PT-LawMom

It looks like I will be in here through Sunday. I did the nasty barium swallow test today and laid there for two hours while they took periodic x-rays to check the progress. Unfortunately I still had contrast in my system even after last nights cleanout. So they have to clean my system out more (full gallon of prep this time) before the next time. The surgeon is worried about my gallbladder so she is doing an abdominal x-ray and a HITA scan. On Saturday, I have to do the barium swallow test again. Then on Sunday, I’m in for a colonoscopy.

Right now I think I’d take a week of maritime law with its ancient Supreme Court cases over this torture.

Pumpkinhead came up tonight to bring me a pretty duck-shaped vase with yellow roses. My mother brought iced tea which is on the approved liquids-only diet. Chapin brought my vitamins.

This hospital is extremely slow. One good thing about that is that I can start working on the Roundup and try to get it posted on Saturday night or Sunday, depending on how I feel

Still waiting. Had the EGD this morning and they found an abrasion where my esophagus meets my stomach, but don’t think that is the problem. They tried to do the small bowel follow-through test but found that I still had a ton of contrast in my system from Wednesday. So I’ve just finished a bottle of nasty laxative medication chased with a yummy sugar-free grape popsicle. I’ve developed an allergy to the tape and to the nameband material so I have a wicked rash on my left arm. They just came in to slather me in Benadryl cream, give me a morphine shot and drop off my nightly Cymbalta. The doctor says they will follow tomorrow’s test with an abdominal ultrasound to rule out gallstones. I’m hoping I’ll be discharged tomorrow night or Friday depending on what they find and that whatever it is won’t require a surgical remedy!

Pumpkinhead is getting a little more worried and missing me, but I’ve been calling regularly. Other than my family, I’ve only heard from one classmate but that was nice. I’m bored and lonely but keeping occupied with CNN, MSNBC and a good dose of Lifetime. Oh, and Bloglines!!

Thanks to all of you who prayed or sent positive energy my way. The good news is that the intussusception has unknotted itself for now. They tried some nasty-tasting drinks to help calm/soften the intestines and apparently it worked. However, the theory is that it might be forming/unforming (hence the pain last Wednesday that resolved and then returned again yesterday). They are concerned about a return and said that although surgery is not likely immediately, it may be in my future because these tend to recur. They can’t operate unless the intussusception is active and acute. So for now they are sending me for a barium swallow GI scan in the morning followed by an endoscopy to see if they can see anything that might help explain why this is happening. They also want me to have a colonoscopy, but that will have to be done at another time because I’m too nauseated to handle the one gallon of preparation for that procedure. Bleech.

I spoke to the Dean today and we agreed that I should take an incomplete for this class. The next class starts in July and hopefully I won’t need more time off than that. I’m so sick of being sick.

1. This post is totally going to blow any shred of anonymity remaining.
2. My readers are going to think I’m totally full of shit because no one’s life is this drama-filled.

Remember the pain I had last week? Yeah, not an ulcer. Pain waned a bit then returned with a force at 4 a.m. today. My PCP had never returned my call last week. I called today and described my symptoms and they directed me to go to the emergency room not passing go. I was thinking ulcer or gallbladder. Nope. Apparently I have one of the rare cases of adult intussusception. See

They took me from the ER (a satellite center not at a hospital) by ambulance to a large hospital and I am currently hooked up to an IV with cuffs squeezing each calf waiting for another CT scan. They tell me that they cannot perform the surgery laproscopically so I am looking forward to a fully open operation with all of the lovely recovery time that entails. Joy. That means, among other things, all the days off will be unpaid because my new job has a six-month waiting period on sick and vacation leave. Additionally, all the work I’ve put into my current class is in the crapper. If you miss more than three days, you are dropped. My Mom called and the Dean says I can take an incomplete and re-take it another semester, but what a disappointment.

Chapin brought me my laptop (thank God!) and some clothes. My priest came up to pray for me. Pumpkinhead is oblivious at home. My mother returns tomorrow to see if they are still planning to crack open my belly. On the plus side, I’m getting well hydrated from the IV and maybe I’ll lose some weight.

Sorry I haven’t been posting much. Pain, exams, the usual stuff. I have lots of fun and exciting things to post about Pumpkinhead, Mother’s Day, my new nanny , etc., but I’m in a ton of pain this week so it’ll have to wait.

The good news is that after months of weird side effects like calling my son’s head a hat or Jim, Joe or the table a piano (soooo impressive at work!), suffering from wild mood swings, breakthrough bleeding, and drinking gallons of water to ward off potential kidney stones from the Topamax, the neurologist has concluded that, indeed, I am too sensitive to this medication. He says that 100mg twice/day is a “child’s dose.” If that’s the case and I was practically manic at that dose, I’d hate to see what I’d look like at 200!

Anyway, I was concerned he’d put me on a TCA, which cause massive weight gain, but I’d forgotten about Cymbalta. It was one of the first medications I tried. My pain came back strong after 6 weeks on 30mg, but I didn’t want to go up to 60 because of the anti-Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow side effects (really, really ANTI). However, after almost a year of trying a bunch of other things, Chapin and I both agree that, as important as that is, I am NO FUN in pain and that needs to get resolved.

So… Doc told me to quit the Celexa cold turkey and start the Cymbalta. Taper the Topamax down over a week’s time. By this time next week, God willing, I should sound more like my old self. And, hopefully, some of my pain will be relieved. I also have an appointment tomorrow for accupuncture to see if that helps (thank you to those who suggested it). In addition, I’m considering a Myer’s Cocktail, but the first visit is $200 and each cocktail is $144!!! Could be very helpful, but !

P.S. I am still using the homeopathic remedies I mentioned, but at 1/2 capful per day, it is a sloooowwww process and, in the meantime, I’m hurting!

Called the neurologist today to discuss the fact that I can barely lift my arms to drive my car this week, much less lift my heavy textbook (that’s what I get for all the handwriting I’ve been doing in preparation for finals). He suggested raising the Topamax back to 100mg twice/day (i.e., crazy psychotic girl level). I said, “No thanks” and asked if he could recommend something topical to get me through exams because no way am I changing meds right now! Tried that last semester at exam time and look what happened. He said I could try Capsaicin cream (burns like you wouldn’t believe!), but that I should come in to see him ASAP to talk about alternative medications.

Right now I’m on Topamax for the pain (not working) and Celexa and Buspar for the depression and anxiety that the Topamax cause. Meds for the meds - yippee. Sound crazy, but I was literally weeping in my car and in front of Pumpkinhead so I had to get on something. So my current choices are the following:

1) Increase Topamax dosage and potentially lose my mind (I really went psycho/nuts at 100mg - ask anyone who knows me). Not to mention that I’m already sounding stupid/confused enough from this stuff (orally, not in writing, because it affects the speech part of my brain). I’m not sure how much more my ego can take! On the plus side, Topamax does cause weight loss which is a nice side effect. Also causes kidney stones…

2) Come off the Topamax and the Celexa/Buspar and switch to a Tri-Cyclic Antidepressant (all of which are apparently great for neuropathic pain but cause SEVERE WEIGHT GAIN — wouldn’t that be an ironic twist?!?!)

3) Go back to the Neurontin I was on in the fall, which requires me to take several horse pills three times each day. It also causes confusion and weight gain.

Yep, brought this on myself. Now what do I do? Bleech. Send some cooling arm vibes my way, will you? At least for this week so I can get through my exam? (P.S. I did try the cream, but it requires application four times a day for a week before it deadens the nerves sufficiently to get full relief. I’ll keep going but in the meantime it just feels like someone sliced my arm and rubbed the cut with Habanero slices.)

Even the Insured Feel the Strain of Health Costs
By REED ABELSON and MILT FREUDENHEIM
Published: May 4, 2008
For millions of people with employer health insurance, premiums and co-payments have increased quickly while coverage has become less extensive.

I’ve talked about this before and discussed, debated, screamed and shouted about the need for universal healthcare (or at least some other way to share the burden). People shouldn’t have to choose between working for a small company/nonprofit or going to a larger company that has better benefits. These days the larger corporate giants are the only ones who can afford to spread the risk among their employees so if you have any kinds of medical risks, you MUST go there or suffer the consequences. Even then, you are paying more than ever before. And God forbid you actually get sick and have to take time off…

And the line in this story about not taking the kid to the doctor because his fever is only 102? I think a lot of parents with busy jobs are really feeling that pressure. Especially with doctors’ hours only between 8:30 - 5. I’m just thankful for those new clinics inside the CVS! And we even changed pediatricians so that we had the option of a Saturday morning clinic until noon for urgent appointments. That’s not to say that Pumpkinhead’s health isn’t my #1 concern. If he’s sick, I take him. But if it’s just yet another ear infection, why can’t the doctor have one late night that they stay open until 8? How hard would that be? Maybe they then open at 11 the next day or something to make up the time? Not everyone stays home and employers are making it harder and harder to get away for these things.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I had a roux-en-y gastric bypass in 2001 and am now suffering the often unadvertised consequences (severe malnutrition [iron, B12, D, calcium, serum protein], peripheral neuropathy, etc.), along with nasty neurological side effects from the medication they are using to try to treat the neuropathy (which makes law school so much easier, I tell you!)

Fortunately this week everyone is writing my blog posts for me. MeltingMama, another young mother who had the same surgery four years ago and who is suffering similar malnutrition issues (except she also has hypoglycemia) has posted a really well-done post on why she would NOT have a roux-en-y gastric bypass again. I encourage those of you who read my blog to hear about the WLS stuff to view her whole post here. For those of you who just want to hear her story, view this:

My story is the same, complete with iron infusions, B12 shots, etc., except that I was 21 when I had the surgery and I had it because I grew up with a morbidly obese mother who couldn’t play with us much. I wanted to have healthy pregnancies and be able to run around with my kid. 100+ lbs down, I can do that somewhat. But when the neuropathic pain brings me to my knees, I typically just want to lay in bed with my law books and not do anything with my arms or legs. When I had the surgery, the doctor talked for maybe 2 minutes about vitamins and then moved on. He basically said, “Take a multivitamin and calcium and you’ll be fine.” I did. I wasn’t.

I agree with MeltingMama completely. I would not recommend Roux-en-Y to any healthy, vital, person. If the LapBand had been widely available in 2001, I would have done that. (Caveat: I do believe there is something age-related here. My mother, aunt, and I have all had Roux-en-Y and my mother and aunt aren’t having these problems. My mother had it a year before and my aunt had it two years later. I don’t know why they aren’t facing these issues, but I think there could be an age and/or hormone link since MeltingMama and I are both young women.)

Hopefully this info is helpful to someone out there.

WARNING: This is another one of my depressing health-related posts. Don’t read it if you’re sick of hearing me whine.

I am now going to do something completely against my nature and try a homeopathic treatment that my therapist has recommended. Basically it’s distilled water with “frequencies” injected in that work against the bad stuff your body’s aura shows are out of balance. But the stuff that my aura gave off without her even knowing about it is very telling and interesting and I suppose it’s worth a shot. At least it’s something that won’t take time (whereas accupuncture appointments or other things would). And it’s not too expensive.

The rational side of me says this is completely nutso. But I’ve read up on this and a lot of people seem to think that this “healing” comes to the healers through God so the faithful part of me wants to believe that if this therapist has been put in my life to suggest this to me, perhaps I should be open to trying it. Have any of you ever tried this? I really do want to have more children sometime in the future and I really want to get off these yucky meds. The past 9 months of pain from the micronutrient-deficiency-related neuropathy has really gotten to me. The pain is just not going away, even with the latest increase in Topamax dosage a few weeks back, and I’ve been trying all weekend to get my brain to concentrate on this appellate brief I’m trying to finish and I just can’t wrap my head around it. This has to stop, so I’m desperate. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome, from the WLS community or others.

Work continues to go very well. Lots of projects heating up and my business cards are on their way - yippee!!!

School is getting crazy busy as well. My new commute is actually faster even though I’m further away, which is just nuts. So far, so good. I’ve been very busy the past two weeks working on a large paper for one of my classes. I also need to get moving on practice tests for my other class so I have a shot at passing my main substantive class.

I did take time out last night for a rousing game of Chutes and Ladders with Pumpkinhead. Fortunately the ladder at #81 shot him to the top and he beat me in no time!

On a low note, my pain has not resolved with the additional medication. But I did hear back from my PCP and she said that she thinks she knows why. For those RNY readers who care about these detailed health updates, my Ferritin (serum iron) level has dropped from 8 last August to 4 now. My B12 is also in the basement despite weekly shots. Last time the Ferritin was that low, I had to undergo 10 weeks of IV iron infusions at the local cancer center. This time I really can’t afford to take time off work, plus my health insurance ends on Tuesday. Soooo…. Looks like we’re going to try upping the Ferrous Gluconate pill to twice daily with 1,000mg of chewable Vitamin C for a month until my health insurance kicks in May 1. I’m also going to try to add in a sublingual B12 and switch to twice-weekly B12 shots. Bleech. On the plus side, my Vitamin D levels have come up with the addition of the Dry D3.

As much pain as I’m in, I have kept to my resolve not to let anyone at work know. Thank God for an office with a door I can close and a boss who works on another floor! Fortunately I’m doing a lot of reading and reviewing documents right now (not a lot of writing) and I am also not having to run around much because my legs are killing me. I’m also working on meditation and “staying in the now”, as my psychologist says, so that I can stay positive and not dwell on the pain and feel like it will never go away or will keep returning (like it has every 6-8 weeks for the past 9 months). I am also considering seeing a naturopath and trying some different treatments.

Okay, off to study. We’re going to the zoo this afternoon. Chapin took the day off to hang out with us and have some family time so I told him I would spend a few hours on concentrated studying this morning and then we’d have a family day. Yay.