Monday, August 23, 2010

I'm going under the knife...

Yep,
I'm getting my gall bladder out this week.
About 3 weeks after Jay was born I started having these pains in my side/stomach/back that were very painful. At first they only lasted 10 min. and then stopped. Then one lasted for 25 minutes. I felt like I was going to puke. It was also kind of like contractions, except it didn't come and go...it was constant. (I have only had 5-6 "attacks" total.) I located where the pain originated in my body and looked up a picture of all of the organs online. Yep, the pain was coming right from where my gall bladder is. I had a hunch because my sister had similar "attacks or pains" after she had her first kid. Hers grew into something bad and she spent 3 days in the hospital. Her story is HERE. I am thankful for her ordeal though, because then I knew that it was common for pregnant or recently pregnant women to have issues with their gall bladders.

Back to the story. Because of my suspicions, I saw the doctor, then I had an ultrasound which revealed I had gall stones. Then I met with a specialist and he confirmed that I need my gall bladder out. It is most likely an outpatient surgery that is done laparoscopically. If there are infections or other circumstances, it could be longer. I am definitely apprehensive, but I realize that life could be worse. I am dreading recovery, but thankful that it is being done while I am on maternity leave so I don't have to take more time off from work.

I'm also hoping I can keep up my milk supply during everything by pumping. I am fine with Jay getting formula, and actually I am looking foreword to trying only formula for a day or two to see if his behavior changes at all. I do recognize the benifits of BF and don't want to quit that either.
I am also thankful that John's mom is willing to come for a few days to help out, because John needs to go to work the rest of the week. He is on "night duty" for a few nights though, which will be new for him.
Wednesday is the big day!:(

4 comments:

Leslie said...

Thank God you figured this out before too much more time had passed! I'll be praying for you guys through this!

Anonymous said...

It's amazing what some people will do for some sleep:0
Will keep you in our prayers!
Jodi & Crew

Chelsea Ellingson said...

When I was at the hospital, I was having very minimal pain cramping, so I opted not to take the ibuprofen through the night because I didn't think I needed it. The next morning in about half-hours time I went from little/no pain to searing/can't think straight pain and had to take two percocets just to get the pain to a manageable level. The nurse was really worried and the doctor had me get some abdominal ultrasounds while I was there- nothing wrong with the uterus, but they found gall stones in my gall bladder. I don't think they thought it was related, but the nurses seemed to imply that I may be getting pain in that area in the future if I don't pass them, or if I do pass them. I didn't even know it was related to pregnancy until then- I hope everything goes well with you and that your stomach pain will cease! Hope you're doing well with little Jay too, he's such a cutie. :-)

Denise said...

You were in my prayers several times today! Praying for a quick recovery.