investigator77
I've been feeling really rough
Aug 13, 2009
First, I apologize for this epic! LOL Once I get on a role, there's no stopping me.I've been having problems with elevated liver enzyme levels, and my doctors were concerned. I also have an umbilical hernia, which has gotten rock hard 3 times, and been extremely painful. My pcp sent me to a surgeon about it, and he told me that if it ever gets that way again, I should go to emerg, because the intestine can become pinched off and start to die. If that happens, I'd be in for serious issues.
Not two days after I saw the specialist, it happened again. This was on the Saturday of the long weekend (August 1st). I went to the hospital emerg, and was in terrible pain. When I finally got to see a doctor, the first thing he said when he looked at it was "Oh my". Not good. Long story short, he said he would have to knock me out, and push the hernia back in. He and another doctor did it in the acute care ward. The other doctor left a note for me, asking me to come back on the Monday of the long weekend, just to make sure everything was OK. Well the hernia had popped back out the same night as they had pushed it back in, but at least it wasn't as painful.
When I went back to the hospital, the doctor was concerned about the pain I was still having, and he knew that the surgeon I saw earlier in the week about it, was on call. He asked me if I was up for some immediate surgery, and I said I was. I didn't want to go through another day like I did on the Saturday. So I waited for the surgeon to come and see me, and he ended up admitting me to the hospital overnight. He sent me for x-rays, and the next day I had a CT scan. Then he came in and told me there was no way he could get me in for surgery on an emergency basis, so he was going to discharge me, but he said on the CT scan they saw something in my lower right large intestine!!!!! He said they weren't sure what it was, it could just be poop, but it said on the report that "a tumour cannot be excluded". I thought "Oh GOD!! I don't know how much more of this I can take." He wanted to do a colonoscopy before he operated on my hernia. It's all very complicated and confusing.
I also had elevated liver enzymes before my rny surgery, but I was always told it was because I had fatty liver. The hernia was also there before surgery, but my pcp thought it would go down after I lost weight, because it was just filled with fat cells.
After I had my RNY, my liver enzymes were getting higher, so my pcp sent me to a liver specialist. He said he didn't think it had anything to do with the medications I take (which is one thing my pcp was concerned about), and he believed it was because of the RNY surgery. He agreed that it is common for the liver to be stressed when I am losing weight so fast, and I was supposed to follow up with him in late September. He felt that once my weight loss stablized, my levels would also.
He told me back in June when I first saw him, that I would have more bloodwork done in mid-September, and then if the enzymes were still elevated, he might have to put me on something, and the last thing he wanted to do was a liver biopsy, which isn't a very pleasant experience from what I understand.
When I was at the clinic seeing the surgeon about my hernia, I went down to the lab where I have a standing order to have my blood tested every 3 months for Dr Schram in Michigan who did my RNY. When my pcp got a copy of the blood work, she called me at home and left a message saying I should see the liver specialist right away. Not only were my enzyme levels NOT getting better, they were getting WORSE, and she thought I should have a liver biopsy done. I kind of lost it when I listened to the message. I bawled my eyes out!! My poor little cats didn't know what to do. They stood in the doorway watching me, like little kids who have never seen their mom cry! They didn't know what to do, but they knew something was wrong.
I thought, good lord, first the hernia, which can become extremely painful, then the "unknown finding" in my intestine (which is what the colonoscopy was going to be looking at), but then the thought of having to have a liver biopsy was the last straw. This is the really hard part about living alone. There's no one here to say "It'll be okay". No one to hug me, and reassure me. But after I had a really good cry and a good sleep, I felt much better. It just got a little overwhelming that one day.
I had also been having a lot of trouble connecting with my daughter. I was leaving vm mssgs for her, but she either wasn't calling me back, or she was ignoring me, or she was too busy or whatever, but that's totally not like her. So when I was in the hospital I had my friend who had taken me there, call Danielle and leave her a mssg saying I was in the hospital. Finally I got her attention! When we did finally get to talk, I told her about the concerns I was having, and that I had passed out twice. She came out last Saturday to stay overnight with me so we could talk, and just hang out.
I know she's really busy at work, and she has only so many hours in the day to spend with her boyfriend that she lives with, and then she has her friends, etc. It's just hard for me to know what to tell her, because I don't want to scare her, but I also need her support, so I have to tell her. Anyway, I'm glad she came out here, and I'm glad that I told her about everything. Her boyfriends mother had breast cancer surgery a couple of months ago, and is going thru chemo now. Hopefully they'll both realise that mom's won't always be here, and they need to appreciate us while we are.
Anyway, sorry for such a long and detailed novel! It feels good to pour it all out on "paper".
6 Comments
About Me
Oshawa, Ontario, XX
Location
28.8
BMI
Surgery
02/10/2009
Surgery Date
Jul 11, 2008
Member Since
