It's been a week since I had my gallbladder removed, and I'm finally feeling "normal" again! On Friday, February 24th, I was at work when I started feeling a burning in my right shoulder blade. I thought it was heartburn, and figured it would work itself out. I met the hubs for lunch, and on the way back to the office, I had such an intense pain, from my chest through to my right shoulder, that I couldn't breathe. By the time I got back, I knew this wasn't heartburn, but I had no idea what it was. I thought maybe an embolism from our travels abroad (note to self: stop googling symptoms), but definitely not a strained muscle.
I went home, walked in near tears, and asked the hubs to take me to the emergency "doc in a box." After blood tests, an EKG, and a chest x-ray, all with normal results, the hubs joked, "maybe it's your gallbladder." They called in the sonogram tech, and 30 minutes later, I had my answer - 3 small gallstones causing trouble! Because the gallstones were no longer blocking my liver ducts, the doctor let me leave, and I followed up with my regular doctor on Monday. After spending the entire weekend afraid of everything I ate causing trouble again, my doctor offered me a choice - wait and see how bad it is when it happens again, or get the gallbladder out. I wasn't going to wait to around for that kind of pain again! Gallbladder had to go!
I got into the gastroenterologist two days later, who scheduled surgery for the following Tuesday at 11:00 am. The night before, the nurse called me at 10:30 pm, and changed my surgery to 8:00 am! I had to drive myself to the hospital at 6:00 am because the hubs had to get the kids to school - can't make alternate plans at 10:30 at night!
The surgery itself wasn't too bad - it's laparoscopic, so I could leave the same day. But man, was I sore! I couldn't move without feeling the four incisions' pain. Here are 3 of the incisions (the 4th was in my belly button):
The shiny "wetness" is super glue! They don't use sutures anymore.
Another thing (if you can handle more grisliness) - my veins are notoriously difficult to get an IV into. They roll, hide, and in general cause trouble. I warned the nurse, but she didn't listen, and I ended up with the worst bruise of the operation on my arm! One week later, and it still hasn't healed as fast as my incisions.
One week later, the pain is lessened to the point of general soreness, and I'm feeling much better. Jessica and my mom, Memaw and PawPaw, and my work sent flowers (the best mood boosters), and the hubs' aunt and uncle brought over dinner. I'm ready for the bruises to fade and life without a gallbladder to be my new normal. Enjoy some photos of the pretty flowers :)
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| From mom and Jessica |
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| From Memaw and PawPaw |
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| From the office |
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