Slowly but surely I'm feeling better. My hubby is back at work and my little girl is back home again, so things aren't exactly easy. I'm very thankful for all of the help I got--Mom keeping Sweet'ums last week and weekend, and my brother and his sweetheart coming to help me yesterday. Today I'm alone but my SIL and her sweetie are supposed to be helping me the next couple days. This pain medication is knocking me on my fanny--honestly, if I wasn't so sleepy I'd probably feel great. But it's doing its job. Tomorrow and Thursday will hopefully be easier with SIL here and I can rest some.
So what to say? I'm down ten pounds. How does that sound? Granted, it's probably not the best way to lose weight, but at least it's working out in my favor. And it would also appear that I'm healing decent. I'm sore and everything but at least the incisions aren't really red and they're not weepy or oozy or anything.
Anyway, I'm gonna go now... I'm still really tired. How is everyone?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Regarding The Incidents Of The Last Two Days
I've mentioned a couple times the painful gas spells I've been getting at night and how we really didn't know what was causing them. I would have them for a couple nights and then have a night or two free of them. Then, over the last week or so, they seemed to get worse and last longer. Which brings us to Tuesday.
Tuesday morning I woke up after only being in bed half an hour with pain. I got on up and sat in the chair in the living room but finally had to get Nice Guy up. I felt so awful. It only got worse as time went on. By 4AM I was throwing up. Bear in mind that that was the first time in almost four years I've thrown up. So this goes on until almost 7AM and the whole time we're debating whether to go to the hospital or wait for our clinic's urgent care center to open. Finally we opted for Urgent Care since they'd already have access to my medical records.
So we loaded up and went to Urgent Care so we'd already be there when they opened at 8AM. I was taken back just shortly after we got there and got checked in and everything. We had to wait a few minutes to see the doctor, but not too long. When he came in he asked me a couple questions and announced that he thought it was my gallbladder and that he wanted some blood work and an ultrasound. So, off I go to get poked and prodded.
The ultrasound was interesting. We didn't even need an explanation to know that we saw a stone.
So off we went back down to Urgent Care. They got in touch with a surgeon who wanted a HIDA scan done so we waited an eternity for that. Once that was done they sent us back to U.C. where the doctor told us he wanted the removal surgery done right away. So after a lot of run-around, it was decided that they'd admit me that night and do the surgery at 7 the next morning.
So yesterday morning they took me back and in less than an hour they had me in recovery. I spent my day vegging out and trying to rest. At one point I fell asleep with a cup of hot tea in my hand and sat that way for nearly an hour. Needless to say, Nice Guy thought that was pretty funny. Late last night they released me so now I'm sitting at home, popping Vicodin every six hours and just trying to not wear myself out too much. The funny part is that, even with all the pain, my stomach still feels better.
There's just one thing that troubles me. The surgeon said that this should resolve most, if not all, of my stomach issues, which implies to me that even my diarrhea that I've had since Sweet'ums was born could easily have been tied in with this. My problem is this: if it's been my gallbladder since Sweet'ums was born, why in heaven's name didn't my primary check it out? It was so much easier than having the colonoscopy/endoscopy that he wanted done. Way less invasive, more conclusive, and way cheaper. I'll be finding myself a new primary, that's for sure. I won't continue going to a doctor who doesn't show a sincere interest in my good health.
So, that was my week so far... How was yours?
Tuesday morning I woke up after only being in bed half an hour with pain. I got on up and sat in the chair in the living room but finally had to get Nice Guy up. I felt so awful. It only got worse as time went on. By 4AM I was throwing up. Bear in mind that that was the first time in almost four years I've thrown up. So this goes on until almost 7AM and the whole time we're debating whether to go to the hospital or wait for our clinic's urgent care center to open. Finally we opted for Urgent Care since they'd already have access to my medical records.
So we loaded up and went to Urgent Care so we'd already be there when they opened at 8AM. I was taken back just shortly after we got there and got checked in and everything. We had to wait a few minutes to see the doctor, but not too long. When he came in he asked me a couple questions and announced that he thought it was my gallbladder and that he wanted some blood work and an ultrasound. So, off I go to get poked and prodded.
The ultrasound was interesting. We didn't even need an explanation to know that we saw a stone.
So off we went back down to Urgent Care. They got in touch with a surgeon who wanted a HIDA scan done so we waited an eternity for that. Once that was done they sent us back to U.C. where the doctor told us he wanted the removal surgery done right away. So after a lot of run-around, it was decided that they'd admit me that night and do the surgery at 7 the next morning.
So yesterday morning they took me back and in less than an hour they had me in recovery. I spent my day vegging out and trying to rest. At one point I fell asleep with a cup of hot tea in my hand and sat that way for nearly an hour. Needless to say, Nice Guy thought that was pretty funny. Late last night they released me so now I'm sitting at home, popping Vicodin every six hours and just trying to not wear myself out too much. The funny part is that, even with all the pain, my stomach still feels better.
There's just one thing that troubles me. The surgeon said that this should resolve most, if not all, of my stomach issues, which implies to me that even my diarrhea that I've had since Sweet'ums was born could easily have been tied in with this. My problem is this: if it's been my gallbladder since Sweet'ums was born, why in heaven's name didn't my primary check it out? It was so much easier than having the colonoscopy/endoscopy that he wanted done. Way less invasive, more conclusive, and way cheaper. I'll be finding myself a new primary, that's for sure. I won't continue going to a doctor who doesn't show a sincere interest in my good health.
So, that was my week so far... How was yours?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Just a little FYI
I had emergency gall bladder removal surgery this morning. Apparently that's the culprit behind all of my stomach pain lately. It went well and I'm home now. I'll share more about it later but I just wanted to let you know.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Dear Libby
Dear Libby,
Oh, how I love emailing with you. There's only one problem.
Every time I send you a comment or email I get an auto response saying it failed to be delivered. I don't know if you got my last email or not because I got the auto reply and I haven't heard from you. I'm in no hurry, but if you didn't get the email, please leave me a message here. I have no idea what could be causing it, unless your inbox is full.
Anyway, hugs and love and all of that good stuff. Squeeze the kiddies for me.
--V
Oh, how I love emailing with you. There's only one problem.
Every time I send you a comment or email I get an auto response saying it failed to be delivered. I don't know if you got my last email or not because I got the auto reply and I haven't heard from you. I'm in no hurry, but if you didn't get the email, please leave me a message here. I have no idea what could be causing it, unless your inbox is full.
Anyway, hugs and love and all of that good stuff. Squeeze the kiddies for me.
--V
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Summer Doldrums
Summer seems to be slipping by so slowly. I'm always a bit sluggish during the summer but this summer has felt so much longer than usual.
To start with, I got allergy tested and I'm allergic to some of my favorite foods. We're doing the whole process-of-elimination (and reintroduction) thing to see what exactly is causing symptoms and what I can eat safely despite the allergy. This is an enormous nuisance. I'm also allergic to two members of my household. I'm still not sure how I'll address this issue.
I've been suffering at night with what seems to be a hard-to-pass gas bubble. I mentioned this at the end of May when it started and since then it comes and goes. I'll sleep for an hour or two, then wake up in incredible pain. It takes two or three hours to get it to go away, typically, and medicine only barely helps. Right now soda is my best friend and I hate that, because normally I'm not a big soda drinker. So combine not sleeping at night with a medication (also for stomach problems) that makes me very sleepy and you've got a very unhappy me. I'm getting by but I'm not very good company right now. The doctor is supposed to set me up with a GI doc to schedule an endoscopy and colonoscopy but that's very expensive, and in the meantime I have no help coping with the pain.
My daughter hasn't been the easiest to deal with either. I don't know if it's her age or if it's just some phase she's going through but she's suddenly very whiny. We went through this several months ago and I thought it had passed. She's whiny and I'm exhausted so we're really clashing right now. I think she just misses school, so I'm looking forward to it starting again. I really just miss having fun with her. At the moment, we're not having much fun at all.
We've also had some problems with my cat. He gets a little thin and loses some fur every summer but since this happens every year I don't worry too much. Usually it's not enough for visitors who don't see him every day to notice. This year was different. A friend commented that he looked like he had mange (which I kinda took offense to--he honestly didn't look THAT bad) and he's got little bare spots all over. Finally we took him to the vet. He is down to 12.8lbs, which still sounds like a big cat (they couldn't believe he lost weight) but since he was over 14lbs at his biggest, the weight loss is really noticeable to me. They said that they think he's pulling his own fur out. He probably had a flea at some point, figured out that clawing and plucking his fur out made him feel good (endorphins and all that), and it became a habit. They said that the worst problem from it is that it makes him look goofy, but right now that's all it does--it's not really doing long-term damage or anything. So, he's on happy pills for a month to try to break the cycle. They also gave him a cortisone shot because they thought he might have a mild underlying skin infection, and they said it would help with any itching he might have. So now every night I have to try to make him take a little blue pill in hopes that he'll be my best boy again. So far, so good--his appetite is back up some and he's meeting us at the front door again.
So all in all, we're just trying to deal with ourselves and still find opportunities to enjoy our summer. We want to go to the aquarium with my brother and his sweetie but so far we haven't set that up.
Oh, that's one wonderful light in the never-ending tunnel of summer. My brother's girlfriend is the best! Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Well, that's about it. I haven't died or stopped blogging or anything. My eyes are having trouble focusing on text right now thanks to my meds so I'm painting more instead, just to keep myself busy. I've discovered Artist Trading Cards and love the concept, so I'm playing around a lot with that.
So how are you ladies doing? Anything exciting happening this summer? Stay cool and talk to you all again soon.
To start with, I got allergy tested and I'm allergic to some of my favorite foods. We're doing the whole process-of-elimination (and reintroduction) thing to see what exactly is causing symptoms and what I can eat safely despite the allergy. This is an enormous nuisance. I'm also allergic to two members of my household. I'm still not sure how I'll address this issue.
I've been suffering at night with what seems to be a hard-to-pass gas bubble. I mentioned this at the end of May when it started and since then it comes and goes. I'll sleep for an hour or two, then wake up in incredible pain. It takes two or three hours to get it to go away, typically, and medicine only barely helps. Right now soda is my best friend and I hate that, because normally I'm not a big soda drinker. So combine not sleeping at night with a medication (also for stomach problems) that makes me very sleepy and you've got a very unhappy me. I'm getting by but I'm not very good company right now. The doctor is supposed to set me up with a GI doc to schedule an endoscopy and colonoscopy but that's very expensive, and in the meantime I have no help coping with the pain.
My daughter hasn't been the easiest to deal with either. I don't know if it's her age or if it's just some phase she's going through but she's suddenly very whiny. We went through this several months ago and I thought it had passed. She's whiny and I'm exhausted so we're really clashing right now. I think she just misses school, so I'm looking forward to it starting again. I really just miss having fun with her. At the moment, we're not having much fun at all.
We've also had some problems with my cat. He gets a little thin and loses some fur every summer but since this happens every year I don't worry too much. Usually it's not enough for visitors who don't see him every day to notice. This year was different. A friend commented that he looked like he had mange (which I kinda took offense to--he honestly didn't look THAT bad) and he's got little bare spots all over. Finally we took him to the vet. He is down to 12.8lbs, which still sounds like a big cat (they couldn't believe he lost weight) but since he was over 14lbs at his biggest, the weight loss is really noticeable to me. They said that they think he's pulling his own fur out. He probably had a flea at some point, figured out that clawing and plucking his fur out made him feel good (endorphins and all that), and it became a habit. They said that the worst problem from it is that it makes him look goofy, but right now that's all it does--it's not really doing long-term damage or anything. So, he's on happy pills for a month to try to break the cycle. They also gave him a cortisone shot because they thought he might have a mild underlying skin infection, and they said it would help with any itching he might have. So now every night I have to try to make him take a little blue pill in hopes that he'll be my best boy again. So far, so good--his appetite is back up some and he's meeting us at the front door again.
So all in all, we're just trying to deal with ourselves and still find opportunities to enjoy our summer. We want to go to the aquarium with my brother and his sweetie but so far we haven't set that up.
Oh, that's one wonderful light in the never-ending tunnel of summer. My brother's girlfriend is the best! Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Well, that's about it. I haven't died or stopped blogging or anything. My eyes are having trouble focusing on text right now thanks to my meds so I'm painting more instead, just to keep myself busy. I've discovered Artist Trading Cards and love the concept, so I'm playing around a lot with that.
So how are you ladies doing? Anything exciting happening this summer? Stay cool and talk to you all again soon.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Quick Apologies
For anyone I've communicated with recently:
I've started a new medication that made me a little loopy. It's for my stomach but man, this is some wild stuff! If you got a comment from me, or talked to me on the phone or email (most of which is unlikely, since a whole of three people read this blog!) I apologize if I made no sense. I commented on a few blogs and talked to a few people on the phone that first night before I realized that half of what I was trying to say wasn't coming out the way I meant to say it. I spoke with my brother and his girlfriend (who is spectacular, by the way) and probably told them I loved them a hundred times. I sounded drunk. So this is a blanket apology. I am most sincerely sorry, as I didn't realize how goofy (and maybe offensive) I might have sounded. If I said something to you that upset you or hurt your feelings or made you go "Huh???" I'm really so sorry.
I've started a new medication that made me a little loopy. It's for my stomach but man, this is some wild stuff! If you got a comment from me, or talked to me on the phone or email (most of which is unlikely, since a whole of three people read this blog!) I apologize if I made no sense. I commented on a few blogs and talked to a few people on the phone that first night before I realized that half of what I was trying to say wasn't coming out the way I meant to say it. I spoke with my brother and his girlfriend (who is spectacular, by the way) and probably told them I loved them a hundred times. I sounded drunk. So this is a blanket apology. I am most sincerely sorry, as I didn't realize how goofy (and maybe offensive) I might have sounded. If I said something to you that upset you or hurt your feelings or made you go "Huh???" I'm really so sorry.
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