So I wanted to let you guys know what was going on since you haven’t heard from me in so long. The last couple of weeks have been kind of a roller coaster for me (at least, that’s how my stomach has been feeling). I started having really sharp pains in my abdomen area, and I thought I was just relapsing to the pulled muscle a few years ago. Not so much. I went in to the emergency room after having pain so bad that I was physically writhing around crying because there was no way for me to sit and be comfortable, so Dean hauled me off to the ER.
After a bit of waiting, they told me that more than likely I had gall stones. Bluh. But the pain had subsided momentarily, and I went about my way, and went to the doctor in the next couple of days like I was told. The doctor scheduled an ultrasound for me the next morning. After the ultrasound, I went back to work for a couple of days, feeling more and more nauseous each day. By the third day back to work, I noticed I was turning quite yellow, and my appetite had become less and less. I was told not to eat any fried, fatty foods or dairy products, but at this point, I hardly felt like eating anything. After a couple hours into my shift, my manager came up to me and demanded I go home, and I obliged.
I spent the next three or so days in bed, pretty much just lying around watching TV, and sleeping. The only thing I ate was freezy pops and applesauce. XD I had to call out of work three days in a row, which kind of sucked. After the weekend, I called up the hospital, and they made an appointment for me to see the surgeon, because I definitely had gall stones. With an “S.” Luckily, they could get me in to talk to the doctor that Thursday, three days later, which is pretty quick, considering the Wednesday was July 4th.
I went in to talk to Dr. Crane, the surgeon, and he explained to me how the surgery worked. Not very pleasant. He wrote me up a doctor’s note for work and I went to go deliver it. After my manager snapped at me to “go fill out an LOA (Leave of Absense),” I turned in the doctor’s note to one of the assistant manager’s, signed a paper, and I thought that was it.
When I got home I watched TV for a bit, and it wasn’t long before Dr. Crane called me back to tell me I should probably come back to the hospital, and I might need to stay overnight. Dean threw a bunch of stuff in a bag, I walked upstairs to my room, and almost threw up in the toilet again. Then Dr. Crane called again to tell me I’d definitely be spending at least one night in the hospital, since my potassium levels were dangerously low at this point.
Dean rushed me over, they hooked me up to an IV, and I spent my first night ever in a hospital. The next morning I had another ultrasound, and later they told me that I’d be getting an ERCP. It turned out that one of the gall stones had made it through a duct, and was on its way to my pancreas, which would probably have led to pancreatitis. Just a few hours later they knocked me out, operated on me, and broke the tiny stone, in which they found out my duct is only a half a centimeter long, but the stone, was three-quarters of a centimeter long; leading to my lack of appetite, the yellowness of my skin, and the itching.
At 11pm that night, they finally let me eat something (just some italian ice and water at this point), and if I was feeling well enough in the morning, I could eat real food. Yay! So I spent another night in the hospital, and around 7am when I was starving, I ordered pancakes, eggs, and OJ. I gotta tell you… those were the best pancakes I’ve pretty much ever eaten. I literally had tears of joy eating them, I was so happy to eat real food again after an entire week. About 10:30 that morning I was dispatched, but it wasn’t over yet.
I still needed surgery. Until then, I wasn’t allowed to eat really fatty foods or heavy dairy products (just skim milk and stuff). Five days later, I was scheduled that morning to come in for surgery. At this point, I was still on my scheduled vacation, so I didn’t have to worry work, but I checked my schedule online, and noticed that they still scheduled me. I called the personnel manager, and she told me that I needed to fill out an LOA still, because I hadn’t been calling out to work. Apparently, the doctor’s note meant nothing.
So I went to go get my LOA merely minutes before needing to be in surgery. I filled out part of it in the waiting room, then some more after changing into my johnny. They talked me through how the procedure was going to work. I was actually worried more about work firing me than actually having surgery. But Dean told me not to worry about it, that he’d get it finished and turned in for me, so I tried to relax. They rolled me over to the OR, and the last thing I remember was talking to the doctors and nurses about this comic XD
I woke up about four hours later (they had to put me under twice), one huge inflammed gall bladder later. I was really tired, and really sore. So I slept a little longer, and when I came to, they sent Dean in to see me. After a bit, they let me drink some ginger ale, and later some crackers. I figured everything went pretty smoothly because me stomach was growling, so at least I wanted food XD
They let me out of the hospital at about 4:30 in the afternoon. For the next few days, it was hard to move at all, I was so sore. The worst part was getting in and out of bed; it felt like I was getting stabbed in the chest each time. And I had a little inner tube that caught all my liquids in me for a few days, but Dr. Crane took that out a few days after surgery.
But! It’s been a week later, and I feel a lot better. I can eat any food I want now! And at least I never have to worry about this happening again, since I am now proudly gall bladder-free.
OMG, I’m sorry you guys about such a long post. I figured you derserve to at least know what’s going on, or at least know what I haven’t been able to work on the comic XD I promise I will get to it at some point… I think today Dean and I are actually going to work on writing it a bit. I’d love to start getting it storyboarded! It’s such a big mess right now, it needs a lot of work XD I hope everyone’s having a better summer than me! đ
