I got down, down pat.
 

Every time I start to post my medical crap on here I think, there are so many people worse off than me, so WTF am I doing?

The shortest answer? Starving!

I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis, short for food not emptying out of my stomach at normal speed. Pain is unreal at times.. The scale of 10 is inadequate. How much pain do you endure before you pass out? Vomit? Been there, got the t-shirt that is now a few sizes too large.

I have lost a total of 121 lbs from as large as I have ever been, 55 pounds this year alone. I am down to 209 lbs. My doctor says if I behave and my blood work is as good as it was this last time I am no longer considered diabetic. The price to pay for that is being so weak I couldn't fight my way out of a wet paper sack.

On a bright note, I have a better power to weight ratio with my V, maybe I can find a few more MPH. LOL!:hi:
Getting old sucks!:beer:

So they don't think it's your gall bladder now causing it? I know when I saw you a couple of weeks ago you weren't looking that good. Hopefully they can find some way to help you.

The answer is Reglan. With the tardive dyskinesia that comes with it.. It isn't the answer for long. I have not felt any worse than the day I saw you Ferman. In the ER later that day for my diloted shot and whew baby! Better just thinking about it. CT scan, upper GI, hydeascan, x-rays, MRI, sonigrams, the bills keep racking up and my attitude keeps getting worse. Mentally, this was one hellova setback.
I missed the shooting of the Barrett 50 cal my buddy just bought. I really wanted to try it out or at least bear witness to the going-ons.. This entire 2014 has been a bust for me.

It's kind of a two edged sword.. On the one hand you're losing weight, and that's good. On the other hand, you're losing weight, and that's bad. In all cases sorry you're not feeling up to snuff Ridge. Hang in there. Sounds like the docs got a handle on what's causing it now, and diagnosis is always the hardest part of getting well. Will light a few candles and say a few prayers for you.

You are so right Destroyer. Good and bad, who knows what life has in store, that is the challenge isn't it? The weight loss could inadvertently save my life. Thanks for the kind words as always and the prayer.

Hang in there Ridge! 209!! Damn, you were a HOSS when I saw you. Spounds like you're on the right track.

dont worry Ridge, I found some of that weight you lost

You are right!! Getting old sucks!!
I had gatric bypass to lose weight and get healthly, but even though it did what it was supose to, dibeties already did it part! now i am skjnny,near blind, no feelings in feet and hands, and awaiting a kiddney transolant.
Hang in there!!

I ain't got no problems, like I started out saying.
MJ you win there brother, and I don't envy where your at. You have been a little bit of motivation for me to get more healthy. I said it before, I was just about following in your footsteps, health wise. Praying for you and your wife still.

Hope you feel better Ridge, you too of course MJ.

Makes me appreciate the "good health" that I have.

rkc

X2....Best of luck and a speedy recovery to all you guys.

Ridge I have the opposite problem, my food exits too fast! Im pretty sure I saw half a pickle in the toilet the other day. At least it looked like one, hehe......I dont have any pain associated with it though thank god. Well assuming I stay away from Kraft Mac n Cheese. Im suprised the neighbor lady didnt call the cops last time I ate that stuff.

Hope you feel better soon brotha!!!

I have motavated a few people!! My brother said to me that he was having the bi pass also cause he did not want to be like me, said I hope you are not mad? I said nope glad I will die knowing I helped a few people!!
Just get better Ridge!!

Hang in there Ridge and all my V buddies. I don't always reply but I'm always reading and thinking about every single one of ya. Good people on this site. That is for sure!

"Good people on this site. That is for sure!"

This sentiment I could not agree with more BR.


I can't: shoot
fish
or phuck

The only way I could impress a woman is if I handed over my gold card.

But I still have my self-esteem. LOLOL!!:haha:

Seriously, I laughed so hard reading SSired's post. I love this site and you guys are the best. BTW- If you spent a few dollars on teeth, you could chew the pickle and it wouldn't be as disturbing as it makes its way down the Hershey Highway like a bullet train and into the crapper.

Lots of $hit talk. I apologize to any that may be offended.

Hoping things start up better for you to finish the year Ridge, good luck bud

Talk is fine.

However, pictures are not necessary nor requested.

and that means YOU TOO STINKY!!!!!

Thank you very much,

rkc

Dang, I step away for a bit and the $hit hits the fan!!...losin' the weight and dodging diabetes has got to be viewed as a win/win...the other stuff you can deal with and get past, which I'm sure you will...

A bullet down the Hershey Highway??...I still LMBO over that!!...

Get better soon...we ain't talked inna while, but that don't mean I don't still love ya, Man...:hi:

Feeling better after a week vaca in the keys. My only regret is having not eaten my way from key to key. Ozzie my friend, love you too, just been tied up.. As you have been as well I am sure..

I have been feeling better than I have in the past 2 years. Just got back from the doctors office. Coming up is an MRI for a mass on my thoracic vertabra (NEW and Scary), Colonoscopy (due to history of colon cancer), upper endoscopy(Barrett's Esophogus), treadmill and echo cardiogram (Prior MI), eye exam, (due to the MRI and a history of steel in my eyes from metal work), and potential back surgery to fuse some disks

SO

Now I don't feel so good anymore.

WTF I am healthy and always have beeen. Now I am a hypocondriac. Depression Sucks! It is my personal belief that depression could eat cancer for breakfast. How can you fight an enemy that doesn't present itself?

Not looking for pity, just Free Therapy. Saw a saying on a billboard this morning that I thought fitting for the day.
"Anyone can hold the helm when the seas are calm" :cen:

Not saying noone has the right not to be depressed, but in most cases its not a choise!!
I won't say that I haben't had my moments! since 2011 I have been going down down down, had my surgery 2011, didn't go all that great, my mom died 2012, told me kidneys were shot 2012, uncle died xmas 2012 we were close he wads just 53, 2013 started dialysis, lost boat and all in 2013 my wife has been sick on and off the last 2 years, and has been in a nursing home now since Aug 2015,Doc is the third person to say to me in the last 3 weeks that she is dieing, he told her also but she says he knows nothing!! And after 17 years I had to put my cat down yestreday.
But some how I talk with friends , post here, and I feel better. I guess I am very lucky to not be depressed, but I have a right to be!

But things are starting to look up, i have to grandchildern i see most every day, my son is going to have me a 3rd grndbaby April (a boy) I have a boat again and if all goes right my kidney will be done before spring!! I thought I would never say this but since my mother died I pray every day and it seems to help.

So keep your head up and try to talk to a good friend, or pray what ever makes you feel better

I am :pray2:for all of us!!

Know the feeling all to well myself here lately. I'm only 35, but everyday just gets worse. I live on narcotic pain pills now because without them all I can do is lay in bed and scream from the pain. Problem is they already put me on the strongest pain pill there is, so I have no place to go but down. Hoping to this summer get in to see some new doctors and maybe do something about some of this pain so I can get back off the pills, and maybe enjoy some of life again instead of living it like a zombie.

OMG Ridge. I just reread the start of this post. At the time I had no idea what Gastroparesis was, and I'm sure that most people don't also. But I have a friend that has it and she has been acquainting me with what it is and what it does. So for anyone that doesn't know.... Gastroparesis is basically a nice medical terminology way of saying that the muscles that make the stomach churn (Coating the food with acid and helping to break the food down for digestion) are paralyzed. Basically the food just sits in the stomach and rots.. it's extremely painful and causes large amounts of vomiting up of the food. She (my friend) finally had to get an implant put into her stomach that (much like a pacemaker) shoots a small electrical charge into the stomach muscles, causing them to twitch and mimicking their normal movements. It's not 100% effective, but it works enough that she can keep some food down now and actually go back to work. She belongs to 2 support groups of people that have the same condition and if you want I'll be happy to get the links for the groups and send them off to you. Again, for others that don't know... there is no cure for this condition. Hope everything works out for you with the upcoming tests Ridge. Prayers continuing to be sent for you and everyone else on this site that has some kind of medical condition. :pray2:

I am so much better, just a little down yet.
 

MJ, you are inspiring my friend. You certainly have had a lot to deal with. Tough as a cut nail you are.
Destroyer is correct about the Gastroparesis. It isn't a very well known disease, at least I hadn't heard of it before I contracted it. No known cure, however there is a medicine that can give relief and actually causes the stomach to start back to working, REGLAN. Unfortunately it is only effective in a small percentage of those that contract the disease. Fortunately it DID Work for me. The pacemaker implant is not a 100% fix as you mentioned Destroyer. They have to turn the electric impulse output all the way to the highest setting in order to get the stomach muscles stimulated enough to work. There is another procedure that does away with the gall bladder and stomach that I couldn't ever see having done personally..., my god I hope and pray for the best possible outcome for your friend Destroyer. The long term prognosis is not very good for people with the condition. A feeding tube for nutrition comes after a time and many people don't make it. BUT - As I mentioned I beat it. I am one of the lucky ones. I was scheduled to do a motility study to determine if food was moving thru my stomach and about a week before the procedure my stomach started working just as suddenly as it had stopped. I am not sure if it was a result of the medicine or by the grace of god. A Glimpse into haydes- On 1/1/2014 I was 265 lbs by 10/1/2014 I was down to 170 lbs and loosing about 10 lbs a month. For days I could only sit in a chair and rock back and forth trying to cope with the pain in my stomach. I am embarrassed to say that I was having panic attacks on top of the stomach not working. No pain meds for it, it wouldn't do any good to swallow them as the adsorption of nutrients from food as well as most medicines happens in the small intestine. Narcotics tend to relax your stomach muscles which would worsen the condition as I understand it. That is the rub. The food that you eat goes to the stomach and if your gall bladder is still working it will pump acids onto the food and cook the food right there in your stomach. Without the stomach muscles contracting the food can't get past your stomach and make it to your small intestines to be absorbed and used by your body. Essentially your dying from malnutrition. Acid reflux ensues anytime you try to lie down and depending on how tough/stupid you are, you throw up within a few minutes/hours/or days. Voluntarily and sometimes involuntarily, either way your in for one heck of a ride. Insomnia, Nausea, vomiting, weakness, and dehabilitating pain. I do not recommend in the least.
The last time we were in the keys I will never forget, we went to the resturaunt next to World Wide Sportsman and I was feeling pretty good. I ordered and ate grilled Mahi, steamed squash and brown rice. This is borderline TMI, Stink will appreciate. The meal was kinda bland so as not to disrupt my gut. A day of suffering later I finally heaved up what was left of the meal. NO sign of any fish or rice, that was all a yellow mash of spittle, but there in the bucket were those squash skins- green zuchinni and yellow squash to be exact. You just about can't digest squash skins, who knew?
I haven't lost my sense of humor and I am nearly home BUT the aftermath of the sickness has left me with a crappy case of depression. I have absolutely nothing to be depressed about either, hard to figure out. No longer diabetic, the sickness may have saved my life to be honest. Diabetes and specifically my uncontrolled blood sugar could have been the cause of my onset of gastroparesis. I know, I know, I scoff when people put it all out there on the internet for all to see but I really don't care. It is what it is. I know I am not alone. I am on the mend and doing 100% better than before and like I said earlier, this is therapy. You guys are my kind of support group.
So sorry to hear about your ongoing pain Ferman, I can't imagine. A few on here are smart enough to realize what a tragedy that really is. Reason being, for those of you that may have never had the priviledge to meet his acquaintance, TheFermanator is most talented, has quite an intellect and is a heck of a nice guy all the way around. Besides that, noone deserves to live in pain/suffering. I pray too MJ, for all the sick and ailing. I have faith and I have been tested a little. Keeping the faith. Y'all do the same, V

Well if there is a bright side the diabeties is gone!! Thats why my kidneys are gone, and I have real bad neropthjey in hands & feet. But like you I lost the weight after gastro by pass (370 yo 160, now holding at 195), and away with the sugar, but to late, and thats what is killing my wife now, but she can't lose weight as she is 100 pounds soak and weight. She is so depressed taking all kinds of meds and still can't come out of it. Just tue. the doctor told her she needs to eat or she will die and thats what is happing he told her your dieing!! This is the third time in a month I have been told that, but the first time she was told, hopefully it will sink in??
OK Ok I am done I am praying for ya and for frem and anyone else that needs it!!
:pray::pray::pray:

My prayers to you all, MJ, his wife Ferm and to you Ridge. I cannot imagine the suffering you all have been through. Try to stay strong and always fight. I hope this new year will bring healing to you all

MJ.. Try to get your wife's doctor to prescribe some Medical Marijuana ... Not sure how you feel about it, but the reason it's prescribed for lots of people is because Chemotherapy for Cancer causes people to not eat... and that's why they loose all that weight.. Not from the Cancer.. from the chemo. So if you're wife isn't eating, get her some weed. It will stimulate her desire to eat, (that's why it's called "getting the munchies") and if it makes her feel a little better at the same time ... well, where's the harm in that?

Ridge.. So glad that you're not one of the ones slowly dying from the Gastroparesis. It's an insidious disease that, as you said, slowly starves people that are eating food. But their body can't digest it. The stomach stimulator is one of the most effective ways of treating the condition. A gastric bypass also often works since the small intestines are the place where the body actually digests the food and absorbs it into the body. But the stimulator is by far the preferred treatment. By the way, the reason you couldn't digest those squash skins is they are loaded with fiber, and fiber is one of the hardest substances for the body to digest,,, that's why we need it... to keep everything "flowing". Mu friend has to avoid anything with fiber like the plague.

Ferm... What can I say man? I wish there was something I could do other than pray for you to make a speedy recovery. But since I do believe in the power of prayer, I'll continue to pray for you and for everyone else here that's sick or injured. God bless and get well soon.

Things are not looking good! Have to meet with Hospice tomorrow morning! Nursing home has called them in as she is not doing well, they told her yesterday (with me there) that no amount of help anyone can give is going to help her unless she snaps out of her mind set and helps her self!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hospice will go to the nursing home and treat her there, they will supp[y a nurse councial and other help one on one, something the home can't offer.
I have been good with depression all this time but this is testing my strenth!!!!! I won't lie I have been sitting since yesterday in tears on and off. it doesn't help she is not in her right mind and says some hurtful things!

Please Pray all!! Thanks

Praying for ALL of you! Hoping that you can get some relief and peace.

God bless y'all.

I go in Monday for my hands. Haven't had anything but burning pain in my left for over a week now. Was hoping to wait till summer when my wifes off work to do anything, but it doesn't look like my body is going to wait that long.

good luck ferm!!!!!!!!!!!!!