Monday brought another day at work, which is not all bad. My coffee again nauseated me – why oh why did I have to lose my love for coffee? I did manage to choke down enough cups to get 5/6 of my protein down, but it really was unpleasant. I tried missing the protein with Powerade Zero – and that was not going to work either. Oh well, hopefully this change in my palate will not be a permanent thing.
I went to see my surgeon for my 6-week Post-op visit this afternoon. Dr. Richard had been briefed by Dr. Proctor Jr. after my episode at the emergency room on Friday (after thanksgiving) and we had a nice long talk. He said that he was pleased with the results of Friday’s tests and he would not have done anything differently if he had been on-call there. He said that he was concerned with my nausea, and was going to recommend that I start taking Protonix daily to combat an acid situation that most likely exists and is affecting my stomach, gut, taste, and such. He said that in some cases where there might be a bowel obstruction, sometimes the obstruction causes “things” (I’m trying to be sensitive to readers with delicate stomachs) to back up – even into the “old stomach”. But the CT scan showed none of that. He said that occasionally the bowel will act like an accordion and compress and expand as a result of an obstruction, but again there was no evidence of that. He said that my upper bowel was “distended”, but that he believed that was a result of the trauma that my nausea dealt to my stomach pouch and such, and should settle down. He saw no evidence of a blockage or any feces impacted along the lower bowel – in short, everything looked fine. His remaining concern was the possibility that my large stomach (the old one) and my new pouch might be overproducing stomach acid – and that might be the cause of all of this. He wrote a prescription for Protonix, one tablet a day, and wants to see me in a month (Dec 30). He recommended that I start on soft foods as soon as I felt comfortable, then progress to a “regular diet” after that.
We shook hands and that was that! On my way out I noticed that the nurses’ station had some IsoPure beverages in 20oz bottles – and that each bottle contained 40 grams of protein. Could this be my answer to the coffee dilemma? 40 grams is almost the same as 2-scoops of the IsoPure dry mix. I bought five bottles, various flavors. Maybe?
For lunch I had miso soup (I really like Miso Soup!) and for dinner I had a single serving of a broth mixture from sis-in-law Lisa. Tasty! I also had a pudding and a yogurt with dinner, and a pudding and a gelatin with lunch. No pain, no cramps, but just an uneasy feeling of nausea. I hope the Protonix helps!
Laurie and her mom Shirley leave for Sugarland, TX, tomorrow to spend 2 weeks out there with Bridgette and new grandbaby Jon. Safe travels! It’ll be just me and the dog Koko for the 2-week period.
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