Posted on 03/27/2019 10:53:53 PM PDT by Romans Nine
Well started the day out like usual. Got up, got dressed, went to the dinner table, wife brought me over fresh cooked eggs, bacon, toast and large glass of milk. I ate while reading GD.com and Free Republic. Went out to my service truck and something felt a little off. I went back inside and the pain hit me like a freight train. Sever abdominal/chest pain. Worst pain Ive ever felt. Ive had my eye cut open, kidney stones, fell on a tee post that went deep enough to hit a lung, had a rifle cartridge breech the case in my face, smashed my hand in a road reclaimer tiller, broken my sternum and three ribs but none of that compares to this pain. Wife put me in the car and headed to the hospital. I broke out in a cold sweat and the pain was causing me to almost loss consciousness. We made it to the second town about 20 miles and my wife spotted a Sheriffs deputy and flagged him down. He gave us an escort up the highway until we met with an ambulance. The EMTs assessed me enough to know it wasnt my heart because if it had been they would have called in the life flight.
On the way in the ambulance they gave me a shot of Fentanyl. When we arrived at the ER they took me in and within 20 minutes I saw a doctor. At some point they gave me another dose of Fentanyl, took blood for lab work and that Fentanyl sent me into la la land. Doctor oredered an ultrasound and I received that within 30 minutes. It was not conclusive enough so they ordered a Cat Scan and I had that done within another 45 minutes.
Sometime after the Cat Scan the Fentanyl wore off and my pain started to come on hard. My wife told them that the Fentanyl made me delirious so they gave me Morphine. Ah now that was much better. No brain fog and no pain.
I asked the radiologist what she could see since I knew she knows what shes looking at. She told me that I would not be going home tonight.
Back in the room the doctor came in and told me I have an infected gallbladder full of stones and she would be doing surgery either tonight or in the morning first thing. All of that happened within 6 hours of arriving at the ER. So I got moved to a room, they have me on an IV and are putting antibiotics through me. In 7 hours from this post Im going in for surgery to remove my gallbladder.
I have read the horror stories on here about the ER wait and hospital care a lot of you have dealt with and let me tell you every single nurse, assistant and doctor here have been fabulous to interact with. After I finish this post Im composing a letter to send to the administrator about just how good they have treated me and my wife. The surgeon is a woman from India and she was so personable and explained everything and every contingency there was.
I guess most people start having pain more gradually with gallbladder stones but mine has many stones and is infected. The only thing that felt unusual to me over the last few weeks has been an unusually sore back.
So anybody else surrendered your gallbladder to science? What was your experience? They claim I might have some digestive track problems adjusting to the loss of my gallbladder.
By the way, Im 46 years old, generally healthy, not overweight and do not take any prescription drugs.
Be well. It does run in families. My dad, his sister and my cousin had it removed. They were all thim. I have had an attack, but no removal...yet.
My gall bladder exploded in 30s.
Somewhat fat and a male.
Over the years i’ve had two immediate next door neighbors have acute gall bladder attacks. In each case I saw them stagger doubled over in agony make their way to vehicles for trip to ER. Good luck!
Wow prayers your way sir. May you find relief quickly and be back on your feet in no time!
I suffered my entire adult life until age 55 with unknown - and apparently undiagnosable - occasional drop to the floor pain and persistent stress, sufficient to keep me in a constant state of near panic. That went on for 35 years. Finally, after a 6 hour bout of steady state cat 10 pain I was seen by a triage nurse who asked if I had pain between the shoulder blades. “Yes” resulted in a cat scan and surgery 2 ours later. I awoke to bliss. “It’s quiet,” was my first impression.
Have had no issues since other than diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and their attendant conditions. Besides 5 way bypass and a pacemaker, removing my gall bladder was the best thing I ever did. I highly recommend getting rid of the beast.
Get well soon, friend. God bless.
My good friend and Co-worker put his wife in the car and drove her to emergency room instead of calling 9-11. She unfortunately had a heart attack and passed on the way. They wouldnt touch her at hospital. Take a lesson- call for help! They arrive quickly, have oxygen and meds at the ready, could have saved her.
Good advice. Broke my hip last summer. Wanted to go home and rest. Was at a tropical fish club meeting. Friends called an ambulance. 6 months later I am doing great.
My gallbladder was removed about 10 years ago. The surgery is very easy and I went home that day. No problems ever since.
A year ago my daughter had hers removed at age 29. She is thin and very active. She had minor complication because she was thin. Doctor misjudged incision and cut into intestine.
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that makes no sense.
In surgery incisions are made in layers.
Laparscopic.i believe they enter three places with probe like devices.
I had mine removed in 1972 six weeks after having my second child. It started out as a dull ache in my side and then I woke up with the worst pain of my life.
The surgery, back then, was a little more involved and I had to spend an entire week in the hospital . The recovery wasn’t bad and the doctor told me I could go back to eating anything I wanted. He lied. Fatty foods are a no no and ice cream will cause be big problems. Let’s just say I know where the rest room is everywhere I go. Almost 47 years later, I still have some digestive problems but I know how to deal with them.
Good luck on your surgery.
As I understand it, the gall bladder does nothing but store bile which is used to digest those fatty foods, probably in that first minute or two. After you ingest some fatty foods the brain gets a message that it better produce more bile and everything is okay.
My own gall bladder removal was a result of being diagnosed with hereditary spherocytosis. (Enlarged spleen was the symptom, but no pain was involved.) This causes my red blood cells to be more spherical than egg shaped which in turn caused my spleen to remove them more rapidly than it otherwise would as they age. When it does this it produces bilirubin which can form gall stones. In my case these were observed via xrays when they were about to remove my spleen and so I never really has the problem that you had; but I might have. (The liver takes over the function of getting rid of old red blood cells, so not having a spleen hasn't been a problem for me though my doctors tell me it reduces the effectivity of my immune system.)
ML/NJ
Good luck mate.
Missouri.
I’m with this brother here.
Prayers to you and your family. It sounds like they have treated you well and you’re fortunate not to have a socialized system.
I hope you’re back on your feet quick. I’m not many years behind you. We’re still young, you’ll bounce back quickly.
Ping
As an Octogenarian I feel pretty lucky but I have to give all the kudos to the Cabernet.
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