Almost 1 month later

I had my post surgery consult with the surgeon today. She told me the results of the surgery. There was a gallstone stuck at the top of the bile duct. She tried to push it back into the gallbladder so that she can sever that duct, but the stone wouldn't move, so she had to snip below it. She said if she left that gallstone there, there would be the same pain, so she had no choice but to cut below that. Imagine that!

She said my gallbladder was a wreck. It was very mucousy where a normal gallbladder should be clear. They also found the 2cm gallstone. I hope they ran over it with a truck.

She also mentioned another patient swore by the Liver Flushes. This patient also froze it because otherwise it would have dissolved. My surgeon's answer to that was because it was oil, not stones. So whatever you can take from that synopsis, so be it it!

So that's it!

I guess this will be my last post since I really don't have any more problems. If anything does arise, I will be sure to post something for you all.

I hope this little blog of the last 2 years of my life helps you. I can't tell you what to do, but can only share my experience. And that this was a positive experience.

2 weeks and 2 days later

Ok really, I can't complain. I was bracing myself for the worst for the past 3 months. All I read everywhere was that people would be living on the toilet. I hummed and hawed for 2 years. I tried everything BUT the surgery. So the last attempt WAS the surgery and you know what, it's fine. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few.

Remember that those who posts on forums are going through something. Those that have successful surgeries can't be bothered, so yes, you are bound to read only NEGATIVE comments. That is the reason for this blog. I was hoping to give an account of something positive.

There's nothing I would have changed the last 2 years. Did I wish I got this done sooner? No. Because the events in the last 2 years is what brought me to this place. I know that it was a good decision for myself because I've exhausted all other possibilities.

Some Food Facts
I felt adventurous again (and I never was, though I made sure these adventures were always at home) and decided try stuff to see what would happen:

McDonalds
Result: this time I felt fine

Mr. Greek (didn't have breakfast)
Result: money down the toilet

Taco Bell (first time in over 5 years)
Result: felt fine. HUH?

Chinese take out
Result - lots of money down the toilet

McCain's Frozen Chocolate Cake!
Result - YUM

Chicken Wings - Fine

Summary:
I noticed I felt sicker if I starved myself in the morning and didn't eat until after 12:00 pm. So you should really eat something for breakfast, even something small.

I took off all bandages. The scars look like little cuts. Like I was cut by an exacto knife. That's it. Nothing more.

I will be seeing my Surgeon in about a week and a half for the post followup results (can you believe I still have no clue as to what the hell went on during this surgery). Will keep you posted.

1 week and 2 days later

So far, nothing to complain about! Events this week:

- Took off the steri-strips. I went to the drug store and bought new ones. The ones made by 3M. They are about 8 bucks for a pack. Good to have in your stash. I put them back on the scars.

- I don't remember if I mentioned that they said you can't bathe for 4 days. Ya whatever. I did a spongebath because there's no way I would survive that. I taped a plastic bag to my stomach and did it that way.

- One morning I woke up at an ungodly hour of 4:30 am and couldn't go back to bed. I made the mistake of eating left over Quiche at 6am (which didn't affect me whatsoever the night before). But at about 8 am, I was overcome with the worst nausea I've ever experienced. I went back to bed until 11 am and felt better.

- I was feeling adventurous the next day and decided to go to McDonalds and see what awaits. I ordered a hamburger (the small one for kids). BAD IDEA. Bad stomach cramps and the money went down the toilet.

- Other than that, nothing else really to report. I've been eating oatmeal for breakfast (the instant kind) and feel pretty good otherwise. The stitches are healing really fast. The only other thing I can complain about is the feeling of someone poking a pencil in and out of your belly button. This is just a feeling and really weird and uncomfortable.

4 Days post surgery

So.... how does the gallbladder removal affect one's digestive issues and running to the toilet?

So far, only one episode. And I totally blame the butter that I put on my toast. That turned my stomach into a gut wrenching tornado for the majority of the day.

Also I learned that I can't overeat. Always leave the table a little hungry. Because my eyes were bigger than my stomach, even too much soup made me IMMEDIATELY want to vomit. It was like "yum, this soup is so good". Next second. "Ok, I gotta lie down, I think I'm going to throw up."

So I'm on Day 4. So far everything is ok. Took the bandages off and the Nurse didn't tell us what do with these steri strips or whatever they are called. I had to call my nurse friend who said to leave them on until they fall off by themselves.

So just now, I had a toast with ham on it. No mayo, no butter, just plain ham. And a coffee. My stomach is rumbling now and I'm starting to not feel too hot. So I'm going to go lie down.

Bottom line. Take at least 1 week off work. From what I'm reading around the forums, everyone heals differently. I was able to go and carry two loads of laundry today. I believe I'm healing pretty fast, but still want the sympathy from hubby so I'm going to pretend that I'm still a little immobile.

D-Day SURGERY

So..... I had my gallbladder taken out yesterday...

11:00 am registration
Was feeling very extremely anxious. Husband was not a real help but he was trying. He kept trying to distract me and I wasn't one for it. I would rather sit there and worry to death than try distraction. I closed my eyes and tried not to concentrate on the hustle and bustle of the waiting room. I opened my eyes. Husband was just sitting there staring at me. I told him to get lost.

12:30 pm - I was called in to change into the gown and these "disposable" panties which were like a mesh underwear. YUCK. I put all my personal belongings into a bag and they put it in a locker.

12:45 pm - Went into this holding place with a nice reclining chair. Nurse came in to take my blood pressure and all that stuff. Hubby was still with me.

1:00 pm - Nurse tells me to go into the O.R. waiting room. What, another waiting room? Said my byebye's to hubby who was starving at this point. (I didn't know he could have came with me also, but whatever)

1:00 - 1:45 pm - sat in the waiting room. Everyone there was really old. There was the cutest old couple in front of me. The wife was going into surgery. The husband had been fasting with her since the day before (so she wouldn't feel alone). As soon as they called her in, he jumped up for joy and went to the cafeteria to get food.

1:45 pm - another nurse came to get me and walked me to the Operating Room. She asked the routine questions, "Did you drink", "Do you wear dentures". Um No.

1:50 pm - Saw my surgeon. Did the meet and greet. Lied down on the cold sterile table. Anesthesiologist popped up beside me and started to find the vein to put the needle in. I said "Oh, are you putting me to sleep now?" She said "Why do you need to be somewhere else?"

1:51 pm - Nurse puts oxygen mask on...... that's all I remember.

3:30 pm - Felt like a movie. Opened my eyes, saw a blur.
Nurse: "Are you in pain?".
Me: I shook my head No
5 minutes later Nurse says: "Are you in pain do you need more morphine?".
I nodded a Yes
Nurse: "Then why didn't you say so in the beginning?!"
Me thinking: "Cause I'm drugged up and bloody incoherent maybe?!"

4:30 pm - Was wheeled somewhere. Asked someone to go get hubby. I was very incoherent. They gave me lots of meds.

6:00 pm - I had to move to a different holding area. They put me in a wheelchair. IMMEDIATE NAUSEA. Nurse gave me gravol through the IV. Worked in 10 seconds and fell fast asleep.

7:30 pm - Nurse was explaining all sorts of stuff to me, I couldn't understand a damned word she said. I said can you please explain to my husband who just took a step out. He finally came back and she told him what to do.

8:00 pm - we were finally kicked out and sent home. I was so incredibly tired, I went straight to the couch and lied down.

8:30 pm - hubby made some chicken noodle soup. I drank about half a bowl. Needed help to use the bathroom as I couldn't walk.

9:00 pm - fell asleep until 8:30 the next morning.

the liver flush

Ok so I did the nasty liver flush. I researched endlessly at curezone.com to see what people did, what the effects were etc. I was more scared of nausea than anything.

to prepare for the flush, I went to an organic store and bought 4 huge bottles of Eden's Organic Apple Juice which costs about $10 bucks each. Then I bought 3 grapefruits.

Day 1: I drank 2 cups of Apple Juice every 2 hours between 8 am - 8pm
Effects: I felt really crappy. Headache and sluggish more so. Had to take care of 2 year old active toddler. Thought I was going to die. I know I felt like crap because this fast was actually getting rid of all the toxins in my body. That night, I could actually feel stuff leaving my skin. Does that make sense? It was tingly all over and felt like I was glowing. I thought I had lost it.

Day 2: I drank 2 cups of Apple Juice every 2 hours between 8 am - 8 pm
Effects: At 10 am, I felt like I could run a marathon. I never felt so energetic. The rest of the day was a breeze. Drinking the apple juice was no more nauseating whereas the day before, I was gagging at every sip. (Not because I didn't like the taste, but because there was just SO MUCH to drink). It would literally take me half an hour to drink 2 cups.

Night of Day 2: I read somewhere that when you prepare for the olive oil/grapefruit juice, to have all your ducks in a row. So I got the toddler to bed, I re-read the instructions to hubby in case I passed out / had an attack / or died. I got him to squeeze the grapefruit juice into half a cup. (I couldn't stand the smell). I got an empty plastic water bottle. I poured half a cup of Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and then poured the half cup of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. I shook it like no tomorrow and then poured that all into a big mug. I ran up to the bathroom. I got my toothbrush ready with the toothpaste on it. I braced myself like I was about to jump off a cliff. Hubby was downstairs watching tv, oblivious. I gulped the nasty concoction, holding my breath (which doesn't really work at eliminating the taste). My mission was to gulp the whole thing in one sitting. Didn't happen. I accidentally had to take a breath and let go of the gulping. The taste was actually bad, but not THAT bad.* (see below) I finished the rest. I ran to the toothbrush and brushed my teeth like my life depended on it. I ran to the bed, and lay down on my right side. Then hubby realized all the commotion, ran up to see what was going on.

* taste: I can liken it to drinking oil paint remover. Coming from a background of visual art, I use to do oil paintings when I was younger and always had to wash my brushes with that stuff. Well, it's just like drinking that. GROSS! I think most of it is in your head. The more you read about drinking it, the more grossed out you will be. Just do it and get it over with.

That night: about 3 am, I felt really gross. I felt like vomiting. I hate vomiting, so I didn't. I just lay there counting backwards from 100. I eventually passed out again.

6 am: I had the urge to use the bathroom. It wasn't pleasant. I'm not going to go into details. I had to use it again several more times between 6 am - 2 pm that day. The last part of the flush was to drink 4 cups of water mixed with some freshly squeezed lemon juice. All I can say is that you might as well be sitting on the toilet when drinking that.

Hubby had to go into work that day, but I was able to handle myself and toddler. It wasn't as bad as I had expected. I ate steamed vegetables and such that day.

Next Day: I started eating solids. That's where the crap hit the fan. I think a stone got stuck. But the pain was in my back. So everytime I eat now, I get a dull pain in the gallbladder area and then radiates to the back. It was tolerable but very uncomfortable.

Next Week: Something was definitely wrong. I emailed the Chinese Herb place and she said it's common that a stone can get stuck and to drink more of that Chinese Stuff and do the flush AGAIN!. I thought about it for maybe 3 seconds and said Screw this, I'm booking the surgeon (Dr. Nice Surgeon) to get this frigging gallbladder removed.

Next Day: Called Dr. Nice Surgeon. Office closed. BAH.
Day After: Saturday Closed! DAMNIT
Day After that: Sunday Closed! KILL ME
Monday @ 9:01 am: Receptionist answers. Next booking is 2 weeks from this call.

In the meantime: between that Monday to meeting date, I ate about 10 bites per day. I lost 10 pounds. I always felt full. I always had a dull ache in the gallbladder area. I no longer enjoyed life. I knew I was becoming depressed. There was not a minute that went by that I didn't feel like crap.

The Sunday before the Meeting Date: All of a sudden, I felt something pop like the stone had moved and felt relief. I can't imagine, I was suffering like this for almost 3 weeks.

Meeting with Dr. Surgeon came: She said yes get it removed. There's no way that you could have passed a 2.6 cm stone when the bile duct is like 3 mm (or whatever it is).

ok so I booked the date which is about a month from now, so we will see how that goes. Stay tuned.

stinky stuff

In May 2009, I felt really crappy. Nauseous ALL the time, I have had it. I scoured the internet, searching for a home remedy and after 108 hours online, I found www.sensiblehealth.com.

Sensible Health is a very reputable company. Many people from www.curezone.com can testify that Julia Chang's Chinese Herbal Remedies has helped them with their gallstone issues.

I bought their 4 bottle of concoction, ready to try anything but surgery. At about $100, it wasn't that bad considering. I had many questions so I emailed them and the staff was very helpful. You basically drink 2 teaspoons of these chinese herbs (in alcohol format) in the morning and at night. The taste at first will make you gag, the only thing I can compare it to is like drinking the smell from a farm with the stench of horse manure.

After awhile, it wasn't that bad, I was use to it. I took this for 3 months day and night and on the third day, did feel better immediately. You are supposed to eat healthier, drink lots of water. I did neither.

This concoction was to prepare you for the liver flush by crushing the stones. I was too scared to do the liver flush. I read on the website that you can take this for a year and it will crush them so that they pass, but ultimately the liver flush is the best thing.

October comes...... misery sets in again... I know it was my own dietary lifestyle. I couldn't take this anymore, it was almost daily that I had a heat pack on my stomach just to survive. So, I gave it much thought and did the dreaded liver flush.