Forty-five weeks post op and a little light at the end of the tunnel maybe

Tuesday morning again and I weighed in at the same weight as last week, so no change then, which is fine as I'm not desperate to lose more weight, I'm just really happy with what I've already achieved.

Here's me today, wearing a skirt for the first time in 24 years!

My fifteen day course of Questran and Créon finished on Wednesday last week and I was then prescribed a two week course of Loramyc.  This is a drug which I have been given in case I have Candida (thrush).  I am showing no normal signs of Candida but it was the next stage in trying to combat my diarrhoea.  It is a strange drug which is taken by putting the tiny tablet on one side of the mouth between the lip and gum and keeping it there.  The Pharmacy didn't have it in stock so I had to return the next day to collect it.

However, the following day, Thursday, I had a sort of breakthrough on the diarrhoea front.  I went to the loo at 08.10hrs and realised just after lunchtime that I hadn't been again.  I also realised that I had forgotten to take my usual medication - two allergy tablets, two supplements to help hair and nails recover and Inexium, the drug I take to protect my stomach.  I have taken Inexium every day, without fail, since my operation and while in hospital it was included in my drip.

So - I have had Inexium every day since my operation and I have had diarrhoea every day since my operation.  Could there be a correlation here?  I checked out the information leaflet in the drug box.  1-10 people in 100 people can have diarrhoea as a result of taking Inexium. 

I didn't go to the loo again on Thursday until 22.00 before I went to bed.  I didn't wake up in the night to go and my next visit was on Friday at 08.20hrs.

In fact Friday was a great day and I didn't go to the loo at all until Saturday morning at 08.10hrs.

Friday evening was the Obestité Bretagne Nord meeting in St Brieuc at our new meeting place of Le Papagayo restaurant.  Dr Lechaux was there and when he asked how I was I briefly told him the above and said I had also written it down in an email to him that afternoon.  On Saturday morning I received a reply from him saying that I could go without Inexium for a month and see what happened.   My feeling is that I will take Inexium again on Monday and see if the diarrhoea recurs, which would seem to be a good test.  If it does, then obviously I will come off Inexium until I see Dr Lechaux on 3 July when I presume he will prescribe a substitute. 

I'm trying not to get too excited, but I can't tell you how lovely these three days have been without worrying about staying near a loo and the possibility of accidents.  I really was beginning to believe that I would never be in this situation, so my life could be on the road to very good.

Sunday saw a return to the old diarrhoea day, but Monday was slightly better and today has been good so far.

I'm not entirely sure it was the Inexium now, but am still staying away from it for the time being and I'm just glad that overall things are slightly better than they were.  I am finding black coffee difficult to drink at the moment, even weak instant black coffee.  It tends to give me stomach cramps immediately and this is a real pain as it's my favourite hot drink.

Yesterday I met for the first time since my operation two French friends who were amazed to see me at this weight.  It's so good to get this sort of feedback.