Dispensing with the obligatory six months post op update:
I finally made an appointment with my surgeon and saw her on the 2nd of February. I only had one complaint, that being a weird sensation on my left side right inside the bottom of my rib cage. Lately, about 15-30 minutes after I eat, I'll get the sensation of food passing through something there. Sometimes I just feel or hear it, other times it's quite painful. My main concern is that nothing should be there. I've been really paranoid about my intestines just kinda floating around in my body cavity, but the doc previously said that won't happen so now I'm just wondering what it could be. She offered to try to get an xray after i eat but since it happens to quickly and I didn't feel like getting an x ray, we let it slide for now. She didn't seem that concerned and since it hasn't really been happening anymore, then neither am I. (Ha! Of course it started happening now, as I write this. Typical!)
The other thing is that I thought she would get mad at my weight loss. It's said that after a total gastrectomy, a person will loose 25-30% of their body weight. Lucky for me, I'd been carrying an extra 50 or so pounds around since the birth of my son. See, I guess I just instinctively knew I would need it at some point so I held on to it. (Kinda like those stacks of plastic Miller Lite Halloween cups and nice-sized sturdy boxes in the basement, right? Oh wait, no, that's different!). I had the weight to lose, I even have some still in reserve, so I'm not finding a problem with it.
But I hadn't gotten on the scale for a month or two and then one day in late January, I got on it and it showed me almost 30 pounds lighter than I had been in the fall. I thought it was somewhat drastic but probable as well. But then the next day when I got on, the first time it had me ANOTHER nine pounds lighter. Yeah, from just the day before. Realizing this was an error, I got on again, + 7 lbs. Again, - 5 lbs. Obviously, my scale is busted. So when I went into the doctor I really had no idea how much I weighed.
Now, previously, when being weighed at the doctor I would take off my shoes, maybe my socks too, empty the change in my pockets, then ask the nurse how much makeup weighs and could she deduct some from the total cause I'm wearing a lot of eye shadow today. This time I got on that thing wearing my 5 pound winter boots after slipping my keys in my pants pocket and glancing around the room for any heavy objects I could hide in my hands. Anyway it read more than I thought it would, so weight loss wouldn't be an issue.
Now it's been tradition in my family for someone to have a gastrectomy, due to a positive CDH1 mutation or stomach cancer diagnosis, every fall since 2006. I went with a summer surgery because thought it would be nice to spend 10 days in an air conditioned hospital. Well, I have a sister who is totally breaking that tradition and having it done way early. After all, this isn't the kind of thing that should be put off. So next Wednesday I'll be at the hospital for a gastrectomy again. Only this time I'm not the patient. I'll be the advocate and the supporter. I look forward to apologizing to the nursing staff and educating a new rotation of med students. Anyone out there with prayers, positive vibes and healing thoughts left over after my surgery can send them down to 10th & Chestnut in Philly on February 16th. Thanks!
