(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

So, I don't know if I shared this, on Wednesday I had an ultrasound done. MPREG is real, yo.

No, actually I had it done because I've had increasingly painful episodes where after I eat food my back begins to ache, and my doctor was naturally kind of worried about a) digestion-related pain and b) how I kind of stopped eating much. So he had me do an ultrasound, which was actually pretty cool; I got to look at my liver and be all "Welp, glad you're there, sorry about my mid-twenties buddy".

My doctor thought it might be pancreatitis or gallstones, or an off-chance of kidney stones. I was deeply hoping it was not pancreatitis, because that's some serious shit and also you have to stop eating entirely for like a week. The results came back this afternoon. We have a winner: it's gallstones!

Seriously how am I so feeble. It really passes understanding.

Anyhow, I have to see a primary care physician, which means I have to find a primary care physician and then probably wait two months, though I'm begging to be put on a waiting list for cancellations because oh my god seriously I ate french fries last night and I have suffered for it for going on 24 hours now. That taken into account, though, I still can't have surgery done, if it's needed, until November; Mum's having surgery the middle of this month, a surgery she should have had ten years ago, and if she reschedules it again I might kill her.

GALLSTONES. THE NERVE OF IT ALL.

Comments

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

You have my utmost sympathy.

From what I've heard, fat intake can trigger the episodes worse than nearly anything else, so you might want to keep an eye on that....

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Absolutely true.

[nerakrose]

earlier today i made a post saying i don't know anyone who manages to injure themselves so often and as severely as my dad (who's in hospital again because he fucked up his arm for the second time this year. the first time around he screwed up his back too. last year he breathed in chlorine and nearly shredded his own lungs completely. i could go on).
i think you might be a contender for the post.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I did have a run there for a while where I broke a limb per year...

[agoodshinkickin.livejournal.com]

As the oldest person in my family with a functioning, albeit chock full of stones, gallbladder...I so know what you're going through.
And I'm wicked sorry you're going through it.

I guess the bright side is that you might be able to mediate your pain through diet, and at least you know what the pain is?
Feel better, Sam!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm glad to know, and apparently the process is pretty simple to get the damn thing out :D

[sanura.livejournal.com]

oh noooo! My sympathies. And good wishes. I keep thinking maybe I should find a primary care physician one of these days in case of an emergency, but it's never an emergency till you need one. Good luck.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

Dude. Sympathies. And also yeah, avoid the fat and grease. No Wiener's Circle cheeze fries for now!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

GDI I wanted to try their fried chili.

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Sorry hon. I went through that 14 years ago. Best luck in getting your gallbladder removed ASAP.

The pain is worse than child birth, well it was for me.

[minkrose]

My friend started a thread the other day about life and pain experiences -- her point was that her ruptured ovarian cyst (which almost killed her) was by far the worst pain over childbirth (which required a C-section and put her in the ICU and ALSO almost killed her) because, in essence, childbirth is still something your body is supposed to do, and while it is painful, it does not feel fundamentally broken the way other pain does.

She had a bunch of other friends with kidney stones and similar agree; and it makes sense to me because this is pain that is telling you to Something is Broken/Wrong, and so it's got to dial it up a notch.

[auroramama]

I'm sorry you may have to wait! My first attack was so bad I didn't feel I could rule out heart attack, until I threw up and started feeling better just as the EMTs arrived. They confirmed that heart attacks don't go away like that, I saw my doctor, he sent me for surgery, hurrah. I don't know if alcohol is an option for you these days, but my mom used to drink a little cordial when she was hurting. A sugar-crusted bottle of something fruit-based in the Eastern European Jewish style.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Is alcohol helpful? It seems obscurely, as with all good things, that it would do more harm than good. But I will take that under advisement :D

[kiena-tesedale.livejournal.com]

My sympathies - most of my family have had their gallbladders removed because of chronic gallstones. Besides avoiding fats, the only thing that's really helped (most of) them when they had attacks was a heating pad on their back or sides (where ever it hurts). Just in case your doctor didn't mention it, because my sister's doctor didn't either, but it helped her a lot when she finally found out.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

*standing ovation*

(I very nearly edited my post to say congratulations and ask when he was due!)

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

Ack.

[kelly-girl.livejournal.com]

I have gallstones too! We could form a club? LOL

My main enemy is bacon. Or any type of pork. There have been times when I have been on the floor in so much pain. Or the time I threw up every hour for about six hours.

My primary doctor knew I had gallstones but I really stressed to him that they were getting worse and I got an ultrasound about 4 weeks ago and I too have to go talk to a surgeon next week.

Pears, bread, crackers, water, no citrus is my main thing now. I can do fried but not a lot. Like maybe once a week. Also mine seems to flare up around shark week (my special time with aunt flo).

[miana-dude.livejournal.com]

Those attacks hurt SO BAD. I feel your pain. Mine decided to hit when I was studying abroad in the Czech Republic, so I was thousands of miles away from my doctors and the Czech doctors I saw absolutely sucked. They had no idea what it was and told me it "might be hepatitis." o_O

Avoid fats and sweets like the plague, since that triggers it. I made the mistake of going to Paris for a weekend and the first thing I ate was creme brulee. I ended up not a few hours later curled up on a park bench almost in tears because everything hurt so badly. I was absolutely miserable the entire time, but damnit I was in Paris and I wasn't going to let the fact that my body felt like death stop me from seeing Paris. I ended up having to get a wheelchair at the Louvre just because I physically could not walk anymore. The rest of the days in Paris, I managed to eat half of a banana, some bread, a little bit of rice, and then a small bowl of fruit. That's it.

When I got back to the US a month later, I ended up having to have my gallbladder removed, which wasn't too bad. The pain after the surgery is far less than one of those damn attacks, though I noticed that my body didn't like certain foods anymore (and I had to eat WAY less, which isn't a bad thing).

Hang in there, and don't eat creme brulee!

[textileowl.livejournal.com]

I'm going to focus on the part about studying abroad in the Czech Republic and say hi to a fellow Czech traveler! I spent nearly a year in the Czech Republic when I was 16, 12 years ago. Were you there recently?

Sam, so sorry about the gallstones. Especially on top of all the other stress, having your body decide it doesn't like something suddenly always feels like a betrayal.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

sounds tough... hope you get that operaion soon (and that your mother does well too)

[marsdejahthoris.livejournal.com]

I had them too, except my symptom was acid reflux, not digestive-related pain. ... I ate a lot of chicken until the thing came out, which is obviously not an option for you. But laparoscopic surgery was RIDICULOUSLY easy for me. I took five days off work, though the next week or so, I had to wear sweatpants to the office, which you may not be able to do. I wish you luck on it, though!

[bare-bear.livejournal.com]

Boooo. :(

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

As the oldest woman in my family to still have a gallbladder, I can sympathize. I'm also making the vampire-shielding crossed-finger thing in your direction because my feeling on gall stones can best be summed up as DO NOT WANT.

[platyg.livejournal.com]

It makes me feel somewhat better to see others stories about how it affected them. I would have 24 hour up to 3 or 4 day attacks where I would throw up violently every 30 minutes to an hour, then after about 24 hours would finally concede and go to the emergency room for pain meds, anti nausea and fluids. I ate a lot if saltines and chicken soup broth. Couldn't stand anything if substance for about a week after. First attack I thought I was having a heart attack (that was like 8 or 9 years ago). Then nothing for like 6 years and then the above described which went on for over a year.

Hopefully they get you sorted out soon. Pure misery for me!

[danceswithlife]

Yeah, gallstones here,too, but I made the decision to keep my gallbladder and radically change my diet. One thing my doctors told me that hasn't been mentioned here yet is that extreme, long-lasting gallbladder pain can signal severe inflammation of not only the gallbladder, but the pancreas, which can become pancreatitis--a serious condition. Suffering though a severe attack that goes on for more than a few hours--if you have any option to get medical care--can sometimes be life-threatening.

[marilla82.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[yudinsoha.livejournal.com]

Hey Sam! Everyone else has already chimed in on the diet thing, but I wanted to add another suggestion. If you're in the midst of an attack, I found laying on my right side helped. It's even better if you can do that while applying heat, and stroking down your abdomen from your left side to your right. The liver and gallbladder are located right under your ribs, so don't go too low.

[songspinner9.livejournal.com]

Awwww. Bless. I had mine removed in college...it's such a quick procedure now. And although you have
to limit fatty foods somewhat after, the lack of pain, as I recall, is a lovely thing. Feel better soon...

[a-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like your body is attacking, one organ/body part at a time. Gallstones ... seriously. :(

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Here is what happens in my experience regarding the diagnosis of gallstones: one asks, "Do I have to have my gallbladder taken out?" One is answered, "Yes. If you don't make plans to have it soon and instead try to avoid surgery forever, eventually you will have the repeat attack that makes you say, 'Dammit, I'm having the surgery.'" And usually, that advice is proven true.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I 100% want this thing out of me. Surgery can't come soon enough in my opinion. :D

[rufus.livejournal.com]

ugh, gallstones. I have those sometimes too. The first time I thought it was appendicitis and went to the ER (for the first time in my life.)

I second the notion that they are aggravated by eating high fat foods. I am almost certain that what triggered my first attack was that it was winter and I had been eating a lot of heavy, rich soup.

I've been able to mostly keep them under control with diet, though now I have to be careful because my #1 comfort food is cheese.

Hope you feel better soon!

[xntrick.livejournal.com]

Ow. Sounds pretty painful. I've never dealt with it but I do understand pain. I recently spent a good miserable week in the hospital from a digestive infection (and I'll leave it that). I've had a crazy, but short trip to the ER because of something to do with the pancreas.

Of course, the worst of it would be dealing with kidney failure and the various dialysis stuff. Not bad, but sometimes painful cramps hit. Like now. Thankfully, I have an awesome Nephrologist who has become my Primary doctor as well.

Watching the diet was awful at first, trying not to eat too much cheesy foods, for instance, but now I'm not getting enough phosphates. I've gotten used to not eating foods that I thought I couldn't survive without. Now, I have to get more cheesy foods into my diet.

Sam, I wish you the best. :-)

[twillery.livejournal.com]

Mercy mild, Sam! Best wishes to you and your mom, and I hope you can doctor up quickly--and they settle you up quickly, because ow!