| On Wednesday, May 29, I had the longest day I have yet put into my computer consulting business. It was fourteen hours long. Of course, that includes the driving times from one person's house to the next.
Thursday, the 30th, I had no calls to make at all, and though I had intended to go to Fresno to get some things done in town, I ended up taking a day off. I slept all but about six hours that day. I didn't even
realize that I was tired.
That evening I started having severe pain in my abdomen. The pain was located in the upper part of the abdomen, just below the ribs. I had had some pain about the same area twice previously, which seemed to turn out to be nothing more than a slight case of constipation.
Friday the pain had not lessened, and I hadn't slept much that night. I called my friend Teri that evening to ask her advice. She said it was probably gallstones
and would require surgery to remove the gallbladder. Since she is a surgery tech, I figured she was just finding the worst case scenario from her line of work.
Saturday afternoon, since the pain still had not subsided, I decided to have Teri take me to the Urgent Care facility in Oakhurst. She came down and picked me up and drove me there.
They were back logged, as is usual for a Saturday, but they were able to put me into a room to lie down in less than one
hour. They drew blood and ran some tests, did all the usual doctorly things, and finally (after about three hours) gave me something for the pain. The doctor on duty said that he didn't want to give me something too soon for fear of masking the symptoms. ha!
They administered a pain medicine called Toradol. It helped a little. After about another hour they decided that I needed to be checked at the Emergency Room in Fresno, to see if it might be
gallstones. In Fresno they have the ultrasound machine that can determine that.
Fortunately, they let Teri drive me down rather than requiring an ambulance. So, back into the car for the hour long drive to Clovis. It turns out that Fresno was full up and was routing people to Clovis.
In the Clovis Emergency Room, after the requisite waiting, we got an examination room so that I could lie down. They again took blood for the same tests that Oakhurst had
run. I don't know about you, but being stuck by needles is not something that makes me happy. In the other arm, they started an IV to keep me from becoming dehydrated.
Through that IV they also administered a pain medicine called Demerol. That sure knocked me for a loop! I nearly passed out from it. My blood pressure lowered to a level that frightened everyone. But at least I was finally feeling no pain. For subsequent doses of Demerol, I
always requested half the usual amount, and that worked well for me.
Time passed while they ordered the imaging tests (ultrasound and a chest x-ray). Another nurse came in to draw more blood, and I asked why they needed to have three sets of blood. It turns out that they didn't really need it, and so they let me slide this time.
However, the next day (Sunday, June 2) in the hospital (oh, yes, they checked me into the hospital), yet another nurse came in to draw more
blood. In fact, one set of blood wasn't going to be enough for her; she wanted two separate sets, requiring two separate needles. It turns out that the set that I had refused on Saturday was simply held to a later time. I still refused that second set, and the nurse had to be content drawing just one set of blood samples.
At any rate, the ultrasounds showed that I did indeed have gallstones, and that my gallbladder would have to be removed. The surgery was
scheduled for "first thing" Sunday morning, which turned out to be 1:00 in the afternoon.
Because I can't have anything to eat or drink prior to surgery, I was without food and water for more than 48 hours. My roommate later started complaining when he had to be without water for a whole ten hours. wimp!
I am so very glad that my friend Teri was with me through most of this. She knows the hospital well and knows most of the doctors, since she works in
the surgery room. First thing Sunday she called to find out who was the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, and she promised to raise a fit if she didn't get the ones she wanted. She got them, and the surgery went well. Teri even got to be in the operating room with me, though she couldn't do any work on me.
The surgery lasted two hours. Everyone attending was very surprised to find the amount of decay present in my gallbladder. There was even
gangrene. Ever-thinking Teri managed to get a copy of the photos from the surgery for me. (NOT for the faint of heart)
I came home from the hospital on Monday and was on extreme pain killer and antibiotics for several days. I couldn't keep any food down for the first night, and Teri came over yet again to care for me. She did manage to get me
stabilized by the next day.
It took several days to get "off the drugs", after which I was feeling pretty much okay. I am making it, but I tire easily. For instance, just getting to Fresno (Dan Larsen drove me) for the follow up examination wiped me out so that I had to come home and sleep for awhile. I have never slept so much as during those days.
I have little strength, and I spend most of my time horizontal or nearly so. I don't eat much,
but my digestion is supposed to be no different than it was prior to the surgery (after everything heals and settles down).
The doctor at the follow up exam today commented that I didn't have to endure that much pain, that I don't have to wait until I almost die. I never really felt that the pain I was having was life threatening. It was bad, of course, but it never seemed THAT bad. Come to think of it, though, the things I went through 1 1/2 years ago with my foot
surgery really changed my evaluation of maximum pain.
I am getting stronger each day, which is a good thing. I presently have a backlog of over a dozen computers that I need to repair. It is good to know that the work is there when I am ready. I am going to start slow, doing only one computer a day. I am surprised that everyone that was scheduled over a week ago has waited all this time to have their work done by me. There are plenty of other companies
that fix computers.
I still have pain at times, but it is much less than I would have expected to have. I even ordered a double filling of the pain medicine they prescribed to me after the surgery. I haven't used a dozen of the caplets. I now use just a couple of regular strength ibuprofen when I need it, which is only a couple of times a day.
If you want to know more about gallstones and the gallbladder and the surgery I underwent, you can read about it at
this web page:
http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwise/137/34071.htm
I had the Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (lab choly).
Update: I recovered rather quickly after I got off the follow up medicines, and my strength fully returned within one week. Since that time I have had no major problems with my digestion or anything. I still eat the same foods as prior to the
surgery. I don't even remember that I have had that surgery except when I see the very slight scars on my abdomen. |
