Thursday, July 31, 2008
vacuum pic

This is what the vacuum looks like on me. It is right over my belly button. The black is just a filter material (sort of lke you would find in your air conditoner or vacuum cleaner) They pack the wound with this material (Youch!!!) and attatch the suction cup. This is the main wound, it is not that painful. I have another one up higher (under my left boob) It is on the lap wound that did not heal. That one is quite painful (though a fraction of the size of the belly wound) I can't wait til these things heal!!!!

posted by Julie's Journey @ 10:23 AM 2 Comments

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
kinda pissed

My husband was off work today, so we did a little running aroud before my doctors appointment today. Our truck lease is up, so we went to a Ford dealership, and that really wore me out. I have NO stamina right now...walking a couple of feet makes me feel like I am going to pass out. I guess that's what a week in a hopital bed does to you. Also... this machine is on a strap I am wearing around my neck ( I tuck most of the tubing into my pants, and have some of it looped around my neck, as well as the vacuum strap) and my neck and back is killing me.

We left the Ford dealership and rushed to make my 3PM appt. As we were walking into the building the office girl called to say the doctor was still in surgery, and it would be a minimum of an hour. I was quite angry. I was feeling crappy, my neck and back hurt, I could barely stand up, and it was 95 Freaking degrees outside!!!!. I had her call him in the OR to ask if he was going to give me a fill when he saw me...I told her I am not going to come in "just to be seen"...I have been seen by enough doctors in the last couple of weeks. He told her he did not know if he was going to fill me or not...he would have to see me first!!! I rescheduled for Monday at 11AM. I am going to go ballistic if he does not give me a fill.

And would you believe it... when I look down I am seeing the seroma fill up again I just don't know what to do. I feel like this freaking thing is never going to get better. While we were heading home the visiting nurse, Heather, (who, btw, I really like) called to ask what the doctor said. As if he is going to do anything about this stupid thing. She told me if it gets significantly larger to call and let her know... she will call the surgeon (not Dr Mel... the trauma surgeon from the hospital) and let him know. She said the doctor is more likely to listen to a nurse, than a patient. That is a call I really don't want to have to make... I am hoping and praying the vacuum does it's job and pulls the fluid out of it.

Tomorrow is week 5. I can start "real" food. I have been looking forward to having some shaved turkey, so we went grocery shopping (I had to use a scooter) and got a pound. I had some of it tonight. It was sooooo good.

Confession time....

Now that I am on real foods, I am wondering what I can go out and eat before my fill. I probably won't get anything... but it is so tempting. Subway is looking better and better. I gues this is what they call Bandster Hell? The time between being able to eat and having some restriction?? I don't like it.

Tomorrow is my offical weigh in day. I will post my totals tomorrow.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 6:30 PM 1 Comments

Saturday, July 26, 2008
Feeling somewhat alive today

Made it through my first night at home. It was tough, my back gets so sore from laying flat on it. My husband had brought out my recliner to the living room. I tried sleeping in it, but the back doesn't stay reclined. I finally climbed onto the couch, put my feet up and the back down. It was not all that comfortable at first, but I was finally able to fall asleep.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it..but I had a PIC line put in while in hospital. They pulled it before I came home, but my arm is still quite sore. I also developed thrush from all the antibiotics. I have this swish and swallow stuff I am supposed to take 4x a day. My throat hurts, and everything tastes crappy (not that I am eating, mind you)

My MIL lives with us, and she is one of the biggest drama queens (not to mention outright liars, you would ever meet) She has been crying sick for a month or so. I was supposed to take her to the doctors on Monday...but I was otherwise occupied. Ron took her yesterday. The doctor wanted her to go to the hospital for a CT scan for a possible stroke. Ron basically dropped her off at the E.R. and picked me up upstairs. They kept her overnight. Looks like no stroke, but some of her blood tests were off (mainly, from what she said..her potassium) It is hard to know what is going on with her because she is such an exagerator as well as downright liar. It has been a somewhat trying day, since Ron is at work and I am taking care of Kayleigh. Good thing she is such a good, self sufficent little thing.

I did manage to get dressed and we went up to Walgreens to pick up my Rx's. I got one for Keflex and one for Vicodin pills. I am going to try to onlt take the pain pills M,W,F when the visitng nurse comes to change my vacuum pump, cuz that is really, really painful. The rest of the time I am going to just try to grin and bear it. At least the pills don't make me as woozy and surreal as the liquid.

I weiged myself last night and was really suprised. The scale said I was down 7 pounds!!! This morning it was only down about 1.6 pounds. I feel this is quite good since eating in the hospital was a challenge. They had room service, the food offered looked awesome... NY strip steaks, pastas, make your own sandwiches and pizzas. I had tomato soup. LOTS of tomato soup. The dietician came in and we talked about my need for protein. She put in the computer I should have Boost with every meal, and I was supposed to eat up to 6 times a day. The Boost was diabetic and quite gross. You can either drink it or take it through a feeding tube. Let's face it...anything you take through a feeding tube cannot be that great. I got to the point I would just send it back on the tray. Finally one of the nurses mentioned they could puree anything on the menu, so I started eating cheese tortelini. It was better than tomato soup!!!

So, other than the yeast infection in my mouth, as well as the one ahem.... down lower... from the crappy TP they use...I swear I got splinters!!! I am healing. I just want to get better. I am hoping in a month or two I will be feeling great, up to speed and loving my band!!!

More later...

posted by Julie's Journey @ 3:08 PM 2 Comments

Friday, July 25, 2008
Finally home

Well...it has been a helish week. Last Saturday I finally went to ER. Friday I was running a temp of 101. Dr M was not overly concerned. Sat it went up to 102.5. We decided to go to ER. I figured they would do a CT scan, drain me and send me home. How wrong I was. They did the CT and said the seroma was about 13 cm. They took LOTS and LOTS of blood. After about 4 hours they informed me they were keeping me.

They told me I was going to be on the 1st floor. I knew I was in trouble when they decided to put me on the 2nd floor because "It's closer to the O.R." I ended up having surgery on Sunday. They took out 750 cc's (about a litre) of pus. As we were coming out of the O.R. I heard the nurses talking it went about like this "How the HELL can someone have 750 cc's of pus in their belly??" They told me I was very close to sepsis. I was put on 3 different antibiotics.

I had to have a PIC line put in (how fun..not) It's not that painful...just really scary. They were taking huge amounts of blood at a time. At least the PIC line made it easier.

I ended up having a vacuum pump put in to pull out the infection. I took a look at the "incision" I was horrified, I thought I was going to barf!!! It was so bad.

While in surgery they also took a look at my still open incision. I was happy to find out it is not my port, at least. They cut it open and debrided it while in surgery, so I have a vacuum on that one too.

Needless to see I am feeling quite crappy right now. I will say bye for now. If I remember anything else, I will post it next time.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 7:55 PM 2 Comments

Thursday, July 24, 2008
Been MIA

Went into hospital Sat night. Still here. Will update when I get home. (hopefully tomorrow )

posted by Julie's Journey @ 10:38 AM 2 Comments

Saturday, July 19, 2008
A bad night... and a small confession

First the confession..... When you get your pre surgery meds they give you a big ASS bottle of liquid Vicodin. I used my first one, and asked for a refill. I don't believe I was abusing it. I was only taking it once a day (right before bed). But, still, I just haven't quite been "all there" I having been walking around the past 3 weeks in a slight surreal fog. I believe this is part of the reason I have not been eating. I didn't say not hungry...just not eating!!!

I went out and put it in the kitchen yesterday. I did not take it last night. It was one rough night!!! The number one thing the meds were doing was help me sleep through the night. I was up about every half hour. But I made it!!! I'm still a bit fuzzy headed, but a bit less today.

I did spike a fever last night. I was a bit over 101. I called the doctor and he was like... "Well, you could go to the hospital for a CT scan, and maybe a drain" but he didn't seem to feel it was imperative. I told him I would wait and if my temp went another degree up, I was going to go. Luckily, it didn't come to that.

The doctor just called to check on me....I told him my port incision is still open, he seemed quite suprised. I am hoping it closes up enough to get my first fill on Thursday.

Oh, well, back to my moist heat compress...

posted by Julie's Journey @ 1:36 PM 1 Comments

Friday, July 18, 2008
It's official..

I have an infection in the seroma. I have all this thick, blood tinged fluid coming out of my belly button. Dr Mel called me in a Rx for a antibiotic. He wants to see me on Monday, too, to see if it needs to be drained. He also told me that if he had put in "regular" mesh, and not the special biologic mesh he used, he would have to go in ASAP and take it out.

Gee....finally, I caught a break...

He told me to use moist heat this weekend, and perhaps we can get more fluid to leak out.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 3:44 PM 2 Comments

Thursday, July 17, 2008
kinda gross pictures

Sorry, but I wanted to show my seroma. This is what I see when I look down.... pretty big, huh??

Other than the pain from the port incision..which doesn't seem to want to heal, and the constant pain from the seroma (I think it may be pushing on a nerve.) I don't know how long the doctor is going to expect me to go on like this

Yesterday I went downstairs for the first time since surgery. What a suprise...Ron built shelfs (which I knew about, of course) put all the crap up from the last couple of moves, as well as making a nice play area for Kayleigh. There is also room for me to walk a whole circuit around the basement. I also had Ron dig out my 3 lb weights to use!!! I figure I will set up a VCR so I can exercise with Richard Simmons for awhile. I actually got back upstairs with no more trouble than usual (stairs have not been my friend for years!!!)

More later...

posted by Julie's Journey @ 8:12 AM 1 Comments

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Not feeling perfect, but starting to feel a lot better

My pain level is still at about a 4....going up to a 7 on occasion. This is soooo much more comfortable than what it was before ;) I have decided I need to start pushing myself a bit more. I set up a playdate for tomorrow at Kayleigh's twin friends...Billy and Katie. I just hope the kids don't try to jump on me. They are both quite affectionate...and really like me ;))

I am also thinking of going to one of the local pools around here and get in some swimming. I figure that way I can get my exercise in, get my blood moving and not get too overheated. It has been hot as Hades around here lately, and I just have not been able to get out and walk (afriad I will pass out half way...really...no kidding)

As you can see, I have started listing my week by week losses. I have been updating my weight loss ticker,(hence, the vast difference between the two) but I am only doing an "official" weigh in on Thursday mornings.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 6:25 PM 1 Comments

Friday, July 11, 2008
seroma description

Seroma; A tumour-like mass or accumulation of serum in a tissue or organ that often occurs following surgery. The serum is a clear fluid consisting of cells and plasma from nearby blood vessel damaged during surgery. This accumulation can cause localized swelling at the site of the surgery.

Symptoms of Seroma:
Bulging of surgical site and fluid-like movement under site on touch/compression
Read more about symptoms of Seroma

Treatments for Seroma:Removal of fluid with a needle and syringe if marked bulging
However in most cases your body will reabsorb the fluid over time


AND...Oh Yeah....it hurts!!!!!!!

How do I know all these things?? I now have a seroma. When I look down all I see is a HUGE bulge over my belly button.

I just can't catch a break


I developed one of these after my last hernia sugery, the doctor had a drain put in. Dr Mel does not beleive in that. He lets it take care of itself naturally. I understand his point...it is a sterile area, once you start sticking in needles and tubes, you have a chance of cooking up an infection. It really hurst, but so do having tubes stuck out of me for 10 days. I guess I just can't win....

posted by Julie's Journey @ 9:39 AM 1 Comments

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
I'm beginning to think the light at the end of the tunnel is NOT a train

I am still feeling really badly, physically, though I am feeling a bit (very small bit) better emotionally.

The itching is still here (I don't think it has let up at all) I have tried about everything. Today I am using the Dermaplast spray they gave me in the hospital after I tore and need stitches after having Kayleigh.

I went out to the grocery store yesterday and today. Yesterday I grabbed a cart and walked the length of the store. When I got to the pharmacy I had to sit, since I felt like I was going to die (or at least pass out!) I sat for about 15 minutes, got up and walked around a bit more. I went over and got a scooter to finish the little bit of shopping I needed to do (I just KNEW I was not going to make it out to the car)

Today I went to the store, then realized my husband had taken my purse out of the car (I have a bad habit of leaving it in the car while in the garage) I had to come home and get it. I was so miserable from the driving, as well as the ins and out of the car. I went in and got a handicapped scooter to do the small amount of shopping I needed to do.

I am close to 20 pounds down!!!! My "official" weigh in will be on Thursday (2 weeks post op)


That is all that has been happening with me.... I really want to give a big Thank You to the people who have been supporting me. Sheila (the best sister ever), Donna,( my best friend who keeps up on me...thanks God for infertility websites!!!)) Melissa (always willing to give me a call to check on me, or give me words of encouragement...You are doing great!!!! You are a such a good example) and Diz. Diz even though we have never met...I consider you a good friend, and I am wishing you the best in your journey also.

More later all....

posted by Julie's Journey @ 6:09 PM 2 Comments

Saturday, July 5, 2008
LOTS of pain

I am still having what generally people call "gas pain" Dr Mel insits it is not gas...that is is the band trying to settle.

I ended up with 9 incision sites..and everyone of them has a rash around it. Also have a rash on the underside of both boobs.

To say I am miserable would be an understatement...between the severe pain (that somethines causes severe pain in my neck and/or sinus on the right side) and the intense itching.

The good news is the fluids seem to be working...I peed all night last night and am now down 12 pounds!!!!

Please, oh please let me feel better soon.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 2:40 PM 2 Comments

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
I'm now 5 days post op

I am finally up to writing, I was in surgery about 4 hours. Turns out I did not have a new hernia, it was the one I had repaired 4 years ago. The mesh they used had balled up and needed to be removed. It took the surgeon quite a while to get that loose and repair the old hernia.

I am having a lot of pain. I thought it was gas pain, but Dr Mel told me it is not, he told me it is the band trying to adjust. I am so afraid I am rejecting the band (if this even happens) If there is something bad going on we cannot afford another surgery. One of the real drawbacks of self pay is if you have some sort of complication, your insurance most likely will not pay for it.

I'm not sure if I lost any weight yet or not. I went to the surgeons office for a blood draw yesterday and I was actually UP .4 pounds!!! I really have to push the water. I am not too upset about this, I know I am still quite full of fluid and gas.

I ended up spending the night at the hospital (actually a medical center) When I talked to the anesthesiologist, he acted like I was going home after surgery. I told him I was under the impression I would be staying, since Dr Mel told me the predominance of hernia repairs spend the night. I went into surgery not sure if I would be staying or not. After surgery they did the dye swallow and told me they would be taking me to my room. I was quite happy about this. They took fantastic care of me. They only have 2 rooms there, and I had my own nurse and helper. Caroline and Andrew. They were right there anything I needed anything. They kept my pain under control (as much as possible...considering) they got me up to walk every 2 hours. I told Caroline I definitely would not have moved around that much on my own (boy, was that true!!) It was a long, painful night, but they made it a lot easier on me. I felt quite bad for Caroline, though, I had to have my IV put into the underside of my right wrist, so my hand was unusable. I couldn't even wipe my own butt. She had to do that for me.

I go see the surgeon in 2 days. I am hoping I see some weight loss by then, also praying the pain stops soon (I was expecting a certain amount of pain, but this debilitating pain is getting to me) I am hoping in a month or two this will all just be a bad memory and I am thrilled with my decision to start this lap band journey.

posted by Julie's Journey @ 12:33 PM 1 Comments
Julie's Journey

About Me
Name:
Julie's Journey
Location:
aurora, CO, United States
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MY WEEK BY WEEK LOSS week 1 - 5 pounds week 2 - ...
comparison photos_ preop and week 9

Just can't get to that 40!!!
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Shar-pei and other wrinkled things
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my first fill
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