Well, after three years of dealing with gall bladder attacks, on and off, that sucker is finally gone. Yay!
I was having another gall bladder attack Friday early, early morning - my third, and by far the worst, last week. Poor Matt had finally gotten to sleep around 1 or 2 am, and I woke him up at 4 am to drive me to emergency. Poor boy! I was thinking they'd give me some painkillers and send me home. Was I wrong, and boy am I ever glad I was! Things were a lot worse than I thought.
They got me in right away and I had a private room in emerg (a benefit of showing up at 4 am) and started me on an IV and some drugs to ease the spasms in my gall bladder right away. It worked pretty well, but the pain came back again when the drugs wore off. I had a hilarious doctor. He would walk in to my room and say, "Are ya fixed yet? No? Well, I'll give you another half hour and then I'm going to have to poke you with needles and do evil things." Hee!
They decided to do some blood tests to make sure it wasn't something worse, since if it was a normal attack it shouldn't have started again spontaneously after the drugs wore off. Plus, I threw up, and that's not generally a good sign, so I was going be stuck for a bit.
I had a bad time with the blood tests - thank god they didn't need more! I'm not generally very fond of needles. They couldn't find veins in my elbows, so tried twice, unsuccessfully, on the back of my hand (OW), and then decided to take it out drip by drip from my pinky. That required two stabs with the lancet to finish. So, five needles already, with the IV.
After the blood tests came back, I guess I must have had a slightly elevated white blood cell count, because they booked me in for an ultrasound to take a look and make sure I didn't have an infection or any stones stuck in the duct. The ultrasound wasn't going to happen for four hours from then, so I sent Matt home to get some rest.
They started giving me morphine while I was waiting for the ultrasound. GOOD STUFF.
Went in for the ultrasound, then didn't find any stuck stones (thank God) but the gall bladder wall was definitely thicker than in a healthy person, so the doctor said he'd consult with the surgeon and I might be admitted that day! Apparently the surgeon didn't like what she was seeing because I was soon getting wheeled up to the seventh floor to be admitted. Yay!
Matt has an amazing sixth sense, and showed up with a hairbrush, toothbrush and paste, deodorant and a book for me, right before they moved me upstairs. He might've had an interesting time trying to find me if he had showed up 20 minutes later!
After I got moved, my gall bladder finally stopped aching. I was getting so hungry though, not having eaten since 10 the night before (it was about 2 in the afternoon at that point). I asked the nurse if I could have anything to eat or even some juice or water, but no dice. She said I had to wait for the doctor, who wouldn't be around until about 4 or so. Boo. When the doctor came, she said I couldn't have anything to eat because she was going to try to get me in that night! Everyone before that said it would probably be sometime Saturday before I got the surgery. So I was pretty happy to be getting the gall bladder out sooner rather than later. I was going to have to wait a bit though and be fit in around really urgent cases (car crashes, baby deliveries, etc.)
I finally got wheeled down to the operating room at 11:30 at night. I had been sleeping and they had to wake me up to go, which was good because I didn't have much time to get nervous or anything. I was soon getting my heart and blood pressure monitors hooked up and got my general anaesthetic! Next thing I knew, I woke up in the recovery room. I was a bit panicked because I was coughing (my throat was really dry from having nothing to drink all day, even though I did have the IV) and from being tubed during the operation. Coughing really, really hurts when you've got big cuts on your abdomen! The nurse talked me through it and I calmed down pretty quickly and focused on breathing through my nose (they were giving me oxygen) and soon was relaxing. They put a hot blanket across my belly and that was really, really nice. They told me the surgery went well and they were able to do it without cutting me all the way open, just using the four smaller cuts and the camera. The biggest one went right across my bellybutton, which is very bruised and sore due to the excess size of my gallbladder (they bring it out through the bellybutton incision). I was back up in my room by 2:30, they gave me some morphine and another hot blanket and I was able to get some sleep.
I finally got to eat in the morning! Just jello and orange juice, but I was happy. Recovering from surgery is a LOT less painful than a gall bladder attack, let me tell you. They kept me a bit longer than if I was an elective case because people who get emergency surgery tend to have more complications. The doctor came and talked to me and said my gall bladder was about twice the size it should have been and filled with all kinds of nasty stuff, and it was a really, really good thing I went to emerg. But, all in all, I was fine after the surgery - didn't need any Gravol, didn't get sick, wasn't in very much pain. And I got "real food" for lunch, which was great. So I got to go home in time for the hockey game! Catching up on my internet addiction (nearly died going two days without email!) between plays and very, very happy knowing I'll never have another gall bladder attack again!
So, the ordeal is finally done. I am once again healthy (well, once my cuts heal), and happy to have it over (and yes, the Tylenol 3 is definitely helping my mood). Thanks to Dr. Ross, who did a great job on my surgery and made me feel at ease before and after the surgery, and the great staff at Victoria General Hospital. And thanks as well to Matt, who sat with me in the hospital, got stuff from home and let everyone know what was going on, and is taking great care of me now.
