Turns out that I have an ailment that I thought was reserved for old folks. Upon doing some research, I have since discovered that those who suffer from the same ailment are women, Native Americans and people over sixty. I meet one of those criteria. And yet...
Last week I was happily enjoying a $.99 oriental chicken salad from the neighborhood (one of the glorious perks of being a teacher) when a sudden piercing pain stopped my fork mid stride. The pain continued through the night and went from "ouch" to a 10 on the scale. I was reminded quite a bit of being in labor. However, I did not go in to the emergency room because I was certain they would send me home with an antacid and tell me to avoid foods that cause, ahem, gassy issues. The night passed in a cycle of doze a couple minutes, wake up from the pain, doze a little bit more, wake up again, etc.
But I made it through.
Until the next night. As soon as the sun went down, the pain came out to play and BAM! I was on my hands and knees crying in pain again. My insurance has quite an emergency room deductible and I was still convinced that they would listen to my intestines, diagnose gas, and send me on my way. So I survived in much the same manner as the first night. As soon as the scheduling department changed the "closed" to "open" sign on the shingle, I speed dialed my way through and insisted on being seen that same day.
The dr. listened to my symptoms, felt my tummy and said, "Well, it could be one of two things. You could have an ulcer, or you may have had a gallbladder attack." She prescribed some ulcer meds, some happy pills for if the pain returned, and a trip to the ultra sound tech to check out my gallbladder.
I saw the ultra sound tech this morning and--surprise--I've got a nice big stone where it's not supposed to be. My dr. warned me that if we found out this was the case, we'd start talking about gallbladder removal.
Maybe it's just me, but removing an organ from my body (even if it's not a crucial organ) makes me a little nervous. I guess I'll learn more about it when my dr. calls me in for another visit to discuss the ultra sound results.
Meanwhile, I've started to lead most conversations with my health ailments. I know that's something an old person would do, but hey, with a gallbladder attack, I'm halfway there.
3 comments:
That totally sucks. I'm thinking happy thoughts that it's not that major, but at least it makes for a good story.
Sorry to hear that. Sorry you were in so much pain too. Are you feeling better?
Holly, I cannot believe that you went a couple of nights with a bad gallbladder!! How painful! You are one tough cookie. I have had some issues w/ my gallbladder, but have not yet had to have it removed... Let me know how it all goes. ;) We're kind of old ladies, huh?
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