Endo appt

Just a quick update for all my fans... ;-)

I saw my endocrinologist on Tuesday. The last time I saw him, I was considering the TP-IAT. He asked how I was and I said, "Here I am, post pancreatectomy!" He said, "How much did they take?" I said, "All of it!" He said, "No, your pancreas. How much did they take?" I said, "All of it!" He said, "Wow!" Ha! He said that I looked great and that I was managing my blood sugars amazingly well. He read through all the info that I brought from MN (a letter from the MN team describing what I had, and what they recommend for follow-up). He was wonderful and willing to do whatever is needed to accommodate the MN team. It was such a huge weight off my shoulders to know that he is willing to work with my MN team. So, I go back on May 17 for my 3 month post-op tests (bloodwork and a glucose tolerance test). I can't believe it's been 3 months! In some ways, it seems like forever ago and that panky pain is fading into the distance. On the other hand, I am still facing the daily battles of recovery and it feels like I am never going to be "normal" again.

Yesterday, I was driven around by a new friend, Suzy. Lew met her through Bill and Lisa, but I had never met her before. Yet she was willing to drive me to dr appts and run my errands while I was at the dr. Then she came back a few hours later to take Kyle to karate. The generosity of people just continues to amaze me. I am so blessed.

Overall, I am doing very well. I'm still very tired, but I've been able to run some brief errands or make dinner for the family. Yesterday I made a very yummy pork tenderloin in a root beer marinade that I got out of my diabetes cookbook. The whole family devoured it! Today is tougher - I haven't been able to get out of bed all day. All my joints fill up with fluid and it's horribly painful. I think this is a common issue after surgery, yet the drs don't really know what to do about it. If anyone out there reading this has found anything that works, please let me know! I'm using Lasix as a diuretic and my regular morphine for pain. Anyone?

Fortunately, I have more good days than bad, and usually my bad days come after over-doing it on a good day. What's frustrating is that a "good" day means going to the doctor, stopping at Target for a vacuum belt, and making dinner for my family. Just that will render me bedridden the next day. It's frustrating, but I'm learning to be patient. Sadly, I'm a slow learner. We're having some friends over on Friday evening, so I'll take it easy tomorrow, so Friday should be fun! I think Lew was a little shocked that I said yes when he suggested it. We haven't had people over in a long, long time. So, I'm taking baby steps, and just have to keep reminding myself where I was 6 months ago.

OK, OK, that's all. I always think that these posts will be short and sweet, but I end up rambling on. This post has taken me all day to write. So now I am off to bed - night night!