Gall Stones

It has been an eventful couple of days for me though to be honest, I wish I could've passed on them. Tuesday, I was feeling fine and working at SHARE when the stomach pains I'd suffered the last five days came back. I took two antacids but they didn't seem to work. I decided to head home early. I got home and took another antacid tablet. Again, I didn't see any improvement. I debated what to do and decided I'd better see a doctor. It turned out to be a very wise decision.

I arrived at the clinic where my regular doctor works and asked if I could see a doctor. I told them I was experiencing considerable stomach pains. To my relief, they got me in to see a doctor. My condition worsened. Less than an hour after arriving at the clinic, I was in serious pain. Later, I became nauseous and began to throw up. The doctor who saw me called an ambulance. I asked for some painkillers and was told I couldn't have any until they had figured out what was wrong with me. The ambulance medics arrived and asked me about my condition. The doctor told them what they knew and I filled in any missing bits. They subsequently rolled me on stretcher out of the clinic to the ambulance. While enroute to Laurel Regional Hospital, my condition worsened further. I began to throw up violently to the point to where blood began coming out of my left ear though I didn't realize it at the time.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital in good time and I was promptly wheeled into the emergency room. There, Dr. Koons examined me and ordered chest x-rays and a sonogram. It was the sonogram that would show the problem. I had at least one gall stone in my gall bladder. It was the stone that was causing my excruciating pain. Dr. Koons promptly called a general surgeon by the name of Dr. Daee who arrived around 10 or 11 p.m. He explained to me that the standard procedure for gall stones was to remove the gall bladder. He said I had to back-up organs that could produce the bile my body needs so losing my gall bladder wasn't a disaster. I agreed to the surgery and it was scheduled for the next day at noon.

While I slept, the gall stone or stones moved and when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in any pain. I waited patiently for the surgery. The only thing I was afraid of was the stone moving and causing the terrible pain I'd suffered the night before. At 10:50 a.m., I was told the Dr. Daee had been delayed by another case and my surgery was now scheduled for 5 p.m. There was nothing I could do so I accepted it and continued to wait. I also made various phone calls on my cell phone telling my Post Office and Medieval Times bosses what was going on. I also let my Dad and Mom know. Finally, at 3:55 p.m., I was prepped for surgery. I was wheeled down to the recovery room where they put another IV into me. To my annoyance. Dr. Daee was delayed again. I wouldn't actually be operated on until 5:50 p.m.

I don't have any memory of the operation itself. I found out afterwards that they used general anaestesia on me and it definitely worked. I never felt any pain during the operation. They kept me in the recovery room until they felt the anaestesia had worn off. Then, I was wheeled back to my room.

I slept well thankfully. The next morning, I was told I'd see the surgeon and he would determine if I could leave or not. I very much wanted to leave the hospital if possible because I was bored silly, my cell phone battery was nearly drained and I knew how expensive civilian hospitals are. I have the standard retired military health plan called Tricare Prime. I knew it should cover the costs of my hospitalization but I didn't want to make my hospital stay any more expensive then I had to just in case. I remember how much it cost Tricare when I came down with a case of severe bronchitis two years ago. It was a rude awakening to how expensive civilian healthcare is here in the U.S.

I never got to see the surgeon. I guess based on what the nurses told him, he determined there wasn't any need to see me. I was told that I wasn't allowed to do any heavy lifting, to stay away from spicy and fried foods and to see him in a week. Later, I found out from the surgeon's office that I was grounded i.e. no driving either until he gives me the clean bill of health. Luckily, I have lots of movies to watch, reading for the college class I plan to take for the third time (I withdrew twice) and letters to write. I also plan to write some blog entries on some CDs I've bought. Still, it's going to be a boring week.

That sums up my two eventful days. I try to look at this experience positively. At least, I found out what was wrong with me health wise and the terrible pains that came when the gall stone (s) moved won't be coming back. I count myself fortunate to have a very affordable health plan through the military. I'm also grateful to Ray Baldon who very kindly picked me up at the hospital and drove me to the clinic so I could get my car back. I'll have to make sure I do something nice for his family. Lastly, I'm lucky to have family and friends who while they couldn't be there in person were able to give me words of sympathy and encouragement. It turns out my Dad and Mom also had their gall bladders removed because of gall stones. They could fully understand what I was going through and what I could expect. Now, I just need to rest, recover and carry on.