Poppin' the Pills

I went to visit the surgeon today. He was a nice man and I feel that he's competent in what he does. We looked over a little comic book type thing that explained what was going wrong with me and exactly what they'd do to remove the gall bladder. He let me know that this is a very common procedure and that he's already removed 8, count them 8, gall bladders this week.

After reviewing the pros and cons of the surgery and the risks if I wait, he pressed on my abdomen and it wasn't tender. That's when I figured out that I really didn't need the surgery at this time. I let him know that I'd already spoken with my chiropractor and was interested in trying a holistic approach to dissolving the gallstones rather than removing my gall bladder. His reply was polite yet a little mocking. Something along the lines of, "Okay, we'll leave your case open and you can call us back if you need us. Good luck with the supplements. If it works, I'll have to tell all my patients."

I went straight from the surgeon to the chiropractor's office and purchased my supplements. I popped my first set of pills at dinner and I'm feeling healthier already! :)

And the Report Says...

I picked up a copy of the report from the radiologist today to take with me to the surgeon and this is what is has to say.

FINDINGS: Transverse and longitudinal images were obtained through the upper abdomen. The liver is normal in size, shape, and echogenicity. There are no masses, and no intrahepatic ductal dilation is seen. The gallbladder contains multiple large gallstones, which move with patient change and positions, and have prominent posterior acoustic shadow. The common bile duct is 3 mm in diameter, which is normal. There is no focal tenderness on abdominal palpation over the gallbladder. Gallbladder wall thickness is 2 mm. The pancreas is normal in size, shape, and echogenicity. The right kidney is 11.1 cm in length. Aorta is normal in caliber.

IMPRESSION: Choletlithiasis

It seems that everything is else is healthy and I just have a few large gallstones causing me some pain. I'll be interested in what the surgeon has to say, but from what this is saying, I think I'll be taking supplements to get rid of the gallstones and not having surgery done.

Papa Don't Preach...

cause I made up my mind, I'm gonna keep my bladder.

I had my monthly appointment with my chiropractor today and when he asked how I was doing of course I had to fill him in on the gallstones issue and my meeting with the surgeon on Wednesday and I asked him what he thought. He started out by saying how simple and routine gall bladder surgery is, but then he turned it around and stated that the gall bladder had a purpose...it stores up bile and releases it when needed. Sure when the gall bladder is removed, the liver is hooked directly to the intestines but then you get a steady drip of bile in the intestines all day and not enough there to adequately digest certain foods when it's needed. There's a series of supplements I can take to dissolve the stones.

So, unless the surgeon comes out and says that I absolutely, positively must have my gall bladder removed, I think I'm going to try the supplements so I can keep my gall bladder. I'm 30 and God-willing if I live to be 80, that's another 50 years I have left to live. While most people have minor or no side effects to having their gall bladder removed, I'd probably be one of the people who have a severe side effect and I really don't want to have that side effect for 50+ years.

I Don't Know the Answers

I received some pre-appointment paperwork that I need to complete and bring with me to the surgeon. Part of it included family medical history and it was then it hit me...I don't really know my family medical history. I usually called Mom whenever I needed to know that sort of stuff. I figured Dad would know his side but I wasn't sure how much he'd know about Mom's side so I emailed Dad and Uncle Terrence. Since Uncle Terrence is a year or so from being able to claim that he's a leukemia survivor, I figured he'd know his family medical history best.

Rocks For Sale - Going Cheap

I got a call from the doctor. I've got gallstones. The doctor gave me some surgeons to call and meet with. I have an appointment for next Wednesday.

I'm Exposed!

I had the ultrasound today. The nice lady who did the ultrasound couldn't tell me anything. The info collected must be sent away to the radiologist who'll send a report back to the doctor and then I'll hear more. This might take up to a week.

My Body's Not Suffering

As far as the blood work is concerned, I'm fine. The results came back clean so if I do have gallstones, they aren't adversely effecting my body at this time. Yeah!

Further Thoughts

My ultrasound is scheduled for next Tuesday and the GERD medicine has been helping. No severe pain...just a small aching every once in a while. The Mayo Clinic has a great article on gallstones. Most of the causes I've done most of my life. It's only recently I've turned my eating and exercise habits around. Overweight...check. Skipping breakfast...check. Low fiber/high cholesterol diet...check. Crash diet where more than 3 pounds a week was lost and consumed less than 800 calories a day...if we consider my senior year of high school when I had mono and I didn't eat or drink for a month...check. I actually think most of the damage might have been done during mono because I literally did nothing for a month. I barely ate or drank. Mom would occasionally get a Mountain Dew down me. I slept constantly. Introduction of estrogen in birth control pills and pregnancy...check and check. Thinking back, I used to get horrible pains while on the pill. I thought it was it was cramps because I'd never experience cramps before. I'd probably had attacks back then and not realized.

Oh well. We'll have to wait and see what the blood work and ultrasound say.

What's Up Doc?

After having some severe pain in my right upper quadrant the last couple of nights, I decided I needed to see my doctor to figure out what was going on. The pain reminded me of the pain that Jenn described when she'd had gall bladder attacks. Well, I was positive for the saying ouch when he pushed on it test, so he ordered blood work and an ultrasound. He also sent me home with some medicine for GERD which supposedly has a helpful side effect for gall bladders. We'll have to see how it turns out.

How Could This Be Legit?

Today I was shopping at an office supply store named for an office supply when I happened to notice what the person behind me in line was purchasing. He had in his possession two spindles of burnable CDs and numerous copies of the inside liner of a Tupac CD. Tell me...what could he legitimately be doing with those items? Anyone?