Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

I'm back everyone! You can't keep a good man down or if you listen to my partner, a Big Mary.  The last two weeks have been terrible for me but interesting in a gross scientific way. As I explained in an earlier post I had a CT scan done and went into the hospital again for six days on October 9th. I had part one of a two part surgery for diverticulitis this past week after a weeklong stay in the hospital last month just treating the internal infections on the bad area and bed rest. I had damaged a section of my lower intestine by gaining 240 lbs, after working 60 hours a week for years running a business and eating junk for every meal.

I switched over a year ago to a very healthy high fiber diet but not with enough water and lost almost 50lbs. When I decided to change the way I ate and started exercising more the damage I had done from being overweight became painfully apparent. Over those years working constantly the damaged intestinal section had developed little blown out cyst pockets on the outside wall that was attaching to the back of my bladder and other parts of my entire lower intestine. The surgeon went in and basically gently pulled everything apart and drained the infection out of all the external growths on the outside of the bad part of the lower intestine walls. All of this was done Laparoscopic with only 5 incisions one for drainage and two right under my belly button, damn that hurt. 

Both visits I had three IV bags going at once into my arms 24/7. Two bags where antibiotics and one basically was saline water pumping me to full hydration. I had the same three cocktail this time around with a morphine pump to top it off. My arms look like Keith Richard's during the 70's for Christ sake and for a few days I knew what that must have felt like.

The one thing that really pissed me off is when I came to in post op they had trimmed me from the lower, I mean lower abs half way up my chest. I was expecting them to stay a LOT lower only and I started looking around, after I could make a complete thought, I looked for some huge scar thinking something went horribly wrong. From the forest line up I slowly did an assessment looking for big cuts thinking the worse. Everything went great I was hurriedly told and I finished up the trim work so I don't have a quarter chest of hair. Thursday I had the huge JP tube taken out of my side. The Doctor's Assistant just grabbed it and pulled it out of my side with no drugs and it just felt bizarre, like well… someone pulling something out of your gut. Not really pain as much as a weird sensation. I wanted to do a happy dance in the office after they patched me back up and removed what looked like a Borg implant from my side that I had to care for this entire week. 

So now I can see the problem spots quite glaringly in my abs and chest that need to work due to being sans body hair for the first time since I was 18 years old. Amazingly I weighed 192lbs when I started having this problem first of September and after drinking 80oz of water a day for a month plus the IV hydration for two weeks I have jumped back to 205 lbs. However none of the weight really went to my waist or stomach area. My stomach is still pretty flat with not much in the way of love handles. I think most of the extra water evenly distributed itself though out my body.  I learned most Europeans and Americans are usually dehydrated most of their lives due to our modern diet. Poor hydration leads or contributes to a myriad of avoidable health problems. Due to my size my hydration was calculated at 80oz a day. No one's needs are exactly the same. Nutritionist base requirements for water on the patient's body mass, height, and weight so ignore what the work out sites may state and simply ask your family doctor during your next visit.

Actually the timing for all of this could not be better. I won't be going in for my next surgery until the week after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy lots of high fat low fiber food instead of a diet of Jell-O and broth. I am also getting all of this out of the way before I turn 40 and still improving my health from the stricter diet I will be on once this is all over. My Doctor's assistant instructed me not to lift anything over 15lbs until told otherwise so I can get out of the heavy lifting during the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush from owning a floral business. I get desk duty, talk on the phone with people all day and oversee things. I am still hoping for a busy holiday season this year!

I do want to thank Dr. Craig Johnson M.D. and his surgery staff for a job well done with my last hospital stay. I had both he, his staff and my family doctor Scott Sexter M.D. checking in on me daily and I felt in great hands during the entire ordeal that I can remember and felt much of nothing the rest of the time. Here is a page of photos from the actually surgery. How many bloggers can say they have gone so far as to publish pictures of their own guts for their blog readers! Not for the squeamish…