busy, with a chance of showers.

For some reason I can't write my blog entries from my iPhone. It won't let me type words into the informational area, and then it posts my empty entry. Clearly, it's user error--but I don't know what to do about it. I'm obviously just old, and to remedy the situation should just ask a 12 year old for help. :)

So, the latest on my health is this:
1. Overall, I am mostly unimpressed with the gastric pacemaker. I'm still vomiting all the time, I think just as much as I was before surgery--only now I have a huge lump in my abdomen where the stupid device sticks out, and I get shocked when near people's bluetooths.

2. However, I'm not getting shocked most days. I think I've gotten used to the sensation of it for the most part. I'm going to have Dr. Patterson turn it up again tomorrow, and see if that makes a difference in my digesting, now that I've gotten used to this current rate (2.0) I'm going to have him turn it up to the rate of 2.6, which is the rate that it was when they inititally put it in at, and was shocking me all the time. I'm hoping that it'll be okay now that I'm more used to the sensation of it all.

3. I'm still having a hard time keeping my potassium at a good level. My blood pressure also runs pretty low, and the combination of these two things lends itself to me fainting--not really stellar. I almost passed out again yesterday in Banana Republic with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. It always seems to happen when I'm shopping. Marcus says, "Maybe you should just quit shopping so much." Harumph. I think I'll just ask the doctor if I should increase my potassium supplements. :) I'm still having to get hydration therapy (2 bags of IV fluids) once a week. I'm also wondering if I should get a more permanent IV site (port) put in--especially if I need IV fluids each week. Last week they blew my vein getting my IV started... it swelled up as big as my wrist. (and I'm not exaggerating.)

4. We've been managing to have a great summer in spite of all these things, though. I've been camping twice now in eastern Washington with family. We just got back from a weekend with some good friends from college (& spouses) on Lake Chelan. We head out soon for a firefighter softball tournament in Wenatchee and then family vacation in Sun River, OR during the first week of August.

5. We've been out on the boat a ton in eastern WA, seeking the sun (as it's been FREEZING in SEATTLE!!)--and we're trying to make the most of the summer. Last weekend, I even went tubing behind the boat! It was awesome!! :)

6. My surgical stuff has healed completely. I'm no longer feeling pain from that, which is nice. I'm off the narcotics from that, and am just down to one pain patch to keep the edge off my abdominal pain. I've restarted a medication that seems to be helping me go the bathroom more regularly, which is good too. It's a little spendy, but the benefits far outweigh the cost--so we don't mind at all.

I think that's all. Sorry it's been so long in between posts. We've been busy, but are having a

written and failed

I've written and failed a couple of different blog entries since 6/24, but both of them have been so confusing when I read back over them before I went to publish them--I just clicked "close" and figured that you could be uninformed except by word of mouth, or an occasional facebook post. I've obviously been on too many drugs until now to say anything intelligent.

In my last post, I painted a rosy picture of how things were going. Immediately following that, the proverbial "poop hit the fan." The shocking, which I began to describe in my last post began to hit full boar. Most people, once they have the gastric pacer installed never feel an electrical pulse at all. However, because of my size and weight, and because I'm just "lucky" (please read my dripping sarcasm)I have abnormally thin abdominal walls--thus could feel the shocking constantly once I began to back off of my narcotic pain meds. It hurt HORRIBLY. Like, much worse than the vomiting ever did. Imagine the pain that you feel when you shock your friend from dragging your feet on the carpet. Now, think of that happening every 5 seconds in the same location directly under your rib cage. All day and all night, without a break of any kind. I was not pleasant to be around. ARGH. It was horrific. So, the doctor turned my pacemaker down after two days of that. ( I couldn't get there sooner because I was in Tri-Cities while Marcus was climbing Mt.Rainier--he made it to the top!!)

So, the doctor turned the pacer down, and I haven't been having as much pain since then. But, now I'm back to puking all the time--because it's turned down so far that it's like it's not even in there. Ugh. SO FRUSTRATING. So, I got really dehydrated and almost passed out again, and have had to get fluids weekly since then. But, before that I did get to go on a family camping trip, and hang with some friends in the Tri-Cities, so I've been having a good summer. Busy, full of sun, exhausting, full of puke, pain, and frustration.

I just went in to see the doctor again yesterday. He turned up the pacer again. I've only had one bout of shocking so far. Please pray that this trend continues.

Love.
b