Oh, so *that's* why it hurt! :) :) :)

[john-the-author]

Right: about a month ago, the Babe was having serious abdominal pain that we couldn't find a cause for. It scared the shit out of us waiting for results, but the doctor couldn't find much of anything.

This morning, the Babe went to work. I went upstairs to my office and did a buncha phone calls to some of my folks. About 9:30, she phoned and said that she was in an incredible amount of pain from her upper right abdomen and we needed to get to the ER. So I picked her up at her office and off we went.

After a couple hours and an ultrasound, they confirmed what she had suspected since it felt like someone stuck a knife into her back: she was having a gall bladder attack. As a referent for the pain, where she identifies childbirth as a 2, migraines as a 3 or 4, and kidney stones as a 6, this was a clear and unambiguous 10. They had her on morphine, dilaudid, and fentanyl (sp?) all at the same time and it only dulled the pain... as long as she didn't move too much. Oy!

She's in the hospital tonight and they're taking it out tomorrow. She's doing okay at this point and the pain's under control. The doctor says that the pain she was feeling a month ago was almost certainly the gall bladder.

So now we know why she was in pain, that it wasn't ~too~ serious. Yeah, surgery's not a Good Thing no matter what, but this is a really safe surgery as surgeries go. She'll be coming out of the anesthesia for longer than the actual surgery.

All of this is kind of a mixed blessing, but I'm calling it a win on the whole. There's nothing wrong with her that this won't fix, I'm thinking, and it's going to be relatively simple. Hurrah!

 

[lushlucid]

Holy crap that sounds bad.
Best of luck to her, is there something you can do to prevent those types of things?

 

[john-the-author]

Apparently not. I mean, you could have a diet low in fats and high in grains and so forth and so on, but that ship's already sailed for most of us. It happens an awful lot in this country: the doctor said that this is the most common operation of all.

 

[English Lady]

Oh, I'm glad you've found the cause and can get it sorted out now, sorry to hear about all her pain, poor lady. But as I say, least you can work on making it better now

 

[amicus]

 

[perfect_deb]

Apparently not. I mean, you could have a diet low in fats and high in grains and so forth and so on, but that ship's already sailed for most of us. It happens an awful lot in this country: the doctor said that this is the most common operation of all.

someone once told me that the main victims of gall bladder problems are "fair, fat and forty"

no insult intended (cos thats me too)

 

[Chantilyvamp]

Glad to hear its being sorted!

 

[lushlucid]

someone once told me that the main victims of gall bladder problems are "fair, fat and forty"

no insult intended (cos thats me too)

fair? why fair?

 

[perfect_deb]

fair? why fair?

dunno - just more common in caucasians i guess

 

[neonlyte]

John, great news to hear you found the problem. I'm sure the op will be fine and you can both get back to enjoying life.

 

[Belegon]

 

[SensualCealy]

Been there done that, know her pain!

She will do fine! Likely they will take it laproscopically (sp) two little cuts maybe 1/2"-1" in length. When I was in I had a 1 1/2 yr old at home so they kept me over night to rest, they knew I wouldnt get it at home, but in most cases you are home the same day now.

Trust me, the pain of the attacks are much worse then the pain from having the surgery itself.
This is the same pain that Mat is going through right now too!
C

 

[christabelll]

I feel for you John....it is a commonplace surgery -
part of it is that ths country is addicted to processed food and the body just cant handle it
its also the center of rage.... surpressed rage - solidified ....

the no so ex ex so is having the surgery himself to day
he seems to think it will cure everything that ails him (um does that include republican redneck issues???)

But anyway
Hugs and prayers for you and yours....

 

[buxxxom]

I'm sure you're both relieved to find the cause, and that it's a relatively simple procedure to make sure it won't pain her anymore. Hugs to you both, and healing wishes to her.

 

[Divulgence]

*****

 

[McKenna]

Yay, good news! Well, kinda-good-news!

 

[rgraham666]

Sending healing vibes your Babe's way.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Laparoscopy surgery is fairly easy to recover from but she still needs to take it real easy. I've had two and found that I recoverd far easier from the second when I really moved as little as possible for a week. Interestingly, I was recently told by a nutritionist that I needed more protein in my diet because that is what protects you from gall bladder disease.

 

[Guest]

fair? why fair?

Some genetic thing. Had mine out at 29 after living on chicken soup and tuna for a year.

Anonymous abdominal pain sucks, and yes, frightening. Glad you found out and she'll be better.

 

[jomar]

 

[SlickTony]

I'm glad it turned out to be something fixable, and Babe recovers uneventfully.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

she identifies childbirth as a 2, migraines as a 3 or 4, and kidney stones as a 6, this was a clear and unambiguous 10.

Yep, I concur, having now had all of the above... ouch!!

She'll be fine when it's out...

 

[john-the-author]

She's out of surgery

4:45PM: It took mebbe 45 minutes and that was with a little extra fishing around to grab a few stones in the bile duct. She'll be out for another couple hours and then waking up. No muss, no fuss. They'll keep her overnight and kick her out tomorrow.

 

[Guest]

4:45PM: It took mebbe 45 minutes and that was with a little extra fishing around to grab a few stones in the bile duct. She'll be out for another couple hours and then waking up. No muss, no fuss. They'll keep her overnight and kick her out tomorrow.

 

[rgraham666]

Good to hear things went well, John.