Ok...lots of doctor related news. I saw my internist on Wednesday. I don't have bronchitis...yet...but I do have a sinus infection, and my lungs aren't terribly happy, so Keflex it is. Andy (my cool country jeans-and-tshirts-and-hugs doctor) isn't pleased with the amount of pelvic pain I'm having, in that it could affect my overall chronic pain conditions, so I'm supposed to make use of my pain meds more often than I am. I tend to try NOT to take them, but he and my gyn disagree with that philosophy. Ok...
Otherwise, Andy is concerned about my weight, nutrition and anemia, but overall, I'm doing fairly ok. He sent me for a bazillion blood workups, including my regular A1C diabetes check stuff and metabolic panels, to see how everything is working after surgery and after losing all this weight. I'm also having a bit of an anxiety problem again, thanks to the impending radiation and general state of the universe, so we're going to address that with some mild anti-anxiety meds too.
And then, I went to the gynecologist yesterday and there is good news to report! The ugly dehiscence (aka HOLE) in my vaginal cuff seems to have healed. Let us all rejoice! I really didn't like having a big hole opening into my insides. Depending on how things progress between now and my visit to the oncologist on the 24th it is likely that I'll be ready to start radiation.
My very, very nice gynecologist was nice enough to do a vaginal probe ultrasound and measure the thickness of the healing cuff so that he can send a report down to the oncologist, because if the healed part isn't thick enough, the radiation could hurt things. Right now, I've got thicknesses ranging from almost a full centimeter down to 6mm (I think) at the point where the hole was.
I'm not sure where the cutoff point is for radiation, how thick is thick enough, but I'm quite sure the oncologist knows and will fill me in.
Otherwise, the very, very nice gynecologist is concerned about (drumroll...........I give you ONE guess...........) my weight, anemia, and overall nutrition. He gave me a big bag-full of iron goodies that are supposed to not cause major bowel problems, and a talk about eating well and taking good care in the face of radiation and the ugly side effects it will bring.
However, I'm fighting an uphill battle there. Half the time, the thought of food makes me ill. The rest of the time, it rotates randomly between eating making me throw up, not being able to get any food in me in the first place or having diarrhea.
I try and eat lots of protein-heavy food, even if it's horribly bad for me, like crab dipped in butter, but sometimes I just can't get anything to stay in. I deny myself nothing except for sugary things that would spike my diabetes, so it's not like I'm dieting! Cheese is my friend!
I do the best I can, and then have things happen like yesterday--I got some very yummy chicken salad from a wonderful grocery store, enjoyed it very much, and mid-afternoon got hit with either food poisoning or some sort of reaction (sulfites?) and was sent straight to bed,where I still am with nasty stomach cramps. I managed to eat some toast late last night and a little bit of rice krispies and triscuit crackers today, but I still feel like hell, and my system is very, very unhappy. My blood sugar just crashed, AFTER eating the nice whole grain complex carb triscuits.
And people wonder why I have major nutrition problems, anemia and my weight is too low...
At this point, "upright" is enough for me...
2 comments:
If you think your doctors aren't pleased with weight loss, anemia and all the rest, that is nothing compared to your mother's displeasure.
First, call Andy and have him write a prescription for Natatab prenatal vitamins. Generic and about twice as strong as anything you can get over the counter. You need the vitamins until your stomach settles down and decides to be nice to you.
Second, boring or not, bland and high calorie food is your friend. And really it doesn't have to be that bland, just packed with calories. Oatmeal, cream of wheat, broccoli and cheese cream soup, pasta of all kinds, preferably drenched in white sauce, lots of rice with veggies, lots and lots of smoothies with yogurt--anything that will cram calories into your body. Biscuits! Waffles and pancakes smothered in all fruit, sugar free jam!
The crab and the butter, while it sounds good in theory, is probably too hard on your system right now. Same with the chicken salad. Your body is still recovering from major trauma and one infection after the other. And just stop and consider how much medication you're cramming in your mouth every day. The pain pills alone will make you nauseous. All of it together is bound to make your body unhappy.
The crew can eat what they always eat. You need to feed you differently for the duration.
Love you
Mom
Prenatals can make you pukey too - all that iron makes you pukey, but you need the iron... Do you like beans? Lentils? They are high in protein. Anything dipped in lots of butter makes most people feel yucky. I cannot remember what I ate when I was on my diabetic prenatal diet - but that sounds about what you need! I hated it so much that I have erased it from my mind - the docs had the nerve to take away my Super Sugar Crisp, Honeycomb and Frosted Flakes. Rat bastards! Oh wait - this isn't about me is it?
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