Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Me and My Gallbladder

So, as many of you already know, I have been suffering through digestive problems most of my adult life. About 8 years ago, I started having regular gall bladder attacks. At first I didn't know what they were because after waiting in the ER for hours, the pain would go away right before- dumb! Anyway, recently, I started having severe stomach pains so I finally went to the doctor (I was losing a ton of weight as I couldn't eat anything) and I mentioned having these attacks. I told the doctor that sometimes I can go months and months with nothing and then sometimes I might have 2 in the same week- her face looked horrified and she wondered why I hadn't done anything before now. I mentioned my fear of needles and procedures, not having the time, thinking it was just the way my body did things and the fact that in my family- we do not go to the doctor unless something is REALLY wrong. Long story short, she sent me in for an abdominal ultrasound and they found a ton of gallstones. I forget the wording used, but there are a bunch, so guess who is going to have a cholecystectomy? Woo hoo!
Abby has been worried so I told her the "good news"- that they found out my gallbladder wasn't working right and that it would easily be removed and my tummy aches would go away and wasn't that fantastic? I thought that would be it and she would be happy, but, Abby- being Abby- started in with the genius questions:

"Why would Jesus make your body with a part that doesn't work?" (Jesus didn't make my body, Grandma and Grandpa did and Heavenly Father made my spirit. Jesus is there to help us get through our difficulties).
"Will you have a surgery?" Yes, but it isn't that big of a deal- doctors do it all the time. And now, you don't even get a huge scar, just a few little ones."
"But your gallbladder is part of your body! You just can't remove a part of your body! It does something!- What does it do?" (Well, it stores acid called bile made in the liver and releases it to help you digest food only guess what? Bile is also sent directly to the intestines as well and so you can do without it.)
"Why do you even have one then, if you don't NEED it?" (Because there are a couple of ways your body can do the same thing and if it is broken, it just makes things worse. Don't worry it is a really easy surgery.)

Yeah, then, in the morning, the questions continued...
"How many cuts is a few? Where will they be? I want to see a gallbladder." (I show her a really good abdominal diagram on the computer)
"No! I want to see a REAL one, not a cartoon!" (So, I find a real one- and she's not grossed out.)
"I want to see where they will cut you." (I show her a diagram)
"No! I want to see it in real life- on the inside! I want to see the camera inside you!" (There are a bunch of videos on YouTube, so I showed her the whole surgery from the point of view of the laparoscope.)

And then she was fine with it. Seriously, where did she come from?

So now, it looks like it will be removed next month- unless I have to go to the ER before then! I'm kind of mad it's going to take so long because I like to eat and not have pain. At least I'm finally losing the baby weight, but I kind of don't think this is the best weight-loss program out there.

5 comments:

Danielle Dallas said...

I hope my daughter is that inquisitive--what gift she has! (a lawyer in the making perhaps . . . ? :-) But really, I hope everything goes well with the surgery and there really are no complications, for your sake as well as for Abby's.

The Ostheds said...

Good luck with everything! I hope that you feel good until they can take care of you! We miss you guys tons! Kajsa still takes about the trip to California to see Abby!

Chellers said...

Ay minha querida. I hope you feel better soon. Let me know when the surgery is....because we're taking a trip to San Francisco in Feburary (14-21 I think) and were toying with dropping by your place for a couple of days. But if you're recovering from surgery, we'll do it another time. :-)

Cassidy said...

Good luck with your surgery. And oh my goodness is Abby SMART!!! She is such a cutie! I also very much enjoyed reading your responses to her questions. I hope I can remember your answers so I can explain things to my kids the way you do someday.

Stephanie said...

Abby will make a great doctor. . . or lawyer. . . or something amazing!