[psycho]

I am in BAD need if some HELP for some experts that have been through the by pas surgery. I have a BEST FRIEND who after going through hell getting an insurance company to allow it she finally had her surgery 10 years after she first started trying. She weighed in On April 20th the day of her surgey 426 lbs. She was so excited to finally get the surgery. I have ben with her evey strp of the way as her family is not that bug of support to her. Her 10 check up she had lost 17.4 lbs...oh yeah!!! I was screaming on the phone of excitement and encouragment. But now she is in a slump and I cant get her out!!!! The protien shakes make her sick. She is nausated all the time she can hardly get out of bed she is depressed. She is taking in litle to no protien and no matter what I do I cant get her to eat or drink. She is only doing crystal light and yogurt and an egg occasionally. She is affraid of dumping. And the nausa is real bad. After seeing her yesterday I took her out to my house and she is so weak she almost passed out walking from the car to the couch in my house.
Please help me help my friend with any and all suggestions on how to get protien into her, if not I may not like the results. I am VERY SCARED for her right now. She is going to her regular MD tomorrow to see about something for the nausea. I got her some protien shake mix that has 7 grams of sugar and told her that because she was only drinking half at a time she shoild be ok with them......is this wrong???
HELP ME HELP MY FRIEND
Thank You
Linda

[christyblue]

first of all welcome to the boards...second...goin to the doc is the best thing for her...the protien made me gag at first too..i got some whey protien from wal mart tho and have it everyday...in my coffee but she can mix it in juice...like grape juice from healthy balance...i mixed the vanilla in it...but of course the best thing for her right now is the doctor to make sure there are no seriouse reasons for the nausea and weakness.please keep us posted and we will keep her in hour prayers.
huggs
christy

[christyblue]

also there is unflavored protien that you can put in soups and other food you might want to try...is she taking vitamines and b-12?
huggs
christy
also how is the water intake?

[DocSanae]

Welcome to the board, psycho.

If your friend is going to be seen by her dr tomorrow, don't panic for today.
Remember, even if she is not getting the nutrients required, and feeling weak, she still has a lot stocked up in her own body, enough to keep her going for the time being. The most important thing is for her to get enough liquids--water in. She will not starve, but she can easily dehydrate, and it might be that dehydration is causing her discomfort. If that's the case, when she gets in all the liquids she need, she should start feeling better.

In any case, let the drs figure out what is wrong with her first, then re-evaluate her condition and devise a way to get enough protein in. If she is only a week or two post op, then a lot of the patients have experinced times like your friend. First find out if there is anything physically wrong, or if there is some psych involved here, get that treated, and give her time, and she should be able to start taking the things she needs.
If there is no life threatening physical condition, there is no danger of her starving, her body will rally up in keeping her going.
Even if she was able to take the protein drinks pre op without trouble, a lot of post ops find their taste has changed, and can't "eat" something they had no trouble with before. One has to find anew what one can tolerate.

Since you are a healthcare worker, you must know that if people around the patient panics, that will have a bad effect on the patient herself. Keep your smile on your face, go about calmly, quietly and efficiently, exude comfort and confidence for her, and she'll feel much better, just for that. Alarm on your part, especially if you are showing it to her, is not going to help her at this moment.
The thing you need to do is to get her to her doc tomorrow, hear what the doc has to say with her, if you can, and follow up on whatever that your friend can't do by herself.

(((((HUGS))))) to you and your friend.

I hope this helps.

[LittleLisaMarie]

First welcome to the boards. There is really not much to add to what the Doc has said. Hydration is the most important thing.
{I do want to say that Doc you are such an asset to have on the boards as well as for a friend. You have such a peaceful , calm manner in which you relay very serious and important information. I wish you were here in the states in your own practice so i could work for you ! There needs to be more of you. }
With that said good luck to you and your friend tomorrow and please let us know how it all works out.

[DocSanae]

LisaMarie, thank you for your compliment, I sure would love to work with you if I could!
But calm, eh? I wonder if you'll still say that if you'd seen me blow up with the kids who'd parked their car right in front of my parking space in such a way that I couldn't get my car in!!

[LittleLisaMarie]

We are all human! But when it comes to advise and friendship although i have never met you in person, i can tell what a warm and caring person you are!

[psycho]

I just want to thank all that wrote to me. I a do keep a positive with her all the time. I told her yesterday I was amazed at the way she looked...like she had lost 50 or better but to her she cant see it. I push the water thing and she loves crystal lite lemonade so I brought her some. I brought her some new protien shakes to try from the health food store that have 7 grams of sugar and she is afraid to try them as they told her she could only have 5grams. With her drinking such small amounts at a time would the 7 grams cause the dumping. She is not seeing her by pass DR tomorrow she is seeing her general MD. I wish she had her computer running so she could talk to you guys it would help so much. I am going to print out your responses and take them to her...so bring on the advice.
Thank you
HUGS to you ALL!!!!!!!!
Linda

[christyblue]

i am so glad you came back...make sure she knows we are rooting for her!!! keep up the water and protien...ya just have to keep pushing till ya find something she can tolerate.we do care and will help all we can....most important at this time is her fluids.please let us know if we can help.
huggs
christy

[DocSanae]

psycho, it doesn't really matter which dr your friend is seeing, whether it's her surgeon, or her PCP-- who will be taking care of her daily needs and is well aware of her surgery. A PCP is trained to spot problems, and to treat then and there if it's something he/she can do, or to refer to the proper specialist.

Incidentally, you wrote April 20, but you do mean March 20, don't you? Which puts her out at 3 weeks. Her system is still reeling from the major change in her body--her stomach has been reduced to the size of a golf ball, and her gut has been rearranged. The brain is not going to readjust to this overnight. It's going to take a long time, and in the meanwhile, it's going to play all sorts of tricks and upset everyone.
If your friend is scared of dumping, ease her in to the amound she needs. Most surgeons tell their patients not to worry about the amount of protein they are able to take the first month or so. The first thing they want is for the patients to get in plenty of water, and give the digestive system time to settle down a bit.
Unless your friend is in depression--which needs to be attended to--she should be able to take in more protein after the first month passes.

If she is afraid of protein shakes and any form of carbs because she's scared of dumping, then as christyblue suggested, add unflavored protein powder such as the ones in the eStore to something that she can take.

In any case, your friend is going through the same things a lot of the WLSers have gone through, and what you are going through is what a lot of concerened friends and family have gone through.
Keep your faith that she will turn out fine, as we all are keeping faith, and when the time passes, I am sure both of you will remember this as a blip on her trip, and a "Boy, did it scare me then." and a smile.

((((((HUGS)))))) to you and your friend, you are in our prayers. and please keep us posted on her progress.