I'm still here!

OK OK, I get the hint - time to update. But I still love talking to you all, so it's OK to call with reminders!

Not a whole lot going on here. I'm still having pain in my left side that nobody can figure out. My bloodwork comes back mostly normal, except for one reading that indicates a "non-specific inflammation". Which means they don't know WHAT is inflamed. I spoke with Dr. Dunn over the phone for about half an hour on Wed. (What doctor calls you at home and talks to you for 30 minutes to try to figure out what's going on? LOVE her!) After a discussion of my symptoms, she decided to put me on erythmorycin. It's an antibiotic, so it should clear up any bacteria in there, but also functions as a motility drug in case that's my problem. (Motility means how quickly food moves through my digestive system. Both infection and motility problems are common complications after this surgery.) We'll talk next week to determine how that's working out, and what to do next. She said that the 3-6 mo recovery period is the hardest, which made me feel a little better. During the surgery, they basically gut you, so there's a lot of extra room in your abdomen. Not only are your organs still healing from the trauma, but they tend to shift around with all that extra space. Makes sense now that I hear it.

I also saw the pain doctor this week, and he changed my pain meds around a bit. It seems to be helping with the pain, but I'm more nauseous now. My nausea medicine makes me really drowsy, so I'm napping a lot. It usually takes a couple days for me to adjust, so I should be better by tomorrow.

The kids are gone for the summer with their dad in Tx, so it's pretty quiet around the house. (Hi my babies - I know you read this! I love you and I miss you!) I have to take up some sort of hobby that doesn't require much focus, attention, or physical exertion. Any ideas? Reading is out because I fall asleep within a minute, and knitting or anything with needles probably isn't a good idea. I guess now those underwater basketweaving classes I took in college will come in handy! ;-)

Update for June 14

Hi, its Cami here! In case you didn't know, I'm Megan's 11 year old daughter. My mom has been a little sick lately, but still can get up and move around for a half of a hour. But, its all part of the healing process. She has some good days and some bad days, sometimes its so bad she can't even get out of bed. This morning (June 14th) carpenters and window washers came in and they have been here since 7:00 and still here at 11:00. My mom did feel well enough to get up, tour them around the house, and decide what to clean, and what not to clean. Since then she has been in bed and she now feels nauseous and sick to her stomach. Again, part of the healing process, she gets up and around, then just to walk around our house a couple times tires her. And did I mention, my aunt has pancreatitis too, and she isn't even related to my mom. She's on my dads side of the family.

While all the chaos was going on, my poor dog (Snoop) didn't know what to do. He had to stay in one place the whole time and was so sad that he couldn't just lay on his dog bed in mom's room. And that reminds me, just a couple days ago our black dog (Jaylo) died. She got out at like midnight and wandered around the streets. All of a sudden she was hit by a car, but we don't know who by. She came home and woke us up. She stayed in the vet for about a week and we got the news at breakfast on Sunday. Well, that's all for now. I'll try to have my mom update more. And, a special thanks to everyone who has helped my mom get through this surgery, especially Lew and Bama. We love you!

Memorial Weekend

We've spent this past week in San Diego. It's been wonderful. I've actually felt better this week than I have since before my surgery. The Lasix has helped to get rid of some of my edema - I don't have an ankle muffin-top when I put on my sneakers anymore! :-) Today specifically hasn't been so great, but I'm trying to start looking at things on more than a day by day basis.

The family is all out paddle boarding right now. It looked fun, but I'm learning to be more realistic. I'm not strong enough yet to do something like that. I would probably get out into the ocean and then be too tired to get back. Heck, I've got about a 1 hour limit of sitting on the beach before I need a nap! But at least I can sit on the beach now - baby steps... Anyone considering this surgery should know, obviously everyone is different and each recovery is different. For me, I'm happy to be able to sit on a beach 3 1/2 months out from surgery. However, if I hadn't had the surgery, my ashes would probably be sprinkled on the beach right now. Dr. Dunn definitely saved my life, with lots of help from my family and friends.

We found this baby pineapple at the grocery store. It did not yield very much edible fruit (about as much as could be expected from a baby pineapple), but it did contribute to much entertainment for small children. And I'm counting my blessings that I can see my kids get silly with a tiny pineapple!