Health issues

On Father's Day weekend, the weekend of our family campout with Chris' family, I ended up in the hospital with stomach pain.

The pain began after a deliciously greasy meal of eggs, bacon and sausage. I have had problems with acid reflux for many years now, so attributed the discomfort I was feeling to that.

When the pain got worse throughout the day, I began to get a bit concerned and Pat suggested that maybe I get it checked out. We headed into the Ponoka hospital, knowing that I would be seen much quicker there than if we were to wait until we got back home.

I was seen quickly and admitted. The doctor thought that it was either an intestinal infection or my gallbladder. I was put on IV and given some antibiotics in case it was an infection as well as some Demerol for the pain.

There were no available beds in the hospital so I spent a relatively sleepless night in the emergency department. At least I had a "private" exam room!

I couldn't get in for my "urgent" ultrasound for 2 days so I was able to convince my doctor (who saw me Monday morning on rounds) to discharge me with a prescription for oral antibiotics and pain killers.

We stayed another night in Ponoka and then headed for the ultrasound. It was determined that I had a gallstone, about 4 mm in diameter and some "sludge" in my gallbladder that was likely the culprit of the pain.

I was sticking to a diet of basically chicken and rice to keep the grease and fatty foods from causing the pain to flare up again but it wasn't really working.

I had an appointment to see the surgeon relatively quickly (a month after being in the hospital) at which point I had had 2 more bad attacks, but didn't go to the hospital.

The surgeon thought that my symptoms were serious enough to put me on a Tier 2 list for surgery, meaning that I would be scheduled for surgery in the next 2-6 weeks. This was much, much faster than the 3-6 months my family doctor had warned me it might take. The surgery is done laproscopically, and is just day surgery so I will be home the night of the procedure. And I've heard that recovery isn't too bad.

At this point, I am still waiting for a surgery date, but after having spoken to the surgeon's office yesterday they are still hoping that I will be in before the end of August. I am also on a cancellation list in which case I would be given 48 hours notice.

I'm just hoping that I can have the surgery with enough recovery time before we leave for Las Vegas on September 7th!