I had the gall...

ER - awaiting a diagnosis

Three weeks ago tonight, my husband rushed me to the emergency room for severe pain in my upper abdomen. It was an agonizing, severe ache that ran in a belt from side to side just beneath my rib cage. I thought (was hoping!) it was digestive in nature and that medicine would do the trick, but no...

I was there for several hours before they diagnosed me. Though a sonogram appeared inconclusive, they thought it may be my gall bladder, and at 2:15 am, I was ambulanced to a larger hospital nearby.

At that point, I was in no pain; and i couldn't help but be amused by the fact that I was a substance abuse counseling student on morphine and other opiates!

Wednesday morning, pre-surgery

The next morning, I had surgery and a good thing it was! Inclusive though the diagnosis may have been, in surgery they discovered my gall bladder full of stones and gangrenous. My surgeon said I was only days away from a life-threatening crisis!

As I awoke in Post-Surgery, I asked the nurse by my side when the operation would be; and he replied that it already was. I didn't believe it and kept repeating the question - "Are you sure? Are you sure?" 

I also shared with him the earworm in my head upon waking: "I like big butts and I cannot lie..."

Back in my room, I shared my earworm with visitors, the entire nursing staff, and anyone who'd listen, and proceeded to take post-surgery selfies...still high:

I also told the nurses that I was going to scare up the other patients on the floor to do a flash mob with me in the hall, dancing with our IV stands!

I was only permitted liquids, and my first meal was beef broth...

Sleeping was a challenge at night - not so much because of the pain, but because of having to share a room with another person. Nurses came in and turned on lights at all hours, either for me or my roommate, and my roommate had her TV on all night. The only thing she watched was true crime/unsolved mysteries or the non-stop coverage of the riots in Baltimore (right below). Definitely a real pick-me-up post-surgery, so I combated it with National Geographic's episode on Asian monkeys (left below).

I'll be returning to work next week, and I'm looking forward to getting back to regular life (more on that in my next blog.)