Tuesday 18 January 2011

Weight

I had an appointment recently and things are good and bad really. For once my efforts have been paying off and I've gone from 38% lung function up to 45%. Which still isn't the best, but its heading in the direction i need it to go, so ill take it for now and just work a bit harder to get it further increased.

Weight is a huge problem for me right now. Its getting me quite low and really frustrated. I cant seem to gain any weight on my own. I'm about 46kg right now and the dietician keeps going on about how I'm so underweight. Doesn't she think i know that!! I'm not that keen on my dietician especially after that remark she made once about being able to teach anatomy with my arms 'coz they are so skinny.

Ive been given 6 weeks until my next appointment and if I've not gained weight enough for them to be remotely happy then I'm in serious discussions about getting a PEG. This i really obviously do not want!!

Its just extremely frustrating beyond words, that I'm eating and eating and its just not sticking to me at all. I'm even making myself drink my Ensure+ shakes again and I'm trying to use Maxijul powder again in my drinks and things like cup a soups i have at lunch time. I had to give a full rendition of what id eaten for the past week to the dietician which pisses me off when i have to do that, as even if I've sat and eaten like 6 full on family sized cakes all to myself everyday she still isn't happy with me! I give up with her. I don't listen to her really, just glaze over and think about where id rather be. Its not as if she gives me any advice to listen to anyway!

I had the PEG feed talk every time I've been there for the past like month now, and its really pissing me off that they wont take "no" for an answer. I said i don't want NG feeding coz i just cant handle the thought of it let alone actually having it happen. So they've now moved onto PEG feeding. Which is worse, so god knows where their thinking is that I'm going to say "yes" to this when i already said "no" to NG feeding.

I realise it would help me out greatly and if my weight went up then it would help me out a lot with other things as well. But i just don't think PEG feeding is the way for me to be going yet. Its like an instinct that's telling me i don't need that yet and to stick to my guns about doing this myself. Imagine how pleased ill feel if i can get back to 54kg on my own without interference from another horrid foreign body in me. I understand that some people are just not in a position to say no to such help, and i might well be one of them people one day, i just don't know. But while I've got the chance to do this on my own, and feel my own work and efforts paying off myself then I'm going to take it.

The Dr, as nice and lovely as she is, explained in a better way why they want me to do tube feeding. She said that if I'm ever in the unfortunate position to need a lung transplant, then there is the strict rules to follow for weight amongst other things. Which i fully understand and do comprehend to an extent (without being in such a position i can only understand it to an extent i think) but it almost felt like she was slightly using that what she said as a scare to get me to do tube feeding.

Even if at my next appointment I've gained weight, I'm still going to look into PEG feeding while I've got the chance to ask all i can think of to ask, then if the time comes that i really really do need it, then I've got a lot of info and its not all going to be new to me like now. Perhaps it will terrify me less as well.

1 comment:

  1. Dieticians just don't get it do they? They don't seem to understand quite how difficult it is to gain weight! I think you've got the right idea asking everything you can, making sure you understand everything so at any point where you think, 'ok now is the time, I want a PEG' you'll be well informed. The idea of NG tubes freak me out too, but would it be worth finding out about those too to keep your options open? I'm know you won't be the only one that finds the thought horrible, but they'd much easier, far less painful to insert and you can get rid as soon as you're at the weight you need to be. Tori has videos online about the daily routines of CF and it shows her inserting a NG tune and she doesn't flinch/cough nothing. Might be worth checking it out? It might help the understanding too because she talks you through it.

    xxx

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