ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Last Thursday (I think? or was it Friday?), I checked in around 11:30 to get my gallbladder removed. The people at the outpatient center couldn't have been nicer. We've had such good luck (except for 1 doctor) with medical care in Wichita. The only problem was the Nervous Nelly dude next to me with his two sons that encouraged his behavior.

It took 3 tries for them to get the IV in me which made me a little queasy. When I'm dehydrated, IVs don't work so well and since I was told not to drink or eat, I was dehydrated. I was expecting a countdown under anesthesia but instead, I breathed from a face mask and I was out with no real transition. One minute I was there and the next minute, I was waking up.

They let me take about 20 minutes to wake up and then once I could move to a recliner, they would let my mom and husband come back. I got moved and they came back. I was stiff and tender and so, so tired. They gave me a painkiller through the IV and it made me nauseous so we had to stick around a little longer. The doctor said I didn't set a record for largest gallstone but I was up there plus they had to make the incision wider to accommodate the larger sized stone. The larger the stone, the more the pain I hear yet I never rated my pain higher than a 5. Weird.

Side note: I've a whole diatribe about traditional medicine brewing in my head. Administering meds unnecessarily has lead to all kinds of complications for me including depression as a side effect of one med, extremely complicated labor due to side effects from another, countless infections as a result of another. Can we just quit with all the meds already? I have a really, really high pain tolerance and have never felt the need to take them. I wish medicine wasn't given by default with little regard to what the effects will be.

I finally got to come home and take a nap. When I woke up, my mom had fresh fruit and other food ready for me to eat. I wanted to eat it but couldn't handle much. The meds were still making me nauseous. I just opted to not take them and called the doctor the next day and they called in a nausea pill and another type of painkiller. Even with the new cocktail, I only took them twice and at bedtime.

My mom was here for 4 days or so and she made all of our meals. It was so nice to not have to worry about it. Andy left for a job interview in Texas in the middle of her stay, I can't drive right now and it was just one less thing to think about.

Right now I am post-op about 4 days and I'm feeling good. My only remaining issue is tenderness on my abdomen where the 4 incisions are (and coughing hurts BAD) plus fatigue but that is getting better too. I go back to work on Thursday and I think I should be ok by then.

And, it might be a little late, but I'm not totally convinced gallbladder removal was the only solution though my doctors seemed urgent to make that happen. I'll never have the chance to make that decision again but I wish more options were presented.