How am I feeling? you've asked..

There is not much going on, on the sofa or in my family room, so there isn't a lot to blog about..

Since some of you have asked..

I feel like there is a cut in my gut! I am the same pain, this week, with no medication, that I was in, two weeks ago, with a lot of drugs in me..

so that's good.

I'm hoping to be up and about, again, next week.

All of the staples have been removed and the doctor has cleared me for life again..

Thanks for asking.. *hugz back*

new types of questions.. oh my!

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES? They are red/green with apples. When I first checked out this house to rent, I knew it spoke to me when the wallpaper border, in the dining room, matched my dishes.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Harry Potter, what else? But I'm considering Dresden files since I read Douggie's blog, last night.

3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad.. laptop touch pad.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Milles Bornes

5. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS? Chemicals.. allergies..

6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? what time is it?

7. FAVORITE COLOR ? pink!

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? can't think of a color I don't like.. I'm not fond of yellow gold

9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? well, it vibrates so none

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Mary-Ellen Elizabeth - "Beth" (its a family history thang)

11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla

12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? not exceptionally.. but I don't drive slow.

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? no

14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS? yes LOVE them...

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? 1968 Chevy Nova

16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? Aries

17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? Broccoli is the only food that I can't eat well since my WLS, so yes, but no thanks.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE? a well paid executive secretary

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I like mine.. I call the color "nutmeg" (Look into a can/jar of nutmeg.. browns.. reds..)

20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? Half full

21. FAVORITE MOVIE? I'm not sure I know.. Practical Magic minus the hoakie parts??

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? yes

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Nothing is under "my bed" but I'm on the sofa bed, so a sofa cushion.

24. DO YOU HAVE YOUR SOULMATE YET? No, I do not "have"

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? baseball

26. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN? my back

27. PERSON MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ?

28. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Not applicable

29. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD? Both

30. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG? Hebrew National Dog

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Spring

32. THE BEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? Julian, California

33. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? a slide.com slide show of my garden and my cats

34. FAVORITE FAST FOOD? The new Italian Beef sammich at Fazoli's

35. IF YOU CHOSE YOUR OWN NAME WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? I like my name.

States I've physically been to.. in some form or another

I found this in Silly's blog and its been over a year since I posted it on my old blog, so I thought I'd add it here.

I so need to get to the North East!


create your own personalized map of the USA or check out our California travel guide

Thursday, I think!

Happy Birthday Richard!

Its been a rough week, adjusting to home life, while still not well. How do I feel? I feel like there is a cut in the side of my gut! *smile*

My pain medicine runs out by 2am. I've been religious about writing down my dosages, to make sure I don't screw this up. The medicine that was not lasting four hours, in the hospital, was moved to six hour doses, when I came home. UGH

I only took one pill, at each of my last two dosage times and ouch is too small of a word to describe how that worked out. I'm waiting to hear back, from an alternate surgeon to see what they can do for me.. my surgeon is out of town and the other surgeon is in surgery.. figures! I hate the idea of paying a co-pay for one or two doses, too, though. UGH squared.

I've been trying to sort some numbers to file my taxes, as the state extension is shorter than the federal extension, but you have to do the federal paperwork before the state, so that makes a whole lot of sense, eh?

I haven't turned in transcripts for last school year and still need to order some curriculum for this year, too. UGH cubed

Sorry for the update delay.. I'm just exhausted.

I'm amazed that my gall bladder ultrasounds, over the last four years, have hidden the truth, or flat out lied? I know that there will be a change to the way my surgeon, as well as those he knows, looks to diagnose, now.. who would have known?

I also wonder how much the five days of hospital, surgery, nuclear medicine testing, ultrasounds, and two emergency room visits are going to cost? I had to pay $100 co-pay for the first ER visit.. oh yeah.. there is an ambulance ride too, to pay for.. oh boy! how fun! I can't wait?? LOL

No amount of money could help me not have a daily headache, though. That is the first major difference, that I've noticed since I woke up from surgery.

They say that my over all health, over the last four years, can be directly related to this "toxic" and "poisonous" growing gall bladder. I'm amazed at their "for years" words the most. Who would know that something, so direct, could cause such health hells for years??

I'm hopeful to less "I don't feel well for no real reason" in my future. I wonder if I should write a letter to my primary care physician, that quit, last year, feeling he couldn't help me. I'm sure he just thought, after so many years, that I was making up how rotten I felt. Maybe just a nice note, from me, that says "guess what? this is why, have a great life"?? I just may be able to get a new doctor now, too??

I also wonder.. if this is all the reason's for the passing out episodes I've been plagued with, over the last few months?

Things that make you go hmmmm..

Thanks, again, for all the e-cards and well wishes. You all are so wonderful... *smile*

OH, btw, a normal gall bladder is 2-2.5 inches (5.1-6.4cm). Mine was 10 inches (25.4cm). I don't know how ultrasound works. I was told it was "elongated" or "enlarged", but the surgeon was shocked and says he's never seen one so large, so I wonder why something four times larger than normal didn't show grossly over-sized in ultrasound?

mobile broadband to blog.. come in, blogger..

I had a ton of inabilities to post this, from my own laptop, mobile, this morning, so I'm posting now. I am post-op and will update that soon.
Thank you to all the kind well wishes I've been receiving. For some reason, Firefox isn't liking Y!360, and I can see comments, but can not post there, at all. Hopefully, by now, everyone knows how to see me over here, so I'll just update the hospital vacation, here.

1. I'm so comfortable! For the last four and a half hours, I've been "hooked up" to these compression boots. They are plugged into an air line, and they vibrate and compress up to my thigh, alternating legs. I know why I need them, medically, but aside from that need, I feel like I'm having a great regular leg massage!

2. Morphine is my best friend, today. The Delauded, from the ER, seemed to come on stronger, but didn't last as long. Once my poor arms recover from the burn/shock of the pain medication injection, its a leveled pain control.

3. A hiccup feels like a punch in the stomach. I hope to not sneeze for a week, or more.

4. I think my arms or skin, in general, is in hyper sensitive mode. My arms look like a war zone, and I hope to keep my current IV for anesthesia, but I think I heard its too small. Ouch.

5. Nuclear test results showed no activity of the gall bladder. It is dead, enlarged, and yucky! *giggle at yucky*

6. Broth tastes really good when you have had no food or drink, by mouth, for 14 hours.

7. My new surgeon has wonderful bedside manner.

8. The procedure is called Open Cholecystectomy. I am unable to have the laparoscopic procedure because my major incision, from my gastric bypass (my gastric bypass is officially titled, Vertically Transected, Silastic Ring banded, Roux en Y Gastric Bypass with a Gastrostomy and a gastrostomy site marker" (TSRBVGB), meaning my stomach was completely transected, a ring/band was placed around my new pouch, that acts solely as a food reservoir, and my intestines were re-routed into a Y shape, to connect both the old stomach and the new pouch to my intestines, allowing for a large percentage of nutrient absorption to be bypassed or avoided *forced malabsorption*) sits where the camera needs to be for this type of procedure. There is too much scar tissue that makes this a difficult procedure and the complications that are possible, are not worth the risk.

9. I will have a new 6-7 inch diagonal scar, on the upper right side of my abdomen. Can we say "battlefield"? *wink*

10. I'm going to rest again, now that the pain medicine is working. Wish you were here! *smile* Catch you again, after recovery..
Surgery update coming soon!

~Heidi

A Few Minutes Break of Recovery

I just pushed the morphine drip button, so I may have just a few minutes to leave a small update here.
I've been having internet problems and unable to post to blog. While its currently working, I wanted to briefly check in.
The surgery went well.
The surgeon is shocked at the toxic hell he found to remove.
He said it was 10 inches long. I'll look up what a normal one should be, soon, unless one of you knows and leaves it in comment. The surgeon said its the largest he's ever seen.
I've had three ultrasounds of it, over the last few years, for many different reasons. The surgeon even said, when he saw the ultrasound that it appeared large, but normal and he couldn't remove it unless the nuclear test proved it bad, which it did.
It has been sent to pathology. He said he feels its been in its state of hell, growing, etc, for YEARS.
When I talked to my mother, a little while ago, I reali zed my head didn't hurt.
Any of you that really know me, know I'm plagued with headaches and migraines. My head hurt, last night, after I started the morphine and was real bad just before surgery.
It will be extremely fascinating to see what other illness, ill-effects, etc, that I have been living with, including shoulder pain and back pain change as I recover more...
more later..
~Heidi

we interrupt this blog for gallbladder surgery..

I'm typing this from a hospital bed.
I called 9-1-1 last night in excruciating pain.
I had an ultrasound that showed no stones but the gall bladder is elongated or swollen.
I was released from the emergency room, at midnight, with instructions to return if the pain was worse or if I developed a fever of over 100 degrees.
I was still in a lot of pain. Breathing and walking were difficult and I was not comfortable to be going home. I was supposed to follow-up with a surgeon in the morning.
Two hours after I got home, I had that 100+ degree fever. By 4am, I woke up shaking and freezing, with a temperature of 103.4!
Back to the emergency room.. agonizing trip!
They admitted me for observation.
The surgeon finally arrived when I was trying to post this blog entry. He made me feel hopeful that we'd be having surgery tomorrow morning. Then he went to see the ultrasound and came back and said that it was enlarged, but in general, looked fine!
He ordered a nuclear test that could prove my gall bladder is broken. I have to go without pain medicine as that interrupts with the test. So, I'm hoping we do it soon, now, before I go back to being unable to breathe in pain, again.
He scheduled the surgery for tomorrow morning because its easier to cancel it than it is to try to schedule it late.
I just want them to find out what is wrong, because something is clearly wrong.
I'll check back in when I come up for air or have more information. If I have surgery in the morning, he says that I'll be here for five days.
Be good! *hugz* ~Heidi