My April writing plans went awry when my gallbladder decided to throw stones at me in the beginning of the month. It began with a spaghetti dinner, followed by handfuls of popcorn while watching tv with my daughters. Then came the pain.
Somewhere between stomach cramps and contractions is where I'd put the feeling, plus bloating and eventual back pain so bad I was literally writhing on the floor. There was no comfortable place or position, but it was cooler on the floor. Relief came from being able to throw up after a couple hours of agony. And sleep. Blessed sleep.
Feeling mostly better in the morning, I decided it was probably something I ate, although I had no clue what, since no one else was sick. I ate light and went to work. I was fine until I ate food while on break. Curse you, Hostess Cherry Pies! Twenty minutes after eating, the pain and bloating started again. I was sent home.
The next day was my day off. I had just about decided it was some sort of food poisoning after all, but figured I'd message my doctor about it using the handy-dandy "Patient Portal." That resulted in a phone call from his assistant, who had contacted him while he was out of the office, and an insistence that I see the doctor on call at the local clinic.
I got an appointment with an LPN within the hour, who ran blood tests and had me schedule an ultrasound. Ultrasound was first thing the next morning, where I won a same day surgical consult.
The same day surgical consult resulted in having to switch off with my husband at the dentist's office where one of our kids was getting braces.
As it turned out, I was one of the elite 3% of gallbladder attack patients who had actually thrown a stone that blocked the bile duct. They sent me to Eau Claire for stone removal the very next day.
A week later I saw the surgeon again and we scheduled the gallbladderectomy(not actual scientific term). The surgery was a week and a half ago.
Life without a gallbladder has so far limited my enjoyment of dairy products, except as in ingredient. Tonight we will have homemade pizza. The experiment will be delicious.
So, with most of April taken up by sickness and the most boring bread diet, I found myself writing very little. I'm feeling better now, although a bit itchy. Here's hoping the rest of May will see more words from me.
Somewhere between stomach cramps and contractions is where I'd put the feeling, plus bloating and eventual back pain so bad I was literally writhing on the floor. There was no comfortable place or position, but it was cooler on the floor. Relief came from being able to throw up after a couple hours of agony. And sleep. Blessed sleep.
Feeling mostly better in the morning, I decided it was probably something I ate, although I had no clue what, since no one else was sick. I ate light and went to work. I was fine until I ate food while on break. Curse you, Hostess Cherry Pies! Twenty minutes after eating, the pain and bloating started again. I was sent home.
The next day was my day off. I had just about decided it was some sort of food poisoning after all, but figured I'd message my doctor about it using the handy-dandy "Patient Portal." That resulted in a phone call from his assistant, who had contacted him while he was out of the office, and an insistence that I see the doctor on call at the local clinic.
I got an appointment with an LPN within the hour, who ran blood tests and had me schedule an ultrasound. Ultrasound was first thing the next morning, where I won a same day surgical consult.
The same day surgical consult resulted in having to switch off with my husband at the dentist's office where one of our kids was getting braces.
As it turned out, I was one of the elite 3% of gallbladder attack patients who had actually thrown a stone that blocked the bile duct. They sent me to Eau Claire for stone removal the very next day.
A week later I saw the surgeon again and we scheduled the gallbladderectomy(not actual scientific term). The surgery was a week and a half ago.
Life without a gallbladder has so far limited my enjoyment of dairy products, except as in ingredient. Tonight we will have homemade pizza. The experiment will be delicious.
So, with most of April taken up by sickness and the most boring bread diet, I found myself writing very little. I'm feeling better now, although a bit itchy. Here's hoping the rest of May will see more words from me.
RSS Feed