Dizzy
Yeah, that's right... I still rock out to the Goo Goo Dolls... in a big way. I may be listening to that song, but the subject...it's how this last week has left me feeling.
I'm sure any of you who pay attention to anything like Facebook or AIM messages have seen my "Brad is... hoping Thursday will fix his problem" or "counting down 'til Thursday." Let me explain.
It all started on June 21, when I started throwing up. I figured it was just somethin' I ate or a bug. I'd gone out to Bar Louie the night before and was fine after sipping a couple Sam Adams' instead of my usual big gulps. I couldn't gulp the beer or any food or liquid at that point. So I kept going, but it got progressively worse. Friday, it took me completely out of commission, leaving me and Nick housebound, with me going to bed early. I was powerpuking my guts out with little to no food in my system. I wasn't too worried about it.
Saturday, I thought I was better in the morning, but stayed in bed pretty much the entire afternoon as a safeguard. I threw up throughout the day just a little bit, but couldn't hold any food down. We went out that night and had fun, but I couldn't drink anything. So I sipped water and even threw that up. That's when I knew something was potentially wrong.
I slept through the night without too many problems. Everyone got rollin' around two or three in the afternoon. Funk and Amanda were here and had spent the night and Margaret had come in, along with KC from the night before. I could barely move. I had no energy whatsoever. It rained, but before that I'd parked myself in the Archie (the green chair in the living room) and put on a disc of Scrubs. Luckily everyone congregated around that, otherwise I'd had been a total party pooper. I barely spoke, didn't really move and could barely even drink some tea. I was scared.
For those of you who don't know, I had a procedure done called Laproscopic Gastric Banding, or the lap band. It is a band that goes around the stomach to simulate the stomach stapling procedure without cutting any organs. The band is adjustable to control how much food can and cannot be consumed.
Inside the band, there is a bladder which makes it adjustable through injections of saline. That is how it is tightened and loosened.
I began researching how I felt, thinking the worst, hoping for the best.
Here's the worst case scenario: The band could have slipped off of my stomach, going up to the esophagus, essentially strangling my stomach off, not allowing any nutrition. It could have been the case since I couldn't hold ANYTHING down. It would require major surgery to fix.
Not-so-worst-case: The band was too tight, meaning there was too much saline solution in there, restricting my stomach too much making it hard for me to keep any food or liquids down.
So... Sunday night, I was up throughout the night puking my guts out. I kept doing that throughout the day Monday as well. Monday morning, I knew enough to get on the phone and call up Dr. Ali (my stomach doctor who put on the band).
I told him what was wrong and he got me an appointment for Thursday at 1 p.m. I told him it was more urgent than that, but he said I'd be fine and that he expected just a band that was too tight. Anyway, it was the earliest he could get me in.
So Monday night, I stayed miserable and was just as bad on Tuesday, although a mixture of Pepcid, Antacids, Alkaseltzer and Tylenol PM knocked my ass cold, so I didn't get sick during the night.
I went back to Cochranton on Wednesday and felt good for the most part, just a little sick feeling. Then I got to the doctor and remembered how the adjustments were done. The easiest way to explain it... they stab you in the stomach with a seven inch needle and suck the saline out of you. Mucho painful.
So after an exam, Ali determined the band was just too tight and loosened the band (with the whole needle stabbing thing). So I'm perking up again...getting some energy back. I've been quite dispondent lately and apologize for it, but that's the way it goes.
In other news, I've met a really cool chick that, unlike the last couple, actually holds my attention and seems to dig me. I'm not going to get my hopes too up on this one, but I do like her...and she's really cute :-)
So things are back on the up-and-up...just gotta see how the next few days goes.
I'm sure any of you who pay attention to anything like Facebook or AIM messages have seen my "Brad is... hoping Thursday will fix his problem" or "counting down 'til Thursday." Let me explain.
It all started on June 21, when I started throwing up. I figured it was just somethin' I ate or a bug. I'd gone out to Bar Louie the night before and was fine after sipping a couple Sam Adams' instead of my usual big gulps. I couldn't gulp the beer or any food or liquid at that point. So I kept going, but it got progressively worse. Friday, it took me completely out of commission, leaving me and Nick housebound, with me going to bed early. I was powerpuking my guts out with little to no food in my system. I wasn't too worried about it.
Saturday, I thought I was better in the morning, but stayed in bed pretty much the entire afternoon as a safeguard. I threw up throughout the day just a little bit, but couldn't hold any food down. We went out that night and had fun, but I couldn't drink anything. So I sipped water and even threw that up. That's when I knew something was potentially wrong.
I slept through the night without too many problems. Everyone got rollin' around two or three in the afternoon. Funk and Amanda were here and had spent the night and Margaret had come in, along with KC from the night before. I could barely move. I had no energy whatsoever. It rained, but before that I'd parked myself in the Archie (the green chair in the living room) and put on a disc of Scrubs. Luckily everyone congregated around that, otherwise I'd had been a total party pooper. I barely spoke, didn't really move and could barely even drink some tea. I was scared.
For those of you who don't know, I had a procedure done called Laproscopic Gastric Banding, or the lap band. It is a band that goes around the stomach to simulate the stomach stapling procedure without cutting any organs. The band is adjustable to control how much food can and cannot be consumed.
Inside the band, there is a bladder which makes it adjustable through injections of saline. That is how it is tightened and loosened.
I began researching how I felt, thinking the worst, hoping for the best.
Here's the worst case scenario: The band could have slipped off of my stomach, going up to the esophagus, essentially strangling my stomach off, not allowing any nutrition. It could have been the case since I couldn't hold ANYTHING down. It would require major surgery to fix.
Not-so-worst-case: The band was too tight, meaning there was too much saline solution in there, restricting my stomach too much making it hard for me to keep any food or liquids down.
So... Sunday night, I was up throughout the night puking my guts out. I kept doing that throughout the day Monday as well. Monday morning, I knew enough to get on the phone and call up Dr. Ali (my stomach doctor who put on the band).
I told him what was wrong and he got me an appointment for Thursday at 1 p.m. I told him it was more urgent than that, but he said I'd be fine and that he expected just a band that was too tight. Anyway, it was the earliest he could get me in.
So Monday night, I stayed miserable and was just as bad on Tuesday, although a mixture of Pepcid, Antacids, Alkaseltzer and Tylenol PM knocked my ass cold, so I didn't get sick during the night.
I went back to Cochranton on Wednesday and felt good for the most part, just a little sick feeling. Then I got to the doctor and remembered how the adjustments were done. The easiest way to explain it... they stab you in the stomach with a seven inch needle and suck the saline out of you. Mucho painful.
So after an exam, Ali determined the band was just too tight and loosened the band (with the whole needle stabbing thing). So I'm perking up again...getting some energy back. I've been quite dispondent lately and apologize for it, but that's the way it goes.
In other news, I've met a really cool chick that, unlike the last couple, actually holds my attention and seems to dig me. I'm not going to get my hopes too up on this one, but I do like her...and she's really cute :-)
So things are back on the up-and-up...just gotta see how the next few days goes.