Weekend Wrap-Up

WOW! It's been forever since I blogged (or at least it seems). I apologize for that....especially to my loyal followers! It has definitely been a hectic week, good and bad!

I finished up final exams on Wednesday this past week. Grades will be posted this Wednesday, the 16th. I don't have a very good feeling about it and don't know if it was even statistically possible to pass the class with a "C" average. I really don't want to have to take it again, but it is definitely looking that way :(

Work has been crazy, so I've been doing as much overtime as possible. I did work Saturday for 1/2 a day. I did manage to decorate my room! I am working on my Christmas cards and have plans on mailing in the next few days. Here is my little Christmas tree in my room:

My stomach is much better from the gallbladder surgery. It seems that all the fluid is gone, and the pain and soreness are much much better. I'm still adjusting to eating, and can only eat small proportions. I still have not gained any of my weight back and have actually lost another 2 pounds...but i have confidence it will come back eventually :)

I have had a pretty intense sinus infection and finally got some antibiotics for it this past Thursday. I ran a fever Friday night and felt pretty crappy, but have felt somewhat better this weekend. I missed out on my Christmas Sunday School Party Friday night, which i was pretty bummed about. But have had a few other fun things this weekend. Last night I attended a local concert put on by an alumni high school (very well known) men's chorus. They chose 2 charities that would benefit from their ticket sales. And CF was one of the charities picked due to certain relationships and connections with some of the members. They raised over $10,000 for EACH charity, which was AWESOME! And this particular Men's choir was the best I had ever heard. They were so nice and generous and glad they could support such a great cause.

We had a community CF Fundraiser Saturday a week ago (the 5th). It was an auction held at a local Starbucks. It was sort of a pre-fundraiser for our upcoming "Scrap for the Cure" event next Spring. We raised about $2600 from the auction, and Starbucks has a charity program where they are going to match that...AWESOME!!!

This upcoming week is busy with work, parties, and doctor's appointments. I have a transplant clinic appointment on Wednesday. I have a CFF luncheon on Thursday. I am supposed to have my surgery follow up appt on Tuesday, but are going to reschedule it. I can't miss that much time during work this week.

Last Sunday I went with a friend of mine to Sips N Strokes. Here is a picture of what I painted...it was pretty fun! I love attending these sessions...so much fun!

It's been very COLD and rainy (misty rain) pretty much all week. But tomorrow our high is supposed to be 69 degrees F...crazy Alabama weather! I hope all of you have had a great weekend. I think I am officially in the Christmas spirit!!!!

Ultrasound Report & More

Apparently the ultrasound I had on Thursday to check out the fluid in my abdomen turned out normal. The only thing they saw was pelvic fluid. I was told by my regular GI doctor that the pelvic fluid was normal, and just sympathetic womanly fluid. I may discuss that with my GYN though just to make sure. My GI surgery nurse coordinator was going to ask my surgeon if there was anything else she wanted to check out. This was Thursday, and she never called me back. So I guess not. It's a little frustrating, because my stomach is really big, bloated and pregnant looking and very uncomfortable/painful at times. I'm praying that maybe I just need a little more recovery time and that will get better. The more frustrating part is that I can only eat very little and only certain things. I haven't gained any of my weight back yet, which can be concerning and dangerous. I have to talk with my transplant coordinator again on Monday to see what they want to do about the liver lab values being too high.

I really don't want to have to schedule more appointments or go back to my regular GI doctor right now. (at least not before Christmas). So we'll see how this next week goes, i guess.

I worked 12 hours yesterday (Friday)...work is so slammed right now and I really need the extra/overtime hours. Our boss had approved a half of day (4 hrs) for everyone to work today (Sat) and really wanted everyone to come in. I had plans on it, but just couldn't get out of bed this morning. After the stressful week and pulling 3 all-nighters, my body was aching for some sleep. So I decided to just that. We also had a CF event going on today which I was helping out at. But with not feeling that great and with it being frigidly cold outside, I decided against that too. Tomorrow I have a few fun things planned and are hoping I feel good and energized for those. I have to fit some studying in as well for my final Anatomy lecture exam this coming Wednesday, although I'm not even sure if it's possible to pass the class now. I'm so upset and stressed with that!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I should have time not to keep up with blogging more frequently. I'm not sure how many of you follow Brandi's blog, but we have a dear CF friend of hours who recently was transplanted. She is having some complications including 40 lbs of fluid build-up, a severe aspergillus infection and induced pneumonia from the aspergillus. They put her back on the vent last night. So if you feel led, she could definitely use your prayers. Her name is Lauren and she is a sweet heart. She has no family or friends down here with her, and her mom is in end-stage cancer, and was just turned over to hospice yesterday!

Checking IN.....

I guess my plan for blogging more frequently just didn't happen last week nor is it going to happen this week! SORRY! Studying, work and my health is taking up my time!! I have 2 Anatomy finals tonight (one make up and my lab practical final). I'm not prepared and are so worried. I definitely need the prayers and miracles. I pulled an all nighter Monday night studying. Worked about 9 hours Tuesday, then attended a anatomy lab study session last night from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Came home, got some dinner and ended up crashing and falling asleep. NOT MY PLAN! I had planned on studying the entire night, or at least most of it. I took off work today, but didn't wake up until 10am. And i feel awful, like i've been run-overed by an 18 wheeler truck. Not sure why and hope I'm not sick! I'm finally getting a little more alert and energized, and will studying 24/7 until about 4:30 today. My anatomy lecture make up test is at 5:30 pm and my lab practical final exam is at 7:00 pm. I'm more worried about that than the lecture make-up! So if you read this today or tonight, I would greatly appreciate any prayers! I know that is not technically something to pray for, but hey, I'm on the verge of passing the class, and I'm going to ask for all I can!

My liver has decided to continue acting up post-surgery. The fluid in my abdomen has not decreased and is actually getting pretty painful and very uncomfortable. I had some lab work rechecked yesterday. Not sure if i mentioned this before or not, but I had to get some lab work done this past Friday due to lots of fluid accumulation. Some liver values were high, I was started on some lasix, and then was re-evaluated yesterday. The lasix really didn't work that much, and my lab values decided to go up a tad, to the point where the transplant team is a little concerned. I spoke to the GI surgery nurse coordinator yesterday. They have decided to do an ultrasound to make sure nothing serious is going on. So I have an ultrasound tomorrow morning. It seems like I can never get away or never get a break from all this health stuff. I have been eating better, but not that much, and really have not been able to gain any of the 8-10 pounds or so I lost. So I really need that to get better as well!

Well, that's all the time I have for blogging. I have a Christmas party to attend tomorrow night (Thursday) and a couple of things going on this weekend. I have my final/3rd Anatomy Lecture Exam next Wednesday, December 9th. I am so ready for all of this to be over with, but want a HAPPY ENDING!!!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Post surgery/thanksgiving Update

Thankfully, I was able to spend some time with family on Thanksgiving Day. Dinner (or rather lunch) was held at my cousin's house and we had a full crew! The food was good and I was able to enjoy a little bit of it. It was really the 1st solid food I had had in days. The pain is getting better, but still there. It is more soreness than anything and LOTS of swelling.

I had forgotten to mention previously that I have 4 incisions than the normal 2 incisions when done laproscopically because I had some fluid in my abdomen and they decided to go ahead and drain it off during surgery. They sent a sample of the fluid off just to make sure it was ok. All of the cultures came back negative. I think having the 4 incisions contributes to the additional pain.
My mom told me that when the surgeon went in there to remove my gallbladder, it had already collapsed. A lot of use the gallbladder was providing me ;)

I have a lot of fluid in my stomach and some other not-so-comfortable places. I was a little concerned, because none of my discharge papers from the surgery team mentioned anything about fluid or swelling. So I called my transplant coordinator. I had also been running a low-grade fever. So my coordinator wanted me to go up to the transplant unit and get labs drawn. I did that, waited for the results. Most everything was fine except for a few liver function levels were high. So they put me on some lasix...FUN STUFF and I have to get labs redrawn on Monday...so lovely! I'm glad I called though because it could have gotten worse. I haven't taken any lasix in 5 years since my transplant. It ought to be a fun night!!

I guess I better get to studying, as I am way behind. Finals are next week and I am on the verge of passing this anatomy class. I seriously need a MIRACLE for anatomy class right now. Not good!

HOME!

After a little bit of convincing to my transplant doctor, he released me to come home tonight. I got home about 7:00 pm. He wanted to keep me a few more days. But I told him that I thought I would recover better at home. And that I could find more foods to eat at home verses the hospital. So he was perfectly fine with that. He gave me a trial run to see if I could manage the pain with just oral narcotics and not IV pain meds. So far so good. I'm taking Lortabs and Percaset(spelling?)around the clock in addition to nausea meds. I've lost about 10 pounds...not good. The pain is getting better, but is still there and I am extremely sore. I'm just glad I am home.

I'm hoping to be able to spend some time with my family tomorrow for Thanksgiving. But honestly, don't know if i will feel like it or not. I will see how i feel in the morning.

I really expected to be feeling so much better and never expected the recovery to be this tough. Most everyone who had the surgery told me it was very minor pain.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I am thankful to be home and thankful to just be alive again to celebrate another year! May God Bless all of you!

Surgery Update

Sorry for just now posting an update. Briefly, here is a quick update: The surgery was successful and was able to be performed laproscopically. However, I am in a tremendous amount of pain and are taking pain meds around the clock. I have 4 small incisions and most of the pain is around this area. i also have pain in my shoulders, which I was told this is due to the air they put in your stomach during the surgery.

This amount of pain was totally unexpected and I hate it. I'm so uncomfortable. I haven't been able to eat, so I am on IV fluids continuously. The surgery team has released me, but the transplant team wants me to remain in the hospital until the pain is better and I am able to eat and gain some weight. I am very uncomfortable and very frustrated.

I'm praying tomorrow will be a new day, and I will feel tons better! I will try and post another update tomorrow. This is the 1st time I have felt like being on the computer. Thank you for your prayers!

Surgery SOON!

My surgery (to have my gallbladder removed) is Monday. I have to be in the admissions area at 6AM...EARLY!!! But hey, I'm all about EARLY as I want this done and over with NOW. This week has definitely been a struggling week: missing work, missing classes, including my final lab class before the final exam. The pain is unbearable, with some days not even being able to stand up and walk. On those days, I'm basically sleeping, taking pain meds constantly and using heating pads constantly. So, needless to say, i am SO SO ready for the surgery. I've also lost about 6-7 pounds (not good for my little petite body). I'm taking anti-nausea meds around the clock, and food just isn't getting along that great with my stomach. I did manage to work the last 2 days...trying to get in extra hours since I will be off work all of next week.

I will update Monday-hopefully-depending on how sleepy and drugged I am :) I will be admitted to the hospital right after surgery to our transplant ICU; as far as how long I will remain admitted is unsure of right now. Definitely until Tuesday; the estimate is Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with the family and get back into the normal day-to-day routines! It just all depends on how my body tolerates the surgery and recovery. Unfortunately, I have some sort of cold, and my wheezing is out of the roof...crazy and very annoying and making it hard to breathe. I'm hoping everything is just related to sinuses; but it does make me a tad bit nervous about Monday. My blood pressure has been sky-rocketing, which is unlike me. But my transplant coordinator feels it is due to the pain; (so that's my hope too). The pre-op nurse at my surgery consult appointment last week wasn't too pleased. But I assured her it was being taken care of.

Please pray that everything goes well with the surgery and recovery!!! This weekend I will be resting, running a few errands, building a lymph node for an anatomy extra credit project, and last but not least, studying for anatomy lecture and lab finals, which are the week after Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Scheduled

So today I scheduled my gallbladder surgery for November 23rd. I'm so anxious to get it over with...the pain is TOO MUCH! They aren't sure how much of the pain is related to the gallstone/gallbladder, but we won't know until it comes out. I'll be in the hospital for a little while, just because I'm post-transplant, but hopefully not too long. I may get admitted the day before as well, not sure yet. And thankfully, I will be on our transplant unit (they are supposed to reserve a bed).Hopefully this date/schedule will work out the best with my classes and work. We don't have class that Wednesday-the 25th (in which I have my anatomy lab class), so I won't have to miss any lab classes; hopefully just 1 lecture class. The following week starts final exams...lovely. I will be studying as much as possible while in the hospital (when I'm not drugged from pain meds).

The surgeon feels pretty sure she can do it laproscopically, but there is a chance she may have to convert to an open procedure due to alot of scar tissue I have and due to previous "stomach" surgeries. But I feel pretty confident it will all work out.

Apparently, I've had "gallstones" since December of last year. I had an ultrasound in December, and then again in January of this year, due to lung issues and other stomach symptoms. But everyone told me the ultrasounds were fine (including an ER doctor, transplant surgeon, GI doctor). The chief resident had the reports from those tests today, which he said showed gallstones. I was pretty ticked off about that. Not too happy. I spent a day in January in the ER throwing up bile from the gallbladder, fever, and in lots of pain. It's apparent now that it was probably a gallstone attack. Glad nobody figured that out, until now that is :)

Oh well...I just finished my inhaled TOBI and are off to bed before work tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to post more stuff this week, but I wanted to do a quick update on the surgery. Thank you to those who commented on the previous post regarding gallbladder surgery experiences.

Pain

I'm in so much pain, it's insane. I want to scream!!!!!! We are not sure how much of it is due to the gallstone or not? And unfortunately, my doctor yesterday didn't know anything else to do other than wait til after the surgery. I'm going to try to get back into an orthopedic afterwards as well.

My clinic appt was so-so. PFT percentages are about the same. My mid-flow is way down..down to 0.15 (almost non-existent)..ykes. My BP was really high and my oxygen sats were really low at 91%. Ever since my transplant they have been at 99 or 100. With this last hospitalization for pneumonia and inflammation in May/June, I had a lot of trouble with my sats. They were dropping at night below 90% and during the day were hanging around 90-93%. They have been low each time I've been to clinic since then but nobody has really said anything. Today I brought that up because I'm concerned. If you have an o2 sat of 90%, that could definitely be causing some of my shortness of breath. So my doc told me to come by the clinic each day to get it checked..yea, right, like I'm going to drive 25 minutes every day to do that. We have our own monitor but it needs a new probe and battery. So I'll just go that route!

My weight is down..i think the gallbladder has caused me to lose my appetite.

I feel good about my anatomy test last night...yay (or at least i hope)! Having a bad day today...had to stay home from work. Been sleeping all day, in tons of pain, headache, etc. My doctor "asked" me yesterday if I wanted an antibiotic? I'm thinking, that's not my decision, you tell me. But I told him I wasn't sure if the fevers were due to gallbladder, pain, or infection. So I am going to continue on my TOBI and see what happens!!! PLEASE PRAY for relief of pain...it's bringing me to tears and I hate taking all these medicines for it.

I will update soon, but haven't felt like blogging too much. I'm praying for all of you that are sick, in the hospital, or just need a little prayer uplifting! Have a great rest of the week!

Gallstones, really?????

So...here are the results from my GI tests I had done last week. Very surprising....and totally unexpected. The tests were ordered to check out the fluid around my liver to make sure it was not anything bad. I had the tests (ultrasound and Doppler of abdomen and associated organs) at our Children's hospital which was kind of nice. The technician I had actually performed some tests on me back in 2003, and he remembered me. We had some great conversations and he was the nicest person. It was kind of nice being in a "children's setting" again.

Evidently, the fluid is fine. Some of it is pelvic fluid, and is apparently just there because I'm a female. And some of the other abdominal fluid is "sympathetic" fluid and supposedly a lot of CFers have some. So no worries in the fluid department. Now, for the shocking news: I have a BIG (4.22mm to be exact) gallstone (and possibly more that are just unseen). The ultrasound made this evident, but it it is believed that it has been there for sometime because ultrasounds don't always show gallstones. Unfortunately, the stone is too big too pass. I am having surgery to remove it (and the gallbladder from my understanding) the 2nd week in December right after semester exams. My GI doc feels like it can wait til then and really wanted me to be able to finish up the school semester. I'm with him on that decision!!! I have a consult with a surgeon at UAB who will be performing the surgery probably sometime this month. My GI doc can't do the surgery, because he only has admitting privileges at the Children's hospital. In addition, because of transplant, I have to have it at UAB. I will be on transplant services, and the surgeon will just consult everyday. From what I've read and been told, the surgery isn't too big of a deal, but I will be in the hospital for a little while. I think I will feel so much better.

As I researched more on gallstones, it sounded like I've been having gallbladder trouble for awhile. Back in January I spent a whole day in the ER throwing up bile (TMI sorry) and I had several tests indicating my gallbladder was not emptying properly. It was a "bad" winter/early spring in the stomach department. But for some reason it took until NOW to figure that out. I've had multiple ultrasounds, but without contrast. And without contrast, it is difficult to see gallstones. Having gallstones can also cause fevers and mild to severe back pain. And most of us are attributing some of my severe (putting me to tears) back pain to this gallstone. So I'm ready for that to go away. My weekends and whatever time I have free, I'm usually laying down with heat on my back, and taking Ultram, Lortabs, Aleve, muscle relaxers, Tylenol, etc. I'm so tired of being in pain. The pain may not all be related to the gallbladder, but I am definitely interested to see how much of it is. I hate that I have to have the surgery. At least it won't interfere with school, but it means taking at least 1 week off work, during our busiest time of the year. But oh well, you got to do what you got to do, right?

So that is basically the gist of the results. My liver is enlarged a little due to the gallstone. I have "ascitis" of the liver. So that should go away after the gallbladder is history. I also started on Actigall to help remove other small stones and "sand" which apparently my GI doc thinks I have as well. It will also help to prevent future gallstones. I looked up ways to prevent gallstones at home, and there really isn't much you can do. It did say to make sure you eat, that starving yourself isn't good. Not that I starve myself, but I do have days when I feel sick or times when I'm in the hospital that i will go for a good while not eating or eating very minimal. It also said to avoid foods that are very high in fats. I do a pretty good job of that already. So we'll see!!!

Have any of you had your gallbladder removed? I know it is common among CFers. I would love any feedback, suggestions, etc. The surgery is laproscopic, but I haven't had any surgery, per se, in about 3 years...so a little nervous. I'm also a little worried about the whole putting to sleep thing since my lung functions are not good. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about!