Thirty-five weeks post op and good news

I weighed in at 90.1kg this morning, 198.6lbs or 14st2.6lbs.  I have now lost exactly 53 kilos since 18 July 2011. 

I set off to drive to St Brieuc at 10.00am as I had an appointment with my mini gastric bypass surgeon, Dr Lechaux.  I needn't have rushed.  He's never on time with appointments because he gives everyone such long time to talk, which is lovely when it's your turn.  I always take a book with me and a drink, so just relax in the waiting room.  One of the girls in the waiting room was another of his patients who I had met at the meetings for Obesité Bretagne Nord.  She had her sweet thirteen month old daughter with her.

I had prepared a report for my surgeon on the progress of my diarrhoea from Day 1 to Day 245 (this morning) and translated it using Google Translate.  I don't suppose the French was perfect but it was understandable.   It explained the frequency, consistency and colour as things have changed through to now, incuding the difficulty I had with increased diarrhoea for the twelve days I took Créon. 

The reason I was seeing Dr Lechaux this morning was because my experiences while taking Créon were awful.  The frequency of diarrhoea increased, the gas and cramps increased and I had very little sleep with having to get up for the toilet in the night.  I also had three "accidents" during those twelve days, which left me very insecure about leaving my house.  I gave up taking the Créon having talked by email to Dr Lechaux and he asked me to meet with him today.

We had also both received the results of the blood tests which I had done on Friday.  My liver function has improved, as has my cholesterol.  The main reason I had the bypass was because I had a marked fatty liver which could have led to cirrhosis, so that was very good news.  Also the water content of my blood was very good and I was showing no signs of dehydration.  Everything seemed good!

The last three days have been almost acceptable, even though I have given in and been eating cheese, cream, butter and milk in a sauce.  So, if it doesn't worsen, then things are pretty much ok.  If it does worsen then I am to email him and he will probably make an appointment for me to see an intestinal expert at Clinique St Yves in Rennes, where I would stay for one week.  Hopefully this will not be necessary.

Dr Lechaux also recommended that I drink a mineral water called Thonon which he seemed to think might be beneficial to my intestines.  I bought a shrink-wrapped eight 1.5 litre bottle pack on my way home at only €2.88.  I've put one in the fridge so I can take it up to bed with me for my "during the night" drinking.

The weather has been glorious today and I had the roof down on my car coming back from St Brieuc to home - beautiful sunshine. 

I am feeling much happier now this diarrhoea has improved so much and I can, for the first time in 20+ years, get my solitaire diamond engagement ring on the correct finger!