#gallbastard

shit

what did i eat today?

oatmeal + honey peanut butter + banana + apple

sandwich + baby carrots

okay thats not bad

sO WHAT THE FUCK GALLBLADDER

I'm an hour from home

In serve gallbladder pain that isnt responding to pain meds

Fever

Vomiting

Sweating

my gallbladder is going to throw the biggest bitch fit

The pain isn't bad yet. I took one of my mother's Tylenol 3s because I'm too scared to ask my doctor for more Vicodin. But I can feel it starting to radiate across my chest and up my spine.

I started having off and on stomach problems in October of '11. I thought it was indigestion...the flu...heartburn...etc. Finally, after 3 days of awful stomach pain in August '12, I went to the doctor. He started poking the right side of my stomach, which made me want to scream every cuss word in existence at him...OUCH! He sent me to the ER, where an ultrasound revealed multiple gallstones. The ER doctor was stunned, because apparently I don't fit the "gallstone stereotype." (I'm in my 20's and at a healthy weight.) I got in to see a surgeon the next day, who told me that the gallbladder needed to come out if I wanted to feel better. OF COURSE I WANT TO FEEL BETTER! Surgery was set for 3 weeks later.

I barely slept the night before surgery. I was terrified. My family and a few friends came to the hospital to hang out while I was in pre-op. I had terrific nurses - they cracked jokes and tried to keep the mood light. My surgeon came in, said good morning, and asked how I was feeling. I told him I was nervous. He patted my hand and said, "Well, I'd be concerned if you weren't nervous!" If I hadn't been hooked up to an IV, I probably would've punched him. NOT HELPING! One of the nurses made a joke about being "the bartender for the day" and started a drip. I remember being moved into the operating room and thinking it was huge...and that's it.

My surgeon's standard policy was to keep all his gallbladder patients in the hospital overnight. I'm glad he did - as when I came around from the anesthesia, I discovered SIX incisions in my stomach. (I'd been promised "2, maybe 3 at the most.") My family was as mystified as I; all my surgeon had told them was that surgery was successful. The nurses were tight-lipped, either saying "I have no clue" or "You'll have to talk to your doctor about that."

In the interest of full disclosure, I did throw up twice after surgery, but that was because one of the nurses gave me a Sierra Mist when I was not supposed to have it. (So don't let anyone give you soda right after surgery. Water and Jell-o are great, btw.) 

My surgeon was very cheerful when he came to my room the next morning. (For this particular surgeon, this is unusual. He's known by most of the nurses at the hospital to be "intense" and "very serious.") I immediately asked about the six incisions. He chuckled (!!) and said, "I was concerned about your pre-op bloodwork, so I did an ERCP while you were out. A black gallstone popped out of your pancreas. That's called pancreatitis and it's very dangerous. I had to take it out, so that's why you have 6 incisions. You're fine now!" Of course, my jaw hit the ground at "black gallstone popped out of your pancreas." WHAT?! He signed my discharge papers 15 minutes later, though.

I'm not gonna lie - recovery was pretty tough. 6 incisions spread all over your stomach...that hurts, y'all. (2 on the left, 3 on the right, 1 above the belly button.) I couldn't use my stomach muscles for almost 2 weeks without pain. The gas that they inserted to inflate the stomach added another dimension of pain in my shoulders. (That went away after 48 hours, though.) I had to force myself to walk. All I wanted to do was lie in bed. I finally found my iPod and played my favorite workout songs to motivate me to get up, even though I could only shuffle around and felt 100 years old.

I was put on a soft diet for about a week, which for me was oatmeal, Jell-o, applesauce, mashed potatoes, frozen fruit puree (no added sugar), Gatorade, fruit juice, and lots of water. My surgeon lifted the food restriction at my follow-up appointment a week later, but banned me from working out. (He looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about that. "WHAT?! EXERCISE?! Unless it's walking, no exercising for 4-6 weeks!" Sorry, Doc, I was just asking!)

It's been 4 months, and I can eat almost anything in moderation. Milk has been my biggest problem food. It's very odd, as I can have cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and milk cooked into foods...but a glass of milk nauseates me. Chocolate was a problem about a month after surgery, but I can have it now in small amounts with no issues. I can't eat large or high-fat meals. If I do, I get very nauseous to the point where I have to take Mylanta and walk it out. No pain - just nausea. Now, I eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. If I go too long without eating, I get nauseous. Nausea is annoying, but it's NOTHING compared to the pain of a gallbladder attack.

There are some options available, but none that are as successful as a cholecystectomy. One popular non-surgical option is the use of bile acids to dissolve gallstones. Less than 60% of patients experience a reduction in pain, and about 25% of patients have the gallstones return after treatment.

There are other options, but from what I've read they're even less effective than the bile acids, or reserved for serious cases or temporary band-aid fixes.

Having your gallbladder removed isn't so bad. I just had mine removed two weeks ago (to the day!) and I'm almost entirely better. It hurts for a little while, but (at least in my opinion) the pain from the surgery is nothing compared to the pain of an attack. I never regretted having my gallbladder removed. Not for a single second.

It was the first real surgery I ever had, and I was a bit nervous, but in retrospect I really didn't need to be scared.