Here is a little video introducing me & my (infamous) band rules.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Happy about a yeast infection?
Say what?
I have chronic yeast infections on the skin of my lower abdomen and pubic area. Summer heat and sweat aggravate this, but I think the overhang of excess tissue there is the worst culprit, no matter what the season. About 10 months ago, my GYN prescribed Diflucan (a one-dose RX pill) and the rash disappeared within 3 days. A few months later, it was back. I've tried OTC creams (Clotrimazole), but they don't seem to help. Although the weather is very cold now (12 degrees, minus something with the wind chill factor - unheard of for this area) and I am never warm, the rash is back, with itching this time. So I went back to the doctor today - saw her partner since she had an emergency. He gave me another RX for Diflucan, with one refill (no more after that because of potential liver damage) and advice about how to manage the condition (use cornstarch on the skin and/or apply a panty liner to the affected area to absorb moisture).
I said, "One day I may want to have plastic surgery to remove the tissue overhanging my pubic area. My insurance might pay for a panniculectomy if I can provide medical documentation, including photos. Would you be willing to do that?"
He said, "Sure, if our camera is working."
Their camera was not working - they lost the USB cable. Replacing it would require a 2-minute drive to Wal-Mart, but they agreed to accept any photos I provide and upload them to my medical record. I was delighted! When I got home, I got out my camera and pulled down my pants and...oh no, the memory card was full. I had taken the Diflucan about 2 minutes after I left the pharmacy, and it was working already, so it was a race to empty the memory card, take some truly disgusting photos of the affected area (while lifting my belly upward) before the rash disappeared, and burn the images to a CD. Luckily, there were 3 usable images, 1 of them very good, the other 2 adequate.
I have to say, after looking at those photos, I just do not understand why that part of me appeals to my husband. I suspect that it isn't the look, but the feel of it, he likes. He's such a good guy - loved me fat, loves me not-so-fat.
I have chronic yeast infections on the skin of my lower abdomen and pubic area. Summer heat and sweat aggravate this, but I think the overhang of excess tissue there is the worst culprit, no matter what the season. About 10 months ago, my GYN prescribed Diflucan (a one-dose RX pill) and the rash disappeared within 3 days. A few months later, it was back. I've tried OTC creams (Clotrimazole), but they don't seem to help. Although the weather is very cold now (12 degrees, minus something with the wind chill factor - unheard of for this area) and I am never warm, the rash is back, with itching this time. So I went back to the doctor today - saw her partner since she had an emergency. He gave me another RX for Diflucan, with one refill (no more after that because of potential liver damage) and advice about how to manage the condition (use cornstarch on the skin and/or apply a panty liner to the affected area to absorb moisture).
I said, "One day I may want to have plastic surgery to remove the tissue overhanging my pubic area. My insurance might pay for a panniculectomy if I can provide medical documentation, including photos. Would you be willing to do that?"
He said, "Sure, if our camera is working."
Their camera was not working - they lost the USB cable. Replacing it would require a 2-minute drive to Wal-Mart, but they agreed to accept any photos I provide and upload them to my medical record. I was delighted! When I got home, I got out my camera and pulled down my pants and...oh no, the memory card was full. I had taken the Diflucan about 2 minutes after I left the pharmacy, and it was working already, so it was a race to empty the memory card, take some truly disgusting photos of the affected area (while lifting my belly upward) before the rash disappeared, and burn the images to a CD. Luckily, there were 3 usable images, 1 of them very good, the other 2 adequate.
I have to say, after looking at those photos, I just do not understand why that part of me appeals to my husband. I suspect that it isn't the look, but the feel of it, he likes. He's such a good guy - loved me fat, loves me not-so-fat.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Remembering Size 24
Last night at work I went into the stockroom to fetch some slippers (known in these parts as "house shoes") and was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of some women's spring pants on a rolling rack. They were sized on the rack - largest size on one end of the rack, smallest size on the other end. The largest size was facing me and it looked enormous. Since I was alone, I felt free to quote, out loud, a former coworker who was fond of saying, "Sweet suffering Jesus!" I went closer, exercising caution because those pants looked like they could smother me. They were a size 24. Then it hit me - I used to wear size 24 pants. And when I wore that size, I had no concept of how big I really was.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Bandster Fairy Godmother
It's official: I am your bandster fairy godmother.Bring your problems to me. If I can't reason them out, I will wave my magic wand over you and make it all better.
Please take a number and queue up to the right. No, not that right. Your other right.
Port Repair
As I think I mentioned before, my port has flipped over on its side and can only be accessed with the help of x-rays - at 3 times the cost, and about 30 times the inconvenience, of a fill in my surgeon's office. When this problem first began, I wouldn't have known it if it weren't for the fill difficulty. Now I can see a weird bulge on my abdomen where there was none before, and it can be uncomfortable when I do certain exercises.
So, now that my work schedule has eased up, I called my surgeon's office to tell them to go ahead and submit my port repair to BCBS. I also asked them a bunch of questions about the repair.
Here are the answers.
1. It's done under general anesthesia.
2. I have to do pre-op tests (blood, etc.) 3 weeks in advance.
3. I can go back to work immediately, depending on how I feel, as long as I don't take narcotic pain meds at the same time. (Dang! I had hoped they'd tell me to take a month off, preferably in the Caribbean with Lisa as my nurse)
4. The doctor will not do a fill at the same time as the port repair. I can only have fills when I'm awake and can swallow water. No, she won't do a fill and then put me to sleep.
I thought maybe the no-fill thing was because bringing me in for a fill at a later date brings in more income, but an obesityhelp pal told me that her restriction got tighter when she had her own port repair, so maybe the anesthesia or whatever affects the band.
Another question: nobody at my current workplace knows that I had WLS, and I don't care to share that with them. Not that I want to hide it, but when you get as far as long in your WLS journey as I have come, it's a unique pleasure to interact with people who have never known you when you were obese. And considering the hyperactivity of the gossip mill where I work, I do not want to add grist to the mill. So I decided that I would tell the store manager, and anyone else who persists, that I have a medical implant that needs repair. If they ask what the medical implant is, I will say, "My artificial brain."
So, now that my work schedule has eased up, I called my surgeon's office to tell them to go ahead and submit my port repair to BCBS. I also asked them a bunch of questions about the repair.
Here are the answers.
1. It's done under general anesthesia.
2. I have to do pre-op tests (blood, etc.) 3 weeks in advance.
3. I can go back to work immediately, depending on how I feel, as long as I don't take narcotic pain meds at the same time. (Dang! I had hoped they'd tell me to take a month off, preferably in the Caribbean with Lisa as my nurse)
4. The doctor will not do a fill at the same time as the port repair. I can only have fills when I'm awake and can swallow water. No, she won't do a fill and then put me to sleep.
I thought maybe the no-fill thing was because bringing me in for a fill at a later date brings in more income, but an obesityhelp pal told me that her restriction got tighter when she had her own port repair, so maybe the anesthesia or whatever affects the band.
Another question: nobody at my current workplace knows that I had WLS, and I don't care to share that with them. Not that I want to hide it, but when you get as far as long in your WLS journey as I have come, it's a unique pleasure to interact with people who have never known you when you were obese. And considering the hyperactivity of the gossip mill where I work, I do not want to add grist to the mill. So I decided that I would tell the store manager, and anyone else who persists, that I have a medical implant that needs repair. If they ask what the medical implant is, I will say, "My artificial brain."
Friday, November 27, 2009
Stress & the band
This is my mom and her best friend's granddaughter. A photo taken many years ago (the granddaughter is grown and married now).
Seeing Mom's smile is especially important to me tonight, because she passed away today.
Seeing Mom's smile is especially important to me tonight, because she passed away today.
It's probably been said before, but:
Stress can make your band tight.
Driving home from work tonight, I was so hungry I could have eaten my own arm.
My husband greeted me with the news that my mom (age 90) had passed away this morning.
Not really a surprise - I think she was ready to go - but later when I sat down to eat supper, two small bites of very mushy eggplant parmesan got stuck.
But no big deal. I have maybe 30-35 more years to eat eggplant parmesan. What matters is that when I saw Mom yesterday, I got her to eat two bites of chocolate cookie. Yeah, it was Thanksgiving, but she'd rather eat one bite of something chocolate than 10 lbs of pumpkin pie.
Stress can make your band tight.
Driving home from work tonight, I was so hungry I could have eaten my own arm.
My husband greeted me with the news that my mom (age 90) had passed away this morning.
Not really a surprise - I think she was ready to go - but later when I sat down to eat supper, two small bites of very mushy eggplant parmesan got stuck.
But no big deal. I have maybe 30-35 more years to eat eggplant parmesan. What matters is that when I saw Mom yesterday, I got her to eat two bites of chocolate cookie. Yeah, it was Thanksgiving, but she'd rather eat one bite of something chocolate than 10 lbs of pumpkin pie.
So, eat a bite of something chocolate tonight, and say, "This is for Betty."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tilted Port
So, here's the latest in the never-ending story of my tilted port.
On October 27th, I had my 3rd re-fill, done by my surgeon in the hospital radiology department because my port can no longer be accessed without visuals (x-rays). My port was fine for the first 18 months, but now it is tilted severely towards my right side. It could be the result of - um, indifferent surgical technique during my original surgery (I had to think for a minute there to come up with a non-libelous adjective), or a suture that failed due to dumb luck or exercise.
My surgeon was able to do the fill with only 2 sticks, but the whole thing was a huge chore - taking time off work, driving to Memphis (a 2-1/2 hour drive became 3-1/2 hours in the pouring rain), waiting 2-1/2 hours past my appointment time for my surgeon to finish surgery, driving home again. Dr. Weaver said we can go on doing fills in radiology, or we can fix my port - an easy, 15-minute procedure. I told her I want it fixed. I'm going to live with this band and its port for the rest of my life. I want it easily accessed. But there's no way I can find the time to have even a quick surgical procedure during the holiday shopping season, so I'm going to call Dr. Weaver's office in December to ask them to submit the repair to my insurance company for approval so I can have it done in January 2010.
In the meantime, this last fill is making a noticeable difference in my eating. It's taken 2 weeks to kick in (who knows why?), and I feel I could use another small fill to get back to optimal restriction, but I'm very happy to be hearing from my band again!
On October 27th, I had my 3rd re-fill, done by my surgeon in the hospital radiology department because my port can no longer be accessed without visuals (x-rays). My port was fine for the first 18 months, but now it is tilted severely towards my right side. It could be the result of - um, indifferent surgical technique during my original surgery (I had to think for a minute there to come up with a non-libelous adjective), or a suture that failed due to dumb luck or exercise.
My surgeon was able to do the fill with only 2 sticks, but the whole thing was a huge chore - taking time off work, driving to Memphis (a 2-1/2 hour drive became 3-1/2 hours in the pouring rain), waiting 2-1/2 hours past my appointment time for my surgeon to finish surgery, driving home again. Dr. Weaver said we can go on doing fills in radiology, or we can fix my port - an easy, 15-minute procedure. I told her I want it fixed. I'm going to live with this band and its port for the rest of my life. I want it easily accessed. But there's no way I can find the time to have even a quick surgical procedure during the holiday shopping season, so I'm going to call Dr. Weaver's office in December to ask them to submit the repair to my insurance company for approval so I can have it done in January 2010.
In the meantime, this last fill is making a noticeable difference in my eating. It's taken 2 weeks to kick in (who knows why?), and I feel I could use another small fill to get back to optimal restriction, but I'm very happy to be hearing from my band again!
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