M.I.A.

I have been M.I.A. the last week or so. 5/24/14 I started feeling a little stick to my stomach. I wasn't worried as I thought it might just be my body adjusting to a new stomach. The pain continued to get worse over that day and the next to the point that I was barely getting any fluids in because the pain was so intense. I called my doctor's office first thing Monday 5/26 to tell them what was going on. They had me come in right away. It was determined that at least one problem was from dehydration. They admitted me into the hospital that day. Over the next couple of days they did the tests they could without scoping me (this is because I was too soon out of surgery). The tests were inconclusive which led the docs to believe that it was a stomach ulcer. They put me on a couple of prescriptions and decided I should stay in the hospital on IV fluids through Saturday. On Friday before I went home they put in a PICC Line. (For more info go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter)

 



 

This picture is from the Saturday after I had the PICC inserted. Originally it looked really bad. So since I have been home a week now and I have had fluids administered through the PICC line at home. A home nurse came a few times to teach me how to set up the fluids and machine it is pumped through into the IV. So now I can do it myself.

 

I am doing much better now. I am getting close to 48 ounces of fluid a day on my own which is what I want. I also am eating well now. My doctor has a 7 week post op diet plan that he has us follow. I am finishing up week two and will start week three tomorrow. I chose to go a little slower with the process because starting week three you can not have fluids 30 minutes before and an hour after a meal. So considering the fact that I was having problems with my fluid intake I figured it was better to wait to move to week three. So in the week two plan you can have things like unsweetened applesauce, loose mashed potatoes and my favorite low fat cottage cheese. Seriously that is the only thing I have had any desire to eat. I can eat three times a day two tablespoons of food. I am allowed to season. So I have had my cottage cheese with pepper or I mix in a teeny tiny amount of the unsweetened applesauce. To me it tastes like a gourmet meal. I will update on the diet when I start my new week.