One Month Post-Op Surgery Round #5...Dr. Rasmussen

I have my one month follow up with Dr. Rasmussen. Things seem to be going well so far. I seem to finally be at a stable weight. I am having a few issues right now that are a little worrisome.

1. I have absolutely no energy. I fall asleep if I sit still for more than 15 minutes. I have to keep myself moving constantly to avoid this. I have never been a nap person before and I feel like I need a nap every day to survive
2. I am having what I like to call pass-out episodes. It is happening more frequently and always in the morning. I had these start happening when I had the original surgery and it was because of low potassium. Dr. Rasmussen had my potassium checked a week ago and it was normal.
3. I have this pain that stretches across my whole upper abdomen. It feels more like a tearing/stretching sensation, not necessarily “bad” pain. I can’t lay completely flat because of this sensation. This also has made sleeping interesting.

Dr. Rasmussen has a few solutions/options to these problems. They are as follows:

1. We are going to repeat all the bariatric post-op labs that were done 6 months ago. I should be on a yearly schedule of these labs but haven’t quite hit that point. I will have these done later this week.
2. Passing out could be related to a number of things. Since it happens first thing in the morning, Dr. Rasmussen thinks it may be related to my blood sugar. He wants me to test my blood sugar when I have another one of these episodes. He also said that hypoglycemia may happen after this type of surgery. He said it could also be related to low protein intake. I should be at 60g of daily protein intake. However, on a good day, I can get anywhere from 20-30g of protein in. He wants me to swap more of my veggies and fruits for more protein rich foods and try and hit this target.
3. Dr. Rasmussen thinks the pain/sensations of tearing are related to having the surgery. Pain like this normally resolves about a month after surgery and I am right at that point. So we are going to just watch it for a few more weeks to make sure that it goes away.

Now, about this lovely feeding tube... The feeding tube has been in for 9 weeks now.9 whole weeks. Which in the grand scheme of things, seems like nothing! But, it is the 4^th one and I am tired of it and tired of the routine of having it. However, both of us feel it may be premature in pulling it. I am maintaining my weight but that’s with 1200 calories of tube feed. He is worried about what will happen when we rapidly take away the 1200 calories. So we are going to decrease the tube feeds to only 800 calories. What worries me is the passing out issue. If I am getting all this nutrition throughout the night, and still feel awful in the mornings, I am scared to see what will happen if that is taken away prematurely. I don’t want the tube anymore but I also don’t want another one placed in a couple of months. So for now, I will suck it up for a few more weeks and deal with it.

Game plan for now: I will see him again in 2 ½ weeks and we will see where things are at. If things look OK and are progressing in a more positive direction, he will pull it. If not, he wants to leave it in for 2 more weeks after that.