thank you Gabby, Sarah and Mrs D

Heres what happened..when i had the gallbladder surgery they tried to do laproscopic but it didnt work so they had to cut me open about 10 inches. in this area is where all the swelling started and pain immediately following surgery. they kept treating me as if i had an infection..but i didnt so i kept swelling. one night the swelling got so bad that i couldnt breathe. i went to the ER again and there was a doctor who said i think you are having an allergic reaction to something...take 50mgr of prednisone for 5 days then taper it off. i am asthmatic and have had prednisone ,many times so no big deal. so the next day the swelling started comming off in buckets! I lost 10lbs of fluid on ech day for the first 3 days...then i tapered off the prednisone and on day 10 the swelling started to come back! so i went back up on the prednisone and it seemed like 30 mgrs kep the swelling from going up past 30lbs.

well i kept feeling very sick besides the swelling. in November 2006 a plastic surgeon said lets cut off all the swollen tissue and see if that doesn't solve the problem. so they cut me hip to hip taking off 25lbs of tissue. then i got deathly ill! I went code blue after the surgery..they brought me back to life. then right after the surgery, my body went haywire. i became diabetic, i got gasteoparesis, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and my period stopped. i was weak and it took me 2 years to recover from the surgery. the only thing that has changed is that i dont have high blood pressure now..but i have all the rest.

MrsD i am familir with yeast problems and i do have one..i am taking Nystatin Oral right now because i am on a antibiotic for a bladder infection and i have thrush in my mouth from it...so i am battling that.

the swelling is not a lump...it is in each cell...so there isnt a pool of swelling..i have taken lasix but it doesnt help this kind of swelling because it isnt vascular...so i am taking imuran and prednisone to try to keep the swelling down but it isnt working right now i am swelling more and my doctor and no doctors i have been to know how to stop it or reduce it! it is debilitating. the swelling caused me to have a herniated disc in my lower back 2 years ago..so i deal with that on top of everything else.

Please dont get me wrong...i am not writing this looking for ptity..we all have our problems here, and each person is important and have their own terrible pain. I am writing this looking for new ideas of how to help myself. i hate siting here getting worse with nothing to do to help myself. am i just supposed to swell until i die? There has to be someone some where that can help me.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Lori

Well, when the lymph nodes in the abdomen become blocked as in Lymphoma, all the lymph fluid backs up into the tissues. The lymph nodes are deep in the body and when this edema happens cannot be felt sometimes

Have you had a Cat scan recently of your abdomen?

Whatever is wrong, does sound frightful, and difficult to manage.

I hope your doctor finds answers for you, at this upcoming appointment.

The Candida can be awful... so I hope the medication helps that.

Thank you MrsD

i cant fit in a catscan right now...Im too big and heavy.. they did an ultra sound and didnt see anything. When i have had cat scans in the past none of the lymph nodes were blocked. the best way i can explain it is that from the incisions i have had on my abdomen, my body thinks there is an infection and keeps reacting sending white blood cells to fix it but theres nothing to ix. its like my nerves that got cut are on full alert...like something is happening.

im scared...that one day it will crush me, i have to use both arms and hands to lift my abdomen to move or roll over. its pitted edema..i can press my entire hand deep to leave an imprint ...its not good. i keep looking for help. the other day it was hurting terrible and i put a heating pad on it...now i dont have feeling on the outside skin on some places on my stomach from the gallbladder surgery...the heating pad made a big blister on me and it popped and scabbed over...never happened before, so now i have to be very careful that i dnt get an infection. Im SO tired of dealing with this as many of us RSD people are. all i can do is live in the moment and get through this day in hopes that there will be more answers tomorrow. Someone some where must be doing more research on this!
sigh...
Thank you for listening and thinking bout me, you are very very kind!