Updatery

So my gyn said that he was at a loss. He said that the ultrasound was clear, but that my white count was elevated. He said to call my PCP, because he doesn't think its anything on the gyn end of things, but to keep him posted.
I called my PCP, and was supposed to go in to give a urine specimen on Saturday, but didn't realize that they closed at 11:30am, so I didn't get to. (This was to test for resistance to Cipro.)

Saturday and Sunday I woke up with pain in my surgical eye worse than it had been. On Saturday it got better (sort of) after a while, so on Sunday I tried to ignore the pain, and went to an audition. I went right from the audition to the ER at the place I had my surgery.
The (seemingly new, young) doctor applied fluroscein to my eyes, not realizing I am allergic to it (even though we went over my allergies twice..) and I had a reaction. I was treated with Benedryl and am fine, but they wouldn't let me leave on my own, so I had to call for a ride. (Oh, and the diagnosis was that I scratched my cornea. I guess not having an ointment to apply makes the eye dry out at night and it tore just from opening my eye.) Erythromycin(sp?) ointment was prescribed, as well as instructions to see the retina doc in 2 weeks, and continue the tapering of the Tobramycin(sp?).

Today, I had an appointment in the hematology/oncology department.
My white count is still up (finished with the cipro).
Something is "off" with my liver, which made the doc order an ultrasound of my kidneys, liver, and spline, which will be done in a couple of weeks. I might need an MRI or a biopsy.
I don't have leukemia, or any of teh major blood disorders that they tested for, so that's good...

I went over to the PCP's for the urine test, and then left and was wandering around, looked at books in town, got a coffee, wandered some more, and was about to head to my rehearsal when I collapsed. I was taken via ambulance to the hospital. EKG good, bloodsugar great, they did a pelvic exam since I still have the pain in the lower left quadrant. They gave me IV fluids for dehydration, and discharged me.

While I was waiting for the bus, a drunk guy came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the bus shelter and then fell on my feet. I think I jumped out of my skin. He got up, so I moved away and didn't do anything, since he was conscious and moving around and all.

Now I am home, exhausted, and hoping to catch up on some sleep during the day on Wednesday. I may try sleeping without the patch tonight. I haven't decided yet.

Sooo....

When my gyn's secretary called this morning, she said she had a cancelation for 1pm and to definitely come in. I got a ride over, gave the gyn the rundown of Monday night and he was mad as hell. He tried to get the ER doc on the phone right then and there. He sent me for bloodwork immediately, and said to come back after. I did and he said to go to my post-op for my eye (I had a 2:30 appointment at a different hospital for that) and come back as soon as humanly possiblewith a very full bladder for an emergency ultrasound.

My post-op, I arrived at 2 and got seen at around 3:30 then raced back to the other hospital hoping not to explode. Tests were done, and I was told to leave, but to call my doc 1st thing in the morning without fail. I am nervous as all get out.

On the plus side, I made it to my rehearsal, which was a much needed break from reality, and much welcomed interaction with other humans.

The vision in my left eye, without my glasses, while still blurry and kind of fisheyelenslike, has gone from 20/400 to 20/40...so that is good. I still have to not bend, and keep the eye protected (shield) but we have progress.

Progress is good.

70 posts later...

I am still sick. I still have no answers. I spent 8 hours in the emergency department last night because all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I got a sharp, stabbing pain in my lower left abdomen. It brought tears to my eyes, so instead of going to the rehearsal I was looking forward to, I went to the hospital.
I am placing this entry via phone, so I won't get into details, but I was discharged, basically sight unseen, with antibiotics and a pill to relieve symptoms of a UTI. I am still in a lot of pain. I have a call in to my gyn, because I think this needs to be addressed by someone in that field, just to be safe.

Also, for the past week, since my surgery, I have spent about 85% of my time away from my home, and I have been slightly healthier in general, and the swelling has gone down some. I really need to look into finding out how to find out if I am allergic to my home. I have never dealt with something like this before. I also wasn't sick like this until I moved to my current residence.

It's been a long week.

Thursday, I had my pre-surgery testing and physical and then I had the Avastin injection. That was NOT fun. I have had them before, but my left eye has been SO bad lately, it just hurt so much. I asked for Tylenol before I left.
I got an "air bubble" when I stood up, which I guess is fairly common, but no less annoying than you'd think. It basically looked like I had a black spot half the size of my eye.. in my eye, whether it was opened or closed. It seems to have finally broken up a little... just in time for them to slice it open on Tuesday. Ugh.
On Friday, I was up at 4:30am to go to a very early morning radio thing that I won my way into. After that, I came home, ordered a birthday present for a friend of mine, and did some work around the house and crashed for a while before heading to my birthday non-party thingy. Got to see a few friends I haven't seen in ages. That was fun. I do have to be careful with fruity drinks though. It is much harder to keep track when you can't taste the alcohol and you aren't paying. Ha! I had a good night though.
Saturday, I had rehearsal in the afternoon and then went to a house concert at a friend's place. It was amazing, and I think I left somewhere around 1:30am.
It is after 8am now, and I haven't slept... and some friends are picking me up on about an hour to go to some thing out of state.
Not really sure what to expect, but I am just trying to get as much fun/socialization in as possible before the surgery.

Tomorrow is going to suck.

I have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to go to the hospital for pre-surgery-surgery.
I have to have a physical, then some testing (2 kinds) then an injection in my eye, then meet with the secretary, then go to ANOTHER hospital to see the diabetes nurse and the dietitian. Ugh.
Tuesday is the "real" surgery, and I am pretty scared.
Here's hoping I can get this place cleaned up and then have some fun before I become incapacitated again.

I have to update this thing WAY too often.

I think I might have permanent scars because my kitties like to sit on my lap while I write, which I seem to do a lot. Eh, they mean well.
So as I said before, I met with the bariatric surgeon, and he was... not my kind of doctor, shall we say? The VERY first thing I said to him was "I am not saying I am not fat. I know I am, but I have an excessive amount of fluid that showed up very quickly out of nowhere and I am not convinced that a fat-loss surgery can help, so I need to know why this is a viable option." He went on and on about how the forms that I filled out at the info session prove that I am not a good candidate. Why? Because I spoke my mind in answering their stupid, non-specific-enough questions.
Examples:
Did/do you have overweight parents? Yes, but they weren't born that way and they aren't the ones being referred over for major surgery. This is MY life, thanks.

Please check the diets and meds on this list you have tried (followed by a list of fad-diets and drugs that have been either recalled or banned) None. I have never taken a weight loss pill or used a fad-diet. I watch what I eat, and I think the fact that I lost 155lbs and kept it off for 2 years and was continuing to lose until this fluid thing happened, proves that I did the right thing.

So yeah, stuff like that. The surgeon kept going back to me being "on the high end of morbidly obese" due to my high BMI, and I kept telling him that the BMI is bullshit because it IS NOT ALL FAT. So he asked if I had a psychiatrist, I said no, but that I had been seeking counseling on a longer-term after I just finished short-term counseling at the (semi) local rape crisis center and that I'd gladly take under advisement anyone he could suggest. To this he said "That's not my job, but I can't help you until you come to terms with the fact that you are simply morbidly obese." He told me to go back to the nutritionist that sent me to him in the first place (mentioned in previous posts) and that he would put me on drugs.
Right.
Because that will totally fix everything.
Do you know I see about a million commercials daily for new drugs being recalled, killing people, etc etc? Do you know how many of those I have been put on? It is pretty scary.
Anyway, I do what I can and am VERY active when my body lets me be.
I just finished a 4-week beginner's swing class on Wednesday. On Thursday, I am pretty sure we can count my commute as exercise, since I was wandering around blindly to find the entrance to the train station, and then I was forced to wait for half an hour for the bus in torrential downpours with no jacket and no umbrella in a rather heavy, long dress and then walk a half a mile... I think carrying that extra weight added to my workout....
Friday (yesterday) I went to a city dance party. My friend and I started it up. It was supposed to start at X time, and theer was music, but no people, so we said "screw it" and got in the middle of the street and started dancing and yelling for others to join in. 3 hours straight of non-stop dancing, then a quick bite, then I walked from the store to my friend's house, which I didn't realize was about 2 miles... then stairs... then more dancing.
Normally I wouldn't put that stuff here, but I think that it needs to be documented that I AM an active person. I am sick of these quackpot doctors blaming laziness for my weight.
I walked 6-7 miles the day I turned into a human water balloon.
I have no idea what my cholesterol is like right now. I haven't been able to afford the fish oil capsules. Insurance won't cover natural products. They will only cover the DRUGS, which almost killed me. Wonderful.

Moving right along...
I met with the retina fellow last Friday and he said he thought it was time for a vitrectomy and to follow up with my retina doc soon. I did that on... Wednesday, and he agreed. Not only that, but he said that at the same time as the vitrectomy, he would remove my cataract on the left eye, and put in an implant. Kind of scary... I went for a test in which I had to lay down, have my eyes propped open, water poured on them and left there, and then lights shined through the water. It was rather uncomfortable.
I have to go in for an Avastin injection next week, and pre-op stuff, and then the following week with me my surgery. Man, do I wish I had decent pillows and/or a comfortable couch.

Anyway, I have typed about as much as I can for now. I think that sort of sums up things as they are now.

I should post something...

I am very overwhelmed.
Right now, my head and ears are killing me and I am dizzy upon returning from a concert at which I was seated in the balcony. I honestly wonder if that has something to do with it. I was dizzy the moment I looked down, and almost fell twice on the stairs.

Anyway, I went to the "info session" for gastric bypass and then I went to see the surgeon a week later and he basically said that I am just a morbidly obese crazy person.

He didn't use those exact words, but pretty damn close. I will write more when I can.

I also had an appointment with the retina fellow on Friday. He thinks the vitrectomy may have to happen soon. I am assuming I will hear from MY retina doc's office later on today to schedule a follow-up so he can make that determination.