TP/AIT 9 months post
Wow, I cant believe it has been 9 months since surgery. I am doing very well. I have no regrets having the surgery. I wish I could be completely healthy but that is never going to happen so I am just grateful this big improvement.
I had a setback in November. I had to have emergency surgery 3 days before Thanksgiving for a twisted, herniated bowel. I was doing so great and thought my hospital stays were over then boom there I am having surgery. That was hard, especially at the holidays. I had a lot planned and again my son and husband had to put everything on the back burner for me. But I healed and recovered quickly, I stayed depressed for a while but I am back to my old self now. As always, my husband and son are awesome and got me through it. My brother dropped everything the morning of surgery. He was leaving that day for Disney, and came to the hospital to be with me until my husband and son could get there. They went home after they transported me to the OSU Wexner and hour away because my local hospital said no worries. Youll be fine, it will resolve in a couple of days. I got to OSU and they said we are bumping surgeries, you are going in as soon as we can open a spot. So then my husband and son had to make a mad dash for the hospital. My brother lives close so he came. I have a lot of wonderful family and friends!
So now things are going good again. I take 6 units of Lantus a day and 1 unit of Novolog per 20 carbs. My sugars are up and down. I hear from others on these sites that is pretty normal for us. I am figuring things out. Like I have to putting protein and fiber with treat like cake will help the sugar from going sky high than crashing. After about 2 hours, even if I am not hungry I will have a tiny snack and that helps my sugar from crashing low. Diabetes is a lot more than I thought it would be but as I learn it gets easier to figure out what works best for me.
The other thing is digestion. The doctor upped my Creon last appointment. I take 3/2400 creon per meal and 2/2400 creon per snack and I have a lot less discomfort from undigested food. I dont have much pain at all. But if my digestion gets out of whack I have pain and bloating from undigested food so I try to eat the best I can to keep digestion in check.
Fatigue and headaches have been a problem but I think it is from anemia. I have consulted with an awesome pharmacist I know and he is helping me with digestive enzymes to compliment the creon to help with nutrient absorption. I am taking and iron supplement and eating everything with iron I can handle. For the last few days the fatigue seems better so I hope I am on the right track. My sister who is a CNP says my body took a big hit losing the spleen so it is just a matter of my body recovering and healing before I can have enough energy to support my activity because it is still using its energy to heal itself. Makes sense but I want my energy level back now!
The good news is I have not had an infection, flu or cold since surgery. Something I feared since I lost my spleen. I have only been to the doctor (except for post op follow up) for the bowel obstruction and because of the headaches and fatigue a couple of weeks ago. The pancreas pain is gone and I can eat whatever I want without fear of pancreatitis and that is huge.
The bad news is I believe I have a hernia around my belly button because a few weeks ago I got a bulge there. I dont want to tell the doctor because I am sure I will need at least a small surgery to fix it. I will tell him at my next appointment in June and go from there. Unless of course it causes trouble sooner. I would like to put off another procedure until late fall so my husband doesnt have to waste all his vacation on FMLA days for once.
I know this is long but I have not given an update lately and wanted to fill everyone in.
TP/AIT is a success. Life is a 100 times better since I had it done!