allion
At least my gallbladder is full of gallstones, and shouldn't be.
Just a reminder to everyone out there that if you ever experience a sharp pain under your right ribcage (not low like the appendix, but above the midline), it could be your gallbladder telling you all is not well.
I've been having pain off and on for about a year, but always the pain had stopped before. An hour of feeling like it was a gas bubble stuck somewhere in the piping, or a muscle pull, or just something a bit uncomfortable. Nothing to worry about. Sure.
Last Wednesday night, that changed. Could not get comfortable no matter what I tried - heating pad, cold packs, sitting, standing, lying down...best part here is I decided to see if things would change on Thursday.
Dumb move...spent that day throwing up and feeling like I had a knife in my ribs...after being up all night, I finally went to the ER early Friday morning and threw myself upon their mercy.
In four hours' time, I had a morphine shot, and things began to look a little hazy, but I could at least sleep...an ultrasound later, they found my inflamed gallbladder.
Ah, no home for me...instead, a weekend of no food or water, only saline and antibiotics, so my insides could calm down and they could see if I would need surgery or not. Add in a constant fever that made me think they had the heat too high in the hospital room, and it was a real fun Hallowe'en.
Got back to clear liquids on Monday - the most vile salty broth that pretended to be soup that I have ever eaten. But you know, I ate it because it pretended to be food, and I can't chew saline and antibiotics. The Jello was excellent. It was like a really lousy day spa that you can't leave.
By Wednesday, I was back on cream of wheat and then a sandwich at lunch. The best chicken salad sandwich and cream of chicken soup I have had.
The way they do this is to see if your gallbladder can handle the food in your system. If you can, you can go home and they will schedule a surgery later. If you can't, you get to have surgery a lot quicker.
So, I was lucky. My body decided to give me a big warning that my diet has not been all that great, which I knew, and nothing blew at an inoportune moment.
I will treat my digestive tract with a bit more respect after this and not treat it like an amusement park.
However, I will need the thing taken out, probably early next year. It'll be laproscopic, so no big scars, I hope.
Best part of all this - I had a call when I was in the hospital that I didn't get the latest job I applied to because I "had said that public speaking wasn't your strong point and that has nothing to do with the job." WHA???
Whatever...probably wouldn't have liked working with them anyways.
Just been a week, you know? The one good thing I found in this is that when you are flat out on a hospital bed tied to an IV and you are poked and prodded and checked for your vitals at every opportunity, most crap in your life really begins to not mean much.
As in, the crap at the job doesn't matter. The bills, we'll take care of them when we can. Just do what you can, and get well. And there are so many in worse shape than me. My problem is fixable. Another lady in our room was waiting to see if they were going to do another surgery to see if she had a tumour, scar tissue, or something worse.
I was lucky, and I thank the doctors and nurses who took care of me and put up with me for five days.:hail
Just a reminder to everyone out there that if you ever experience a sharp pain under your right ribcage (not low like the appendix, but above the midline), it could be your gallbladder telling you all is not well.
I've been having pain off and on for about a year, but always the pain had stopped before. An hour of feeling like it was a gas bubble stuck somewhere in the piping, or a muscle pull, or just something a bit uncomfortable. Nothing to worry about. Sure.
Last Wednesday night, that changed. Could not get comfortable no matter what I tried - heating pad, cold packs, sitting, standing, lying down...best part here is I decided to see if things would change on Thursday.
Dumb move...spent that day throwing up and feeling like I had a knife in my ribs...after being up all night, I finally went to the ER early Friday morning and threw myself upon their mercy.
In four hours' time, I had a morphine shot, and things began to look a little hazy, but I could at least sleep...an ultrasound later, they found my inflamed gallbladder.
Ah, no home for me...instead, a weekend of no food or water, only saline and antibiotics, so my insides could calm down and they could see if I would need surgery or not. Add in a constant fever that made me think they had the heat too high in the hospital room, and it was a real fun Hallowe'en.
Got back to clear liquids on Monday - the most vile salty broth that pretended to be soup that I have ever eaten. But you know, I ate it because it pretended to be food, and I can't chew saline and antibiotics. The Jello was excellent. It was like a really lousy day spa that you can't leave.
By Wednesday, I was back on cream of wheat and then a sandwich at lunch. The best chicken salad sandwich and cream of chicken soup I have had.
The way they do this is to see if your gallbladder can handle the food in your system. If you can, you can go home and they will schedule a surgery later. If you can't, you get to have surgery a lot quicker.
So, I was lucky. My body decided to give me a big warning that my diet has not been all that great, which I knew, and nothing blew at an inoportune moment.
I will treat my digestive tract with a bit more respect after this and not treat it like an amusement park.
However, I will need the thing taken out, probably early next year. It'll be laproscopic, so no big scars, I hope.
Best part of all this - I had a call when I was in the hospital that I didn't get the latest job I applied to because I "had said that public speaking wasn't your strong point and that has nothing to do with the job." WHA???
Whatever...probably wouldn't have liked working with them anyways.
Just been a week, you know? The one good thing I found in this is that when you are flat out on a hospital bed tied to an IV and you are poked and prodded and checked for your vitals at every opportunity, most crap in your life really begins to not mean much.
As in, the crap at the job doesn't matter. The bills, we'll take care of them when we can. Just do what you can, and get well. And there are so many in worse shape than me. My problem is fixable. Another lady in our room was waiting to see if they were going to do another surgery to see if she had a tumour, scar tissue, or something worse.
I was lucky, and I thank the doctors and nurses who took care of me and put up with me for five days.:hail