My Gastric Sleeve

Three Hundred Dollars, Two Endoscopies, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the first day of Christmas, my bariatric surgeon gave to me...okay, enough with the cutesy Christmas carol stuff. Suffice it to say that the month of December was memorable because I had not one but two upper endoscopies.

As I mentioned in a previous post, scar tissue can form after weight loss surgery and cause a narrowing in the stomach or the esophagus. This stricture makes it very difficult to eat solid foods, so patients tend to gravitate to "sliders," foods that go down easily. Unfortunately, many sliders, like ice cream, are high in calories and fat.

This means that a stricture can actually lead to weight gain because people edge away from their bariatric diet of solid proteins. Luckily, the stricture can be fixed with an upper endoscopy or EGD. This involves the surgeon passing a tube down your throat and into your stomach. He or she can then dilate, or widen, the narrowing with a use of a small, inflatable balloon. Sometimes, as in my case, the procedure has to be repeated to fully open the blocked area.

Medication Side Effects and Weight Loss Surgery

 
"These will make you drowsy," the pharmacy tech warned me as she handed me my new prescription.

"Thanks," I said half-heartedly, tucking the amber-colored bottle of green pills into my purse. I knew the pills wouldn't make me drowsy. For one thing, I was in the middle of a massive manic episode. For another, I knew from past experience that I could take medications in doses large enough to anesthetize a pony and remain wide awake.

I got home, turned on my computer for a writing session, and casually took a couple of the green pills, per doctor's orders. Then I started working on an article about teenagers and self-esteem. About half an hour later, I realized I was having trouble getting my fingers to strike the right keys. In fact, I was producing gibberish.

My eyelids were getting heavy, too, and when I stood up and took a few steps, I stumbled over my own feet and almost fell. Somehow, I staggered to my bedroom where I flopped across the bed like a fainting heroine in a Victorian melodrama. I slept for five hours. Drowsy, indeed!

When I awoke, still a little groggy, I put together what had happened. My body mass has decreased by more than 50 pounds. It was only logical that medications would affect me more now that they did when I weighed over 300 pounds.

Thank goodness I hadn't taken the first dose of the medication while I was driving!

Next time I see my doctor, I plan to review my medications with her to make sure the dosages I'm taking are still appropriate for my new, slimmer body. In the meantime, I am definitely treating those green pills with a lot more respect.

Have you noticed a difference in the way your body responds to medication?

Current Writing Projects

My new book Hospice Tails: The Animal Companions Who Journey with Hospice Patients and Their Families was released in June, 2011. It's a collection of stories about hospice patients and their pets, based on my years as a hospice social worker. So far, the book has garnered great reviews. My favorite came from a friend who told me, "I laughed just as hard as I cried."   

What is Zofran or Ondansetron?

 
When you have more than 70% of your stomach removed and then try to force the little bit that is left to accept food, there will be times when you have a stomach that is...let's just say less than happy.

Before my gastric sleeve, I was almost never troubled by nausea. If I came down with one case of the stomach flu every five years or so, it was unusual.

Since the surgery, however, nausea and I have become dear friends. No matter how little I try to eat or how slowly I try to eat it, I find myself dealing with nausea several times a week. Not all of these episodes are severe, of course. Most are like a mild twinge, the body's way of saying, "Watch it!"

Then there are the more severe episodes, the ones when everything in my stomach seems to throw itself into reverse. My eyes water, my nose runs, and my mouth fills with saliva. It seems only a matter of time before the only option left is a mad scramble for the toilet. These are the times when I am so grateful for  Zofran.