Friday, June 14, 2013

Dumping

Dumping Syndrome:  according to Mayo Clinic's definition

Dumping syndrome is a group of symptoms that are most likely to develop if you've had surgery to remove all or part of your stomach, or if your stomach has been surgically bypassed to help lose weight. Also called rapid gastric emptying, dumping syndrome occurs when the undigested contents of your stomach move too rapidly into your small bowel. Common symptoms include abdominal cramps, nausea and diarrhea.
Most people with dumping syndrome experience symptoms soon after eating. In others, symptoms may occur one to three hours after eating. Some people experience both early and late symptoms.
In layman's terms....eat too fast or something that disagrees...cramps, vomiting and diarrhea.
Nearly everyone who has gastric bypass surgery has or will experience this at some point.
Well, I have now had my turn.  On Wednesday, at 5 weeks and 1 day out from surgery, my lunch did not agree with me.  I was putting sunscreen on Matthew so he could go to the pool.  I had to stop I had such extreme cramping.  Well I have had gas cramps before - so I didn't find it all that odd.  It passed, I went back to doing the sunscreen duty.
Off and on, the cramping continued but I could survive.  Then I decided I had better go to the bathroom because it wasn't just gas.  On my way to the bathroom I quickly detoured to the kitchen and grabbed a large bowl because I realized I was going to vomit as well.
Maggie followed me, all worried and wondered if she should get dad.  She was so concerned, it was wonderful.
I was SO tired after that I slept for over 2 hours and still felt kind of blechy all evening.
Upon thinking through my food choices and speed of eating, etc I recalled that the day before I had also had the same meal and had cramping - but that was it.
The culprit?   Cantaloupe.  I guess that will be a food that I avoid, at least for awhile.  Not real willing to try again right now.  Do NOT want a repeat performance from Wednesday!
So, last time I blogged I was excited about my upcoming interview.
It went well, I was very pleased.  i was very optimistic...too optimistic, evidently.  I received the phone call today telling me that they offered the job to someone else.  They said it was a difficult decision and that I interviewed well, but that they went with another candidate.
I had already figured this out since I was told that they would know today and my phone call did not come until after 4:00.  In other words, they were calling their first choice and waiting for the response before calling me to say no thanks.  If I had been their choice, I would have received the call earlier in the day.
This has posed a dilemma for me.  In the past when I have felt extremely down and worthless, cheetos with dip were my comfort.
At this point - I have nothing to use for comfort!!  I guess I could get some cheetos and dip - but the likelihood is that I would dump again.  And since I  really have NO desire to dump again...
So, I have spent WAY too much of my day feeling sorry for myself.  I keep replaying the interview over and over trying to figure out what I did wrong.
It's frustrating have 18 very successful years of teaching and not being good enough for the job.  Especially frustrating is applying for 9 jobs and having 8 of them not even bother to interview me.  Some of that, I assume, is that I DO have 18 years of experience and that means I am more expensive than a new teacher.  So not getting an interview, although it bothers me and hurts, is much easier to deal with than getting an interview and then being rejected.
There are no more job openings in any surrounding areas at this point.  So now I sit and pray that another job opens up and that it will be the job I am meant to have.
In the mean time...I need to figure out my new way of coping.  My dietitian would probably recommend water since I never seem to get enough of that.  So... that is what I will try.  I don't think it will be quite as tasty as my cheetos and dip, however! 

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