Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Story of a Gall Bladder, or, Why I'll be Missing for a Few Days

Well, friends, I'm afraid I'm going on a bit of an unplanned vacation of sorts. This gall bladder of mine seems to have... well... turned against me.

I awoke Tuesday morning at 4am. Not insomnia this time--no, it was pain. There's nothing like being wrenched out of a sound sleep by PAIN. After some hours of thinking it was some curse wrought against me by the pasta with beans and broccoli I ate the night before, it didn't go away. A hot shower didn't make it go away. The pain just continued to get worse.

By 9am, since I was convinced that alien was about to break forth from my upper abdomen, I asked Mr.W to come home, take me to the Emergency room.

Lo and behold, it's my gall bladder. The doc says it must come out. I go to see the surgeon this morning.

I hope the surgery will be scheduled for today. According to the ER doctor, it's a quick procedure through three tiny incisions--one for the clamp, one for the scissors, and one for the camera.

I wonder if that would make a good vlog entry? Hehe, no. I wouldn't do that to you.

Until all of this is sorted out, I don't know when I'll be able to post. Please excuse my absence; I have lots of goodies planned for us both--I just don't know when I'll return to regular food.

I suspect you don't want pictures of the store-bought orange- and strawberry- flavored sugar-free gelatin cups I've been eating. I'll spare you the bland, boring, and the worst: uber low-fat food I'm forced to ingest for now.

I'll be back soon enough, with more delicious posts coming to you as usual. Until then, have a wonderful few days!

8 comments:

Kathy said...

Oh no! Keep us posted. I hope everything goes quickly and smoothly and that you are home and feeling better in no time!

Sara said...

Feel better soon!

graywolff said...

I am a tough cookie AND a nurse. I too awoke at 2 a.m thinking "it's tumor"-- and I have seen people writhing in pain from a GB attack.
Hopefully a lap choly and you'll be all set... just make sure they tell you about that migrating gas AFTER the procedure.
GOOD LUCK!

Anonymous said...

Hope everything goes smooth and well for you. Wishing you a speedy recovery from the surgery.

Dragon said...

I've had my gall bladder removed and I have literally felt your pain. :( I hope everything goes well and you're feeling better soon.

Johanna GGG said...

Good luck with this - my mum had terrible trouble with her gall bladder last year but part of her problem was that they took quite a while to diagnose it - hope you have a speedy recovery!

Amanda said...

Thanks so much, Kathy, Sara, Graywolff, Ninja & Dragon. (Shouldn't there be a pirate in here, too? lol)

The laproscopic surgery went well Thursday morning--doc said it was a good thing we did it right away instead of waiting, because by next week it would have turned into an emergency & much bigger procedure.

I had no idea about the gas until afterward. Fortunately not too much pain from that so far.

I'm completely off pain meds already--only experiencing some slight stinging at the incision sites which is relieved with an ice pak.

I'm taking it easy & letting my family take care of me. Except when Mr.W fed me some cheese that had gone off (new from the grocery--not sure why it was bad). My tastebuds are way off so I was unaware until a couple of days later--had to call in my sister-in-law to check it and QA poor Mr.W's activities.

It means so much to me to have your notes here and by email. I appreciate all the concern you've shown, as well as your prayers & good vibes.

Blessings to you,
Amanda

Amanda said...

Johanna--thank you for the well wishes. I'm doing well so far and hope to be sleeping a bit less in the coming several days. I seem to be on a kitty-esque routine: eat, sleep, drink, sleep, rest room break, sleep some more...

I think you posted while I was writing my reply to the others. Your poor mother--this is one kind of pain that I never, ever want to experience again. I have such sympathy for anyone who goes through GB problems!

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