September 09, 2015

Going Under the Knife

So, about two months ago, while on a trip to Hawaii, I had this nagging side stitch on my left side.  It was annoying, but not horrible.  When I got back from the trip, I had blood work done and had blood in my urine.  So, I though I had either a urinary tract infection or another kidney stone.  Off to my regular doc I went, but since there was no sign of infection, I was sent for an ultrasound to rule out another kidney stone.  Yes, I had one two years ago.  With none of the regular symptoms.

Two days after the ultrasound, and before getting the report from it, I had another bout of blood in my urine.

I saw the urologist, who told me that she didn't see a stone (although the radiologist's report indicated one).  So she sent me for a CAT scan to definitively rule one out.  The result, no kidney stone, but a whopping gallstone.  Yeah me!

With a recommendation of a GI Doc from my doc's office, I started the process of dealing with gallstones.

The GI doc, while nice, basically told me that I had a gallstone (uh, yeah) and that I needed to see my surgeon.  Of course, the only surgeon I've use were the orthopedic kind.  So he gave me a recommendation of the surgeon who did his gallbladder removal.

I saw the surgeon, who was very nice.  He determined that my gallbladder was inflamed and recommended removal - before it became a problem.

The surgery was scheduled and all I needed to do was have an EKG before hand.  Easy peasy.

Surgery day came and I was at the surgery center by 6:30.  I wasn't nervous - in fact, I slept 6 hours the night before.  All the prep was done - the IV line, the pre surgery meds.  And off I went.  By 10:15 I was awake and alert, drinking ginger ale and nibbling on graham crackers.  And in virtually no pain.  The recovery nurse asked my pain level and then proceeded to tell me that if I needed pain meds, I would have to stay for a half an hour before being discharged. And the plan was to have me out of there by 10:55.  A no brainer, I took the pain meds, though I probably didn't need them and by 11 AM, I was on my way home.

I'm guessing I must have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but I only took two  Acetaminophen that day - at 11:30 that night.  I was a big uncomfortable, probably from the gas they inject into the abdominal cavity during the surgery, but no pain.

The next night I went to Mass.  Again, a bit uncomfortable, but no pain.

My recovery went smoothly.  Five days after the surgery I drove to my parents house so they could see that I wasn't kidding when I said that I was fine.  My dad was amazed at the two small bandages covering the two incisions on my stomach and the third incision that was cleverly concealed by my quite deep "innie" navel.

So now it's almost 6 weeks post surgery and I feel fine.  No problems with food.  And back to my usual mayhem.  Life is good.


2 comments:

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

So glad to hear that you did well....... I had my gall bladder out several years ago and vomited continuously after surgery and when i figured out that i could be allergic to Morphine, I asked them to stop it and give me Tylenol and the vomiting stopped. I did not get to go home until the next day. I went back to work in 6 weeks but because i am a nurse and life people for a living, i ended up with 4 hernias afterward so please be careful not to life too much for at least 8-12 weeks no matter what your surgeon tells you.......I then ended up with major surgery to repair the 4 hernias and had a mesh system put in to hold me together , so to speak!!

Thanks so much for visiting and you are in my thoughts for your complete recovery. I still have problems even though i had my gall bladder out.....It is because i did not have stones but my gall bladder basically shriveled up and died.

Hugs,
Deb

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Wow! When I had the surgery I had to stay overnight in the hospital. Not fun! Would rather have gone home. Glad you're doing well.