Gall Bladder Tales....

It started in December.  I woke up in the middle of the night with this incredible pain in my stomach on the right side.  I COULD NOT GET ANY RELIEF.  I crawled into the hottest tub I could stand.  I writhed on the floor.  I cried out to God.  I finally woke Kyle and asked him to take me to the hospital.  We went and they worked me up for a kidney stone.  I was in so much pain.  When we left, the doc said "We don't see a stone, but it had to have been a stone.  Maybe you passed it.".   As exhausted as I was at that point, I accepted that diagnosis and we moved on.


A couple of months later, I had 10 people here for dinner.  I suddenly had to excuse myself.  That pain was back.  The feelings of panic, embarrassment, possibly even the feeling that I was over reacting to something that anyone else could have handled much easier... these all overwhelmed me.  I took the only pain meds I had and hid in my bedroom.  2 hours later, I felt at least 50% better and I came out of my room.  The friends were still here and I got to accept their sweet words, while feeling like I must have imagined it and blown the pain up into much more than it was.

I decided to talk to my pcp about this and she recommended a urologist.  I got my records and made the appointment.  The doc was young, very self-assured, and told me in no uncertain terms that I did not have any kidney issues. The CT scan was "dead" he said- absolutely no evidence of a stone then or recently.  He said "Do you have back problems?  Maybe thats the problem.  Maybe you should see a neurologist...I don't know.  It's not a stone though."   I felt dumb.  Like I hadn't been heard and that I was being dismissed.  It made me angry after the fact, but in the moment I became the nurse that I am and submitted to the authority of the physician in front of me.

The pandemic hit and we were all on lock down.  I forgot all about this pain, since life was so busy in other ways.  I did get a bill from the first ER visit- $2600 my portion since the hospital I went to was apparently out of network.  I vowed never to do that again.  I'd die at home before I became responsible for another huge bill.

One night, I had my grand daughters and daughters come over and they planned a sleep over.  They played in the hot tub and giggled through bedtime stories.  I busied myself in my room getting ready for bed.  Suddenly the pain was back though, and I had no way to handle it.  I called my youngest daughter to my room and asked for her to go get my purse out of my SUV.  The last 2 pain pills from December were there and one of them was my only hope.  I undressed and got into the hot bathtub.  I cried and prayed.  My girls got the grand babies to sleep and focused on me.  I went back to bed and they stood at my bedside holding my hand.  They insisted that I go to the ER. My husband was already asleep and I woke him up in the process.  I begged him to tell the girls that i'd been like this before and that I didn't have to go.  They were appalled that I had gone through this before, while I found comfort in knowing I'd survived it once already.  I asked for 30 minutes to allow the meds to work and they retreated to their bedroom.  I tried to lay still and I prayed.  Nothing changed.

After 20 mintues, I got up and found clothes to wear to the ER.  I dressed and woke my husband.  I told him I had to go and that I'd have Hannah (my youngest, 23 years old) drive me.  He offered to take me, but I knew that he had to be at the church by 9 am.  We aren't 20 years old anymore- up all night doesn't feel the same as it did back then.  I insisted he stay with the grand babies and then we left.  Hannah grabbed a sweater for me as we walked out.  We had no idea I would be there for almost 5 days, or I sure would've packed a bag!

She drove me quickly to the nearest in network hospital, taking care of me the whole way.  She encouraged me to deep breath, told me it would be ok if I threw up, and was calm.  These things were so important!  I couldn't seem to calm down, so her attitude was a plus!  We arrived and they got me in right away.    They listened to the long history and began to work me up for abdominal pain.  CT of the abdomen revealed swelling to the common bile duct and gall stones.  Detailed ultrasound was done to work up the bile duct issue.  Possibly a stone blocking the duct they thought.  Planned an MRI the next morning and a stone retrieval.    It was 4 am.  They knew I would be admitted, so Hannah went to get a couple of things for me from any store she could find open. In these days of Covid-19, she had been allowed to stay with me in the ER, but would not be allowed in my regular room.  She was back in 20 minutes with a care package and then I was alone.  She hugged me tight before she left, but she had to go.

To be continued....  :)