This and That and a little TMI

The co-worker who had bariatric surgery in October has returned to work this week.  We are all so happy to see him back.  He looks thinner but also very weary.  He has lost almost 100 pounds in just six weeks, but confided that he’s been through the wringer and feels awfully weak and is easily fatigued and actually misses being able to eat to the point that he sometimes finds himself in unreasonably irritable moods around his family, especially at meal times, and tends to hang out in his man cave 24/7 playing video games, watching movies, or taking long naps to escape having to deal with anyone or anything.

He is especially frustrated because his kidney function blood work prior to the surgery indicated he may be in the beginning stages of kidney failure, yet they did the surgery anyway …. and now he has to go through another bunch of tests to determine what is causing his GRF levels to be in the warning zone.

He is also having a hard time (no pun intended) with his bowels.  A few days after his bariatric surgery, he was having problems with his bowels and went to a gastroenterologist who discovered he had a life threatening rectal fistula that needed to be surgically repaired immediately.

Unlike the Charmin commercial, he no longer “enjoys the go” but DREADS it.  He said the first two weeks after the colon surgery he actually succumbed to full blown panic attacks whenever he thought  it might happen.

He says the worst of that seems to be over and now his doctors are concentrating on his kidney function.  He meets with the nephrologist next week.