My Gallbladder Story

I don't typically talk much about myself or Josh on this blog, but figured I should make mention of the health issues that have been a big part of the past year of our life (and also the reason I've been absent from this blog as of late).

January 1, 2010 I experienced what turned out to be my first gallbladder attack. At the time we had no idea what it was... just lots of stomach upset and excruciating stomach and back pains (I won't go into all the gory details :). After a week of enduring these symptoms, Josh insisted that I go to the doctor. She immediately suspected gallbladder and sent me for an ultrasound. No gallstones were detected (which was what she thought was causing my symptoms) and my lab work came back normal. My doctor gave me a prescription for a acid reflux medicine and told me to eliminate as much fat as possible from my diet. That was difficult considering I eat a very low fat diet to begin with.

Things went well for a few months. Very few symptoms and I was pretty good about following the diet (although I never did fill the prescription because I was never convinced it was acid reflux). Well come spring/summer time I started experiencing occasional flare-ups once again. I got very good at recognizing the symptoms and stopping a full-blown attack by foregoing food all together. Come fall the flare-ups were coming every week to every other week and would last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. At the end of October/beginning of November I had two separate attacks that both caused moderate chest pains that scared me. I didn't tell anyone about it at the time (not even Josh), but I knew it was time to go back to the doctor again. As it turns out, chest pains are one of the the last symptoms that show up in a bad gallbladder situation.

I was able to get in to see the doctor before Thanksgiving at a time when I, of course, wasn't flaring. It always seems like less of an issue when you're not in the middle of a flare-up because it seems manageable. A very good friend of mine that is a physician told me that a dysfunctional gallbladder would cause the same symptoms as gallstones and told me to request a HIDASCAN from my doctor to test the functionality of my gallbladder. My doctor was in agreement but still told me she thought it was acid reflux. I knew that acid reflux did not cause this amount of pain. Luckily she still ordered the HIDASCAN at my insistence.

They couldn't get my HIDASCAN scheduled until after Thanksgiving and of course the day after my doctor's appointment I had an attack that was only second in pain to my initial one last New Years. I called the Nuclear Medicine department and asked as nice as I could to get them to bump me up. They put me on a waiting list and as luck would have it, they got a cancellation for the day before Thanksgiving. Time to get this ball rolling. I was dropping weight like crazy and not feeling well at all. I lost 7% of my body weight in the month of November/December and that was with me already being at my healthy pre-pregnancy weight when this all started. I ate fruit for Thanksgiving dinner. I love food way too much to life my life like this. The HIDASCAN couldn't come fast enough.

The HIDASCAN itself is not that painful, but the medicine they pump through my system basically caused a small flare-up (good sign that things weren't right). The test came back abnormal. They would like your gallbladder functioning at a minimum of 35% and mine was 14%. Time to see a surgeon.

I saw a surgeon the second week of December and he was in agreement... my symptoms were a textbook case of a dysfunctional gallbladder. That combined with the abnormal HIDASCAN made me an ideal candidate for gallbladder removal. He told me that the surgery only alleviates symptoms in 70-80% of people so they have to be extremely careful in making this decision. Josh and I knew we had to try something (as I was no longer able to eat much at all, even items that had no fat). Surgery was scheduled for December 28th.

Somehow God gave me a good sense of peace about the surgery. All the scary thoughts of what could've happened during surgery didn't come to me until after the surgery. I praise God for that since I'm usually consumed with worry. Our pastor met us at the hospital the morning of the surgery and prayed with us... that helped more than I could ever explain. It took my mind off of things and reminded me that God is in control of this. He has a plan for me and this is part of it.

The plan was to remove my gallbladder laproscopically through four incisions in my abdomen. The surgery was suppose to take about an hour and a half, but Josh said my surgeon was done at one hour. The surgery went well and there was no injury to the ducts or surrounding organs. It took me awhile to come out of anesthesia and Josh claims we had the same conversation at least four times :) The ride home from the hospital was the height of the misery. The first day was difficult and painful but day by day it got better. The pain was managed very well and the discomfort in my abdominal area improved quickly. One of the most bothersome after effects of the surgery was the pain in my neck, throat and the back of my head from being intubated. Right now I am 10 days post surgery and I feel great. It's amazing to think that I had major abdominal surgery with an organ removed just 10 days ago! I still am unable to pick up Maya or anything weighing over 10 lbs and I get tired very quickly, which makes life kind of tricky at our house, but with the help of my wonderful husband, my parents and friends we are making it work.

And I am more than happy to report that the surgery seems to have worked! I have not had a single gallbladder symptom since the surgery! They told me the effects would be immediate if the surgery worked and they were right! I even ate pizza the other night and didn't feel a thing!!! Yay! Pizza has been a forbidden food for quite awhile now! So that was my 2010 in a nutshell! On to a much healthier 2011!