I am so proud. I have been able to get back to a lot of my normal activities since the surgery last Tuesday to replace the battery in my gastric stimulator. Having this thing working again is insane. I barely notice physical feelings from gastroparesis changing, but the underlying things you cannot see are remarkable. I do still feel overly full. That is constant but even moreso after a meal for a few hours. I have had some nausea with regurgitation. Last night I actually threw up twice. Although that sounds bad, it is actually somewhat of a good thing. It means my stomach is churning. Probably because I was so used to it being off, my body is reacting similarly to sea-sickness/ motion-sickness. That will subside. My belly does cramp. Again, that can be a good sign showing that muscles that have been stagnant are moving. just getting tired. I remember these from my last two surgeries and once they subside I am more comfortable. I will always have symptoms of gastroparesis since mine is so severe. That does not mean getting the stimulator or replacing the battery was in vain. There have been notable good signs.
One of those welcome changes is my blood sugar. I did have a telemed (thank you pandemic) appointment with my endocrinologist last week. She helped me make a few changes, but overall thought I was doing very well considering all things. Our newest change was to give myself insulin for my meals 15-20 minutes after my meal. Most people need it before the meal, but since gastric emptying is delayed it is better to wait. So far that seems successful. But moreover, in general my blood sugar is reacting well to the food and insulin combination. I am not having random high blood sugars as often. That is so nice because high blood sugars do make you feel kind of rotten and the swings from high to low are even more taxing. I have had to lower my background insulin because I am not needing as much. This tells me food is not lingering as long in my stomach and small intestine. Eventhough I am not feeling this happen, my diabetes is welcoming the change.
A big takeaway from my appointment last week was the praise the doctor gave me. Somehow in chronic illness it is easy to place blame on yourself. You feel like you brought this upon yourself. You also feel guilty for burdening those around you. And beyond all of that, as the disease progresses you feel as if you pushed it along as opposed to fighting it. To hear a doctor say she appreciated my tenacity and positive attitude spoke volumes. She expressed how pleased it makes her that I am on top of things and constantly learning and adapting. She touted my intelligence. All of this means so much. The day to day, minute to minute challenge can leave you feeling defeated as I have mentioned about myself in the past. Having someone who deals with a lot of people in the diabetes community recognize me for being a "great patient" makes me feel as if, as usual, I am too hard on myself on a daily basis. Have we mentioned Type A personality??
The next thing I am hoping to see, since my blood sugars have changed, is my other blood work improving. My main highlight is cholesterol. With gastroparesis and all the comorbidities I literally cannot even think about eating animal fat without getting sick. Fat in itself is incredibly hard to digest, especially "bad" fats. On top of that, meat is incredibly hard to digest, particularly red meat. Yet, somehow my cholesterol is through the roof. My theory is a two fold. One part is that I take a lot of supplements to help with nutrition. Some supplements can give false results. Since my last blood test I have stopped taking those supplements for a short time. The second part of my theory is that cholesterol or triglyceride blood work needs to be done on an empty stomach. Although I have tried to go in on"good" stomach days thinking my belly may be empty, I bet it was not. If you drink even a tiny sip of orange juice, cholesterol will show up in your blood so imagine a full stomach. We will repeat the tests in a few weeks. I am hopeful we will get better results. No matter the situation the doctor does not want to put me on statins considering the fact that I am young, thin, exercise, and eat minimal fat. She suggested a supplement called Cholestoff, but I have not gone out and gotten it.
In terms of the surgery itself, I am making good progress. I am able to do some chair cardio workouts and a little stretching. The wound is healing beautifully. And pain is decreasing daily. My belly is still a little swollen, but I seem to remember that part taking the longest to go away. I get tired easy. But I am sleeping through the night, which is awesome. I began physical therapy for my foot last week. None of the work they had me do caused any pain near the surgery site on my abdomen. I am proud of myself for all of this. I am helping my body heal by showing it some love and it is responding. Score.
To talk about my foot for a moment, I'm going to jump subjects. I am actually writing this minutes before my next appointment. I am still in a walking boot for a while, but I can take off my boot for no impact work. I have done squats on a Total Gym machine, rode an incumbent bike, and today I will work on some resistance training. As much as I dislike physical therapy, I welcome the exercise and recognize its importance in the healing process., as well as preventing future injury. This is just another baby step towards recovery. The interesting thing is that I will see the podiatrist on October 6th to see if I can possible get out of the boot then I will jump in the car to head a couple hours north for a follow-up with my surgeon. Busy day, but killing two birds with one stone. I am encouraged I will get good news.
As I write this I am feeling a little crappy from a sleepless night with some vomiting. I am feeling a little emotional for no discernable reason. But at the same time I am so happy with where I am. I feel like I am making good progress without pushing myself too hard. I am healing better than I expected. God is really working on me today. He has given me such a hard day yet so much positivity to balance it. I know tomorrow will be better than today. That makes things better. I am seeing what could be when all of this recovery is over. That is exciting. We all knew this was coming. It is just so difficult when you are in the middle of the whirlwind to believe it will ever end.
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