Unfortunately, Cooper is not the only one being passed from doctor to doctor with no answers. Thankfully, my answers did come, they just weren't what I wanted to hear.
Back in June I had my IUD removed. 24 hours later, I was in some serious pain. I called my OB and of course they wanted to see me that day. After some tests and an ultrasound, they said everything look great, set up a follow up with a GI doctor and off I went.
24 hours after that my abdomen was so bloated I looked 3 months pregnant. I had so much pain in my stomach, I could barely think straight. I went to Patient First after work that day only to be sent to the ER. After a catscan and several blood tests, they said everything looked perfect, gave me a pain medication prescription, said I should keep that appointment with the GI doctor and sent me on my way. To say I was frustrated, is an understantment.
Finally, in July, it was time to meet with the GI doctor. After a TON of questions, and some tapping on my abdoment. Dr. Mitchell concludedhe thinks I may have gallbladder stones or something else wrong with my gallbladder. I was sent to have an ultrasound, which came back normal. Then I was sent for a HIDA Scan. (I should probably mention how much I Googled all of this gallbladder stuff, this was obviously pre-Dr. Elliott's Googling hex.) A HIDA Scan is performed by a nuclear scientiest (scary right) where they inject a radioactive tracer into your blood and for 2 hours monitor your digestive systems function through a catscan type machine. I watched as my liver took the liquid and move it through to my gallbladder (I think I feel asleep at that point.) They also do a 2nd test where they inject a substance that emulates a fatty meal, that test was pretty painful.
Two days pass and Dr. Mitchell, not his nurse, calls to let me know my gallbladder is extremely low functioning and needs to be removed and referred me to the Richmond Surgical Group. So although my answer came pretty quick, I am not exactly happy with it.
What's crazy about it, is that I have had pain like this my entire life, it had just never been enough to interrupt my life. I can remember being pregnant with Cooper and thinking it was weird how his feet always wedged under my right ribs, but really that was my gallbladder the whole time. So I am not happy, but I am sure my life will be much better without it.
I have my consultation October 8th. In the meantime, I am on a no-fat, caffeine-free diet, which is way harder than I ever imagined. But so far, I have noticed a huge difference in the pain. So I am not happy with my answer but I am sure my life will be much better without it. Sayonara, Gallbladder, I don't really need you anyway!
No comments:
Post a Comment