Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Gall!

Well, it's official. I have gallstones. Not the most pleasant thing to announce on a blog, but I'm admitting to them as it explains an immense amount of what my life has been like over the past, say, oh, 13 years! I've always blamed it on marriage (hehe), but when I hear what the symptoms are and compare it to all I've believed over the years (lactose intolerant, can't eat any fried foods, stomach issues - IBS?, pregnancy issues due to that "foot" in my rib, that little tingly feeling in my rib that never went away.....), it appears I've had this for a long, long time!

Now that I know, I guess it will help in case I ever have a terrible attack and need to go to the ER - as my doctor put it. Of course, with my anxiety level any attack could be a terrible attack. Hmmm.... is it better to know, or not to know?? I'm thinking if I want to avoid these altogether I ought to become a vegetarian. That won't go over so well in my chicken loving, beef eating family. But my sister did it!

So, how did we reach this conclusion? Well, I had some abnormal tests earlier this summer, right before Hungary, and then I had more tests, an ultrasound and then I heard absolutely nothing, which I like to foolishly think means I'm cured! Instead, I found this out and I think it's probably better than something like cancer but worse than something like totally inaccurate testing. To be quite honest, I was totally relieved to know, as I'm sure you are now, too. Right? (will you ever come back to read here again??)

And I always thought I was just a hypochondriac!

3 comments:

Kathryn said...

Sorry to hear you've been so uncomfortable. I had to look up what gallstones are...I'd only heard of kidney stones.

So, becoming vegetarian would alleviate symptoms? What if you just tried to eat less meat. It would be hard to go vegetarian cold turkey (no pun intended).

I read that in alternative medicine, there is a treatment that helps flush out the existing stones. It's some combo of eating apples/drinking juice, olive oil, lemon juice... Might be worth a try if it takes the pain away.

Good luck.

kimsilver said...

Bummer-
I am sorry to hear that. A good friend of mine was just tested for gall stones, as her symptoms were in line with those symptoms. She doesn't have them.....thankfully. Before that, I really didn't know what they were either. My friend also had a lot of nausea all the time. Do you have that? What a pain. (no pun intended, either)

deanna said...

I don't have any nausea, just that funny feeling and other symptoms that come with certain foods I eat. I'm guessing it all started with those birth control pills I only took for 7 months - before they completely wreaked havoc on my body!!

My grandfather actually had his gall bladder removed - I remember him showing off his scar to us as kids. Now THAT is scary. EEK!