and then went home. I had guacamole for dinner, but it didn't sit well. I have taken some anti-nausea pills. I haven't had to take either those or xanax since last Wednesday so I was kinda bummed about that. Feel like I'm sliding backwards. I hope I turn the proverbial corner I keep reading about soon.
Today my shoulder blade started hurting. Which I've read that if your shoulder hurts it can be a sign of a leak. So that got my nerves up. I took a xanax for it, and it did help, but all day long I didn't feel right. I ended up calling the doctors office in the early afternoon and they took all my symptoms and then called back in the afternoon to be sure I was ok. They basically said that it sounded like my recovered was exacerbated by my period and all the bloating and to call back if I had any escalated pain or symptoms.
Tonight was better. I went to GameStop for the boy's birthday present exchange (he didn't like the first thing we got him so we exchanged it) and then went home. I had guacamole for dinner, but it didn't sit well. I have taken some anti-nausea pills. I haven't had to take either those or xanax since last Wednesday so I was kinda bummed about that. Feel like I'm sliding backwards. I hope I turn the proverbial corner I keep reading about soon.
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