Weekend Woe

Last weekend was the weekend from Hell. Friday night around 11:00, I began experiencing stomach and back pain. Then came the vomiting. All night long, I retched periodically and was wretched constantly. There was no way to position my body so that the pain went away, so I kept moving—pacing, arching my back, lying down, getting back up—but still the pain went on and on. It was worse than labor. At least in labor you get breaks between contractions! I didn’t sleep at all.

At 8:00 a.m., I woke up my husband and told him to take me to the doctor. It was Saturday, so I had to settle for the urgent care center. The doctor there told me that it was probably stomach flu. I refused to accept that diagnosis. I almost never catch stomach flu, and when I do, it does not cause nonstop back pain. Then he said, “Well, I guess it could be gallstones.” He suggested that I make an appointment to have an ultrasound. That sounded reasonable, so that’s what I did.

Later that morning, the pain and nausea subsided enough that I was able to get some sleep. I was also able to take Advil, which was a very good thing, because somehow I managed to pull my back, too. Ouch!

I had the ultrasound on Monday, and it was conclusive. I not only have gallstones, my poor gall bladder is practically bursting from them. Apparently I’ve had this condition for a long time. It explains some of the digestive issues that I’ve had over the years. My symptoms were somewhat atypical, which is why they were repeatedly misdiagnosed.

Sadly, if I had known about the gallstones years ago, I might have altered my diet enough to avoid this situation, but it’s too late now. My doctor says that my gall bladder is a ticking tome bomb. It’s only a matter of time before I have another attack, and each attack carries the chance of life-threatening complications. My gall bladder has to go. I have an appointment to see a surgeon next week.

But on the bright side,

• Gall bladders are unnecessary. Most people do just fine without them.
• The surgery will be laparoscopic, which means I should have a quick recovery and only three small scars.
• I’ve gotten a lot of reading done.
• I’ve lost weight.
• I’m happy to finally know what’s wrong with me, and I’m relieved that it’s fixable.