SO. Guess where I’ve been?
If, based upon the image above, you are tempted to answer “the morgue,” I can’t say I blame you.
Close enough.
I’ve just gotten out of the hospital.
After having surgery, no less.
Emergency surgery.
And I feel better than I did when I went in to the ER, but I definitely still feel like hell.
Because, PAIN.
Ergh.
So this is what happened:
After being in excrutiating, inexplicable, spasming pain for several days — and getting no sleep, and causing my husband to get no sleep — I finally decided that enough was enough and went to the hospital.
Honestly, I just thought they would give me something in ER to stop the spasms in my back and rib cage and then send me on my way with a referral to a chiropractor or something. But NOPE. They did get the spasming to subside, which — in combination with a crazy-high white blood cell count showing in my labs — sent them poking around for what was originating the pain.
Which, as it turned out, was my gall bladder.
So they gave me an ultrasound.
After the reading of which, the surgical team came to see me and said, “We need to get this out of you.”
Which was quite an experience, let me tell you.
I now have four incisions in my belly. (Laproscopy, I love you. You didn’t ruin my favorite tattoo.) One of them has a drain tube.
I can’t eat much. (Sleeping has improved though. I actually slept last night, for the first time in several days. Granted, sleep happened with the assistance of narcotic pain medication. But still. I slept.)
And I feel like somebody has taken a baseball bat to the inside of every individual muscle in my abdomen.
But even this discomfort is extremely preferable to what I was experiencing before they got the culprit out of me.
The culprit1 being an enlarged, inflamed gall bladder that had multiple stones inside blocking the bile duct. (Hooray for cholesterol!)
The surgeon told me that she sent it out for further testing (I know what this means because the surgical team that took out my husband’s mucocele all those years ago did the same thing. It’s like, “Oh! Look at THIS unusual specimen! Let’s have it examined by a bunch of brains!” Which, of course, should increase my chances of being informed in much detail of any why’s that turn up) and explained that the size and condition of the damned thing were the determining factors in keeping me in surgery for almost double the time I was told it would take.
Which… I mean, that’s fine.
I felt bad for my hubby though because he was told the surgery would take about two hours. And so, four hours later when he hadn’t heard anything yet, he was starting to panic. (He’s not used to being on that side of the hospital bed, poor guy. He’s usually the one undergoing some kind of Thing, afterward recovering his chill on dilaudid, while I sit around agitating and advocating.)
A n y w a y
I’m meant to be writing with music as my muse this month. And since Imagine Dragons’ Believer was on repeat in my brain throughout this whole episode, I thought the lyrics fit. 😉
How are you feeling, hmmm?
(I sincerely hope you’re well. But if not, feel free to commiserate in the comments.)
😉
1I have a tendency to name things. Culprit is a good name for my uninstalled gall bladder, I think.
Wow. Glad that you got that taken care of, sorry about the pain. I remember my mom having that same problem and that poor woman was in so much pain AFTER the surgery, whew – I didn’t know that God-fearing woman could curse like that! When she took a swing at the doctor who was examining her post-surgery I was asking myself, “Who is this woman and where is my mother?”
And I’m feeling okay. About the same as usual; not getting any better but not getting any worse… and my back hurts.
I feel for your momma, that’s for sure. It’s a different kind of pain, post-surgery, but man. It sucks.
Glad you’re doing okay, all things considered.
Hugs.
Been there, done that, they missed a stone and oh my god, Pancreatitis hurts more than gallstones. Well, did for me. It’s the only pain I describe as an 11, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I’m glad you got it sorted, and I hope you recover really soon!
Thank you. I’m sorry you’ve experienced it yourself — it’s not a pain I would wish on anyone!
I am glad they caught it in time to prevent septicemia. You sound a ‘quick mend’ type of person, so I’ll bet you recover briskly! And I know you asked…….. and I DO definitely have a couple of ‘things’ going on………………but, I’m one of those people who don’t like to talk about such things in any great detail. Suffice it to say, I have something going on with my foot, and my ear, both seemingly non-life-threatening.
Feel better!
Thanks. I hope your “stuff” heals quickly. Being unwell is frustrating; doubly so when it’s painful.
Gawd. I remember the pain my mum was in when she had the same issue. And laparoscopic surgery wasn’t a thing in those days. Yet. She was in so much pain the whole bunch of us who lived under her roof were praying that they would be able to find the cause and deal with it.
Thankfully they did, but only after she had been to the 3rd GP who said she needed to go to the hosp stat!
I’m glad you got this sorted and they found the cause of the escalated WBC count.
Feel better soon.
(And i went to see the doc for my annual hearing check today, no big change, which is good!)
I can honestly say it was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced, so I can understand what your mum went through trying to get it figured out.
I got my JP drain out yesterday and an starting to feel somewhat normal again. I’ll be returning to work on Monday.
Glad to know your hearing test results were good!
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Well, I was worried. Glad that you’re getting better.
I just finished (haha! it’s NEVER finished) with two and a half years of intensive psychotherapy for depression and anxiety, and a couple of stays in a few mental health facilities. Meds., therapy, etc with few and small results.
Was referred to a procedure called TMS: trans-cranial magnetic stimulation and after 36, treatments have finally crawled out of the abyss into which I had fallen, or dug, I’m not sure which. Every day is still a struggle, but such is life.
I will be publishing my first novel n less than a month. Final approval of the cover was the last real hurdle.
BTW: you were the first site that I looked for when I came back, which happened to coincidentally be m tenth anniversary with WordPress.
Happy Blogiversary. 🙂
I am not personally acquainted with TMS, but I’ve heard of it and have read from people who have chosen that form of therapy. I’m glad you’ve crawled out of your abyss, and I wish you much congratulations on your news of publication.
Just got to this, How dreadful for u and your husband! – glad u are ok thou! My friend had similar surgery and she said the pain of the problem was just unbearable.
Take it easy Feve.
Another September will happen next year!
May More recently posted…A Shocking Time for May in September
Found it! 🙂
It was quite an adventure, that’s for sure.
I did leave a comment but i cant see it!
May More recently posted…A Shocking Time for May in September
I can see this one –
Take care Feve – take it easy and there will be another Sept next year
My friend said the pain of the problem was just dreadful
<3
I’ve been a bit absent in reading blogs, and am now trying to catch up. So sorry to hear about this, Feve, but glad they got the culprit out, and hope your recovery will be smooth. Take care!
~ Marie xox