I Finally had my Gall-Bladder Removed!

Yes, it has been close to a year since the saga began, and yesterday it ended.

Last year Ron and I were married on 11/8/08. On 11/23/08 was had some minor stomach pains while out four-wheeling with Ron. Later that day I was riding the quad while my brother rode the dirt bike and somehow I managed to roll the quad. I was really bruised up and missing probably 85% of the skin on my back, upper arms, elbows and left thigh, but luckily no broken bones. On 11/24/08 I had a severe gall-bladder attack that landed me in the hospital until Thanksgiving.

Being in the hospital was miserable. In the emergency room they placed a nasal/gastric tube to help empty my stomach and give me some relief. It was incredibly painful! The tube sits on your sinuses and there just is no way to get comfortable with that thing in place. I became severely depressed instantly. After 3 days I was feeling good enough to demand that I be released AMA unless the Gastric Surgeon came to see me that day. (By this time I had been in the hospital 24 hours longer than I needed to be.) I was finally released that day, Thanksgiving, and came home to a Marie Callendar's Thanksgiving Feast. Hey, at least we had a family dinner. I was so disappointed though, because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I felt it had been ruined.

I was scheduled to have my gall-bladder removed at my regular hospital 12/10/08. On 12/5/08 the surgeons office called me to reschedule my surgery until my second trimester. WHAT? Ron and I had no idea, but somehow we had managed to get pregnant immediately after our wedding. Because the babies vital organs were all developing during the first trimester, surgery was not recommended at that time. After doing further research, I decided to decline surgery while pregnant due to the risks to the baby from the gas used in your abdomen during laporascopic procedures. (There was something like a 30% chance of causing miscarriage, which would be in the second trimester, which made me very uncomfortable.)

During the course of my pregnancy I stuck to a very low-fat diet to help reduce the chances of having another gall-bladder attack. Thankfully I only had two attacks, the last one being at 17 weeks. Coincidentally, when we were leaving the Urgent Care after being checked out from that last attack Ron and I were rear ended by a drunk driver. In May I was in a small boating accident on the Mississippi River while visiting Memphis. My cousin suggested wrapping me in bubble wrap at this point . . . not a bad idea.

I was horribly nervous going in for surgery yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I love my hospital (St. Joseph's in Orange) and my surgeon. While planning my surgery back in December, it never occured to me that having a baby at home would change how I felt about receiving a general anesthetic. I had a morbid reaction to my fears and spent a day labelling and making instructions for everything regarding Aubrey's care -- how to empty the diaper pails, wash her bottles, her laundry, etc.

My parents stayed with Aubrey while Ron took me in for the procedure. Things went smoothly, and we were home by dinnertime. Ron's Aunt Donna kept us company while in the hospital which was a huge help. I was glad that Ron didn't have to wait alone while I was in surgery.

I am glad I had my gall bladder removed, especially since my stupid low-fat diet became an issue once it was time to start breastfeeding. I can't wait to actually have something cheesy, like enchilladas! In the meantime, I have 4 tiny incisions on my abdomen that are right where I hold Aubrey. While feeding her this morning I received a few strong kicks against my tummy. I'm trying to let Ron catch a few minutes of extra sleep this morning, but I am definitely waking him up for her next meal.

I've decided that this is one time I will listen to my husband and try to relax. My usual idea of relaxing is, well . . . not relaxing at all. I don't sit still well. I got scolded last night for dirty spot off the front of the kitchen cupboard. Ron swears it will kill me to take an entire day off and relax, but I'm willing to give it a try.

Although I do have an afghan I started working on just sitting there calling to me . . . . It's still relaxing if I am at least sitting down, right?