Gallbladder Misadventures

Until this month I always thought of the gallbladder as the fun, little, round, ball that I carefully colored in bright green when copying the anatomy of the digestive system for biology class. Amid all the twisting entrails of the intestines it was a cute little place for the eye to rest. Well I don't think it's so cute anymore. And I have learned that it is actually a pear shape and was misrepresented in the Biology books of the late 80's.

So here's the rundown of my misadventures:

June 24- 1st of 5 or 6 "episodes." An episode is waking in the middle of the night with an ache in the center of my upper abdomen. The pain fluctuates from being dull to sharp. It lasts 3 or more hours and is impossible to sleep through. Because it was unlike anything I'd experienced before, I went to the ER and was sent home with some Imodium. Thanks a lot.

June 28- Another episode. Didn't want to waste my time in the ER again. Dave gave me a priesthood blessing that assured me that my issues could be fully resolved. I should have assumed and remembered that this is on the Lord's time table, not mine. I endured the episode and resolved to make an appointment with my regular doctor to get this investigated.

Around July 1st- Saw my doctor who thought my symptoms most likely dictated either a hiatal hernia or acid reflex. He put me on prilosec to try for a couple of weeks. I didn't make that 2 week appt. because I hadn't been taking the prilosec perfectly and wanted to make sure I'd given it a good try. So I put that off.

July 15th- my longest episode ever began at 7:45 pm and didn't end for at least 12 hours. I was up all night trying to pass the time reading or surfing the net. Finally at about 4am I decided to read about the gallbladder online again. I read some material from a new source and by this time I had more experience with the symptoms. By now I could sense that the pain was concentrated on my right side a bit more than the left and it also increased when I took a deep breath. I also read some snippets of other peoples experiences and I was quite sure my gallbladder was to blame. So I woke Dave and we went to the ER. The doctor agreed with my diagnosis. (ha) I did blood work and had an ultrasound which detected gallstones. Apparently my gallbladder was only mildly inflamed so I wasn't rushed off for emergency surgery (unfortunately.) Instead I had to make another appointment with my regular doctor so he could refer me to a surgeon and go from there.

July 17- Appointment with my regular doctor who asked me if the ER happened to mention that my liver enzyme levels were extremely high. The ER did not. So this was a bit of a concern. The only enzyme I was familiar with was billirubin which they test newborns for in relation to jaundice. This explained why my pee and snot was super bright yellow. (Sorry for too much information, but who's still reading anyway?) My doc sent me to the lab to have my blood retested and called me later to tell me the levels were even higher than the day before. This info most likely meant that one of the gallstones was actually blocking the common duct that leads to the liver. My doctor was sure I'd be in surgery the following morning so my mom began her trek from Missouri.

July 18- I met with the surgeon who told me that because of the blocked duct I had to have a preliminary procedure done- An ERCP, something that she did not do and was not done at our hospital. It's Friday afternoon and my surgeons nurse is on the phone to anywhere within a hundred mile radius trying to find a doctor who can see me asap and perform the ERCP. She found one about an hour away. I had to check in that afternoon and be seen as an in patient for insurance purposes. New blood work taken and luckily my liver levels where back closer to normal.

Saturday, July 19- Had the ERCP which confirmed what the blood tests suggested- the gallstone had passed on it's own. This doctor set me up with another surgeon at the same hospital who was going to call me on Monday to tell me what time my surgery on Tuesday would be. I was released to go home.

Monday, July 21- I about lost it when I got a call from the surgeons secretary saying I would need to go through the whole referral process again and that it would take at least 72 hours to be approved. I called Dave and frantically asked him to go see the original surgeon, tell her the problem and kindly ask her to schedule me for surgery at our home hospital now!

Tuesday, July 22- Checked into hospital at 11:30, had my gallbladder removed that afternoon and came home at 6 pm. Whew, it's done. I'm feeling fairly well. The surgery went well and I'm just trying to take it easy and let my Mom and Dave do all the stuff that requires elbow grease.

Want to know if you are a candidate for gallbladder issues? Well, Dave's co-workers told him there are 5 F's- Female, Fluffy, Fertile, Forty, and Flatulent. I certainly fit the first 3, not quite the 4th and who would admit to the last one?

Anyway, I'm thankful that I got things properly diagnosed and dealt with and am looking forward to getting back to "normal."