I'm alive...and well

My surgery went well and I am home recovering.

Steve and I arrived at the hospital yesterday morning at about 7:10. My mom rearranged her work schedule so that she could be there as well and she arrived before the nurse took us back. Even though it was early and I was going to be having surgery, I was in a pretty good mood and really wasn't nervous. I received a blessing the night before and it gave me great peace. I had a student nurse follow me all the way through my stay. It was rather interesting, but it was fun to have someone to talk to during the few times I would have been alone otherwise.

According to Steve, the doctor told him that my gallbladder was pretty scarred up and had been causing me some grief for quite some time. The largest stone was too big and had to be crushed before they could remove my gallbladder. For me, having this knowledge gives me a lot of peace with my decision to have it removed. I was a little unsure at one point, even though I was extremely sick.

I can not say enough good about the care I received while at the hospital. Everyone seemed to really be concerned about me and seemed to really enjoy their work. Overall, other than the fact that I had a tough time coming out of the anesthesia, my experience was very positive.

I am able to get up and down realatively easily and even handled a few visitors last night. My pain is under control and I have been in good spirits. I'm quite encouraged at this point and look forward to getting on with life without the nasty attacks.

I want to say thank you to all my family and friends that have shown a great amount of love and support during this time. I feel very loved and very special.

It's too early!

Last night I showered and washed my hair so that this morning all I would have to do is put on my clothes, brush my teeth, take my medicine and go out the door. I set my alarm with plenty of time for a little snooze button action, but we both slept so rough last night that we didn't need it. We got the "I'm anticipating a certain event tomorrow" sleep. You all know what I am talking about... Steve and I are up and ready to go with plenty of time to spare. Steve is not feeling well and I'm just plain tired.

I need to be there by 7:15. This means I'm not the first person but I am close to the beginning. I guess that's a good thing. Get the surgeon while he's still relatively fresh in the morning and not tired in the afternoon. So, wish me luck. I'm off to see the surgeon...

Moving Forward

I had my appointment with the surgeon today. It was laid out to me that there really weren't many "real" options. Because of the severity and frequency of my attacks not having my gallbladder removed is the best option.

Steve went with me and asked, "Are there any other options?" The surgeon simply said, "Yes, you can be in pain." He also said there is a medication that I could take to break up the stones...for the rest of my life, and they do not know the side effects of taking it that long. Ummm, no thanks! I could also have an ultrasound to break up the stones. The problem with the ultrasound is that there isn't even one of the machines needed for it in the state of Utah. There are more complications with that than there is with the surgery.

So, you guessed it, I opted to just have it removed. Both my parents have had the surgery and they seem to be pretty darn healthy. The doctor is headed out of town this weekend and said he could fit me in on Thursday, otherwise I would have to wait about 2 weeks. Again, ummm, no thanks! If I am going to do it let's just get it done. The surgery will be done laparoscopically and I should be able to go home the same day. I don't know what time yet, I will find that out tomorrow.

Regardless, I will likely not be posting for a while. Maybe I'll see if Steve can at least post an update to let everyone know how I am doing. We'll see.

Low-fat = Blah

I know this is going to come as a shock to you all, seeing as I am such a health buff...

Eating a gluten-free AND low-fat is not only boring, but it is really difficult and I don't like it! I am still struggling with food, even if it is basically non-fat. My whole body is very sensitive to anything I eat and it seems that the only thing that really has little or no effect is applesauce. But, Steve tells me I can't live on applesauce alone.

In the meantime, I eat what I can of what won't make me sick or give me pain and I meet with the general surgeon tomorrow to discuss my options. That will give me a better idea of how long I'm going to be feeling like this. I'll keep you posted.

Just In Time

Steve is home. This actually ended up not being a difficult decision. I'll explain...

This past weekend I had another episode of my rude awakening, except without the visit to the chiropractor. At some point during this "attack" I realized it was something more serious than my ribs being out. It could be that I had just had an adjustment that day, it could be that I realized it was all focused in the pit of my stomach. But I was tempted to go to the ER that night. In retrospect it would have been a good thing to do. I didn't want to go in without Steve though. I had a feeling that I was having trouble with my gallbladder and I was afraid of emergency surgery. So, I stuck it out and slept all day Sunday to recover.

I talked to Steve Sunday night and we started talking seriously about him coming home. He was upset with me for not going to the hospital and told me to go if I needed to whether he was there or not. I told him I really was concerned and that I wanted him to come home. He had a few things to pull together before leaving so we decided he would probably leave on Thursday and get home on Friday.

Monday, I decided that I needed to see a doctor for this because it has happened too many times and something was really wrong. I called my primary care's office and was able to get in that afternoon. I told him my theory was gallbladder but he disagreed with me based on my symptoms. He felt it was an ulcer and gave me a sample of Prevacid and took some blood to check for the H Pylori bacteria. I said ok and went home. I still didn't feel well.

Tuesday night, I had another "attack". It was earlier in the evening, before going to bed instead of waking me up. My dad came over to give me a blessing and I was told that things would calm down, I would be able to get some sleep and go to work as I needed to do. Around midnight I did receive enough relief to get some sleep, but it did not go away completely.

Wednesday I was tempted to stay home, even go in late but I pushed myself and went in on time. I worked the entire day although I was not well. I called the doctor's office for my lab results. The H Pylori was negative. It was not an ulcer and the doctor wanted me to arrange to have an ultrasound. I set this up for Monday morning, although I was not sure I would make it until then. At some point in the late afternoon, Steve called me to cheer me up. He said he had a surprise for me and wanted me to look at the bank account online and tell him what the last transaction was. He was already on his way home and in Tucumcari, NM. I started to cry, his timing was perfect. I needed him home with me. I was very sick and was not getting better. I promised him, and myself, that if I had another attack that I would go to the hospital.

Thursday morning, approx. 5:00 a.m., Steve walked in the door. He drove 20 hours straight from Justin, Texas to our home in West Jordan, UT stopping only for gas. I was asleep but woke up when the door opened. I can not describe how comforting it was to have him home with me. Even though I had been sleeping, and Steve was exhausted and needed sleep, we talked and just enjoyed each other until about 6:00. Emotionally, I felt so relieved. Physically, I still hurt.

I hate the alarm. I always have but it is worse when I am sick. I have to make the decision to get out of bed and go to work when I feel that I need to stay home or stay home. Thursday, my bed won. I was comfortable enough that I wasn't in too much pain, as long as I didn't move. I had to get out of bed to use the bathroom and boy did I feel it. It wasn't a full attack but it was enough that I felt work was not a good thing for me that day. I called the office, went back to bed and slept until noon. Around 2:00 I felt I could handle a shower and it helped, for a moment. I crashed and went back to bed at 3:00. Steve woke me up at 6:00 for dinner and an appointment we needed to go to at 7:00 but I felt worse than I had all day. We got home at 8:00 and I went straight to bed.

Sleep did not come. By 9:00 I thought I might be in trouble and by 10:00 it was very clear that I was. Unfortunately for me, by this time Steve was asleep and due to his drive the previous day/night he was in no condition to skip sleep. He fell asleep mid-conversation. I called my mom for her medical opinion. I couldn't wait until Steve could get enough sleep to take me to the hospital so my dad took me. We got right in, literally. Within about 30-45 minutes of arriving at the hospital I was in having an ultrasound. By the time she was done with the ultrasound the morphine was really kicking in and I was starting to feel pretty good. When I got back to my room I finally had to really wait, but at this point I didn't care. I was loopy and grateful to be in that state. It felt good!

After about a half hour the doctor came in to give us the update. Because my pain was heading to the left side of my stomach they were somewhat concerned about my pancreas as well. Luckily, there were no signs of infection. They did find exactly what I expected, several gallstones. The largest was 1.7 cm in diameter. That is not a small stone! For perspective, that is the size of my thumbnail! He did say that other than the stones, which were the cause of the pain, my gallbladder looked good so I did not need emergency surgery. He referred me to a general surgeon to discuss my long term options and gave me prescriptions for Lortab and Toradol to manage any attacks I may have until I could see the doctor.

We left the hospital barely after 1:00 a.m. We were there just over 2 hours - a very quick visit! We stopped at Walgreen's on the way home to fill my prescriptions and I climbed right in bed. Steve was still not coherent. He chatted with me but was gone! I still felt good and slept quite well. This morning I called my boss and the office to give an update and informed them I would not be in. I needed to recouperate. Needless to say it has been an interesting week.

Overall, I am very relieved to know what is going on and that I have a direction to go. I meet with the general surgeon on Tuesday to go over my options. This knowledge brings a lot of light to past issues. Remember my vacation? Yeah, same thing. Christmas? Then too. I wish I figured it out sooner rather than later, but I know now.

And knowing is half the battle...