A Week To Forget...

So, my vast fan base and friends, what's new? Anything? Everyone healthy and happy? Ahh... that's good... however - I have to tell a tale of my last 7 days that will remind you to always be careful of your health.

Approximately one week ago I began experiencing severe abdominal pain after consuming some yummy calzone from up the street here in Holley. It didn't go away, didn't decrease, and became obvious that this was going to be the first emergency room visit in over 20 years. Pain killers, IVs, tests, and all sorts of prodding and questioning resulted in us staying in the hospital for 4 hours, leaving for home around 4 a.m. I wasn't convinced it was over, but was glad at least to go home to my own bed. Saturday begins, and more pain increases. Again, at midnight, another trip to the ER. This time, it was worse, and I knew something had to be done. More poking, prodding, tests, and an additional ultrasound resulted in the revelation that my gallbladder was in dire straights. They kept me in ER until the early morning Sunday when I had emergency gallbladder surgery. Come to find out, the organ was dead - yes, DEAD. It was 10-12x the size it should have been, black, full of stones, and leaking bile. They were amazed at it, and ended up taking photos, which will eventually be part of a presentation by the surgeon next February when he goes in front of the Unity Health group at a conference on gallbladders. They told me it was 'troublesome' to get out, and that it had damaged the tissues around it because of its decay. Lovely huh? Yeah... it's strange how something THAT BAD could come about so quickly and severely, but when I asked, the doctor said 'it didn't! It was bad for a while... you're just one of those scary patients who have a high tolerance for pain.' I doubt that, seriously... I'm pretty much a wuss when it comes to pain... but I have to say that whatever pain may have preceded this past weekend was nothing compared to what was going on a week ago.

Since then, I stayed in the hospital 4 days due to the levels in my liver and surrounding tissues, as well as my white blood counts being too high. It was pretty hard. Hospitals are one of my least favorite places, the one I was in is particularly 'iffy', and home is where I seem to be at my best. Once I was released, I still had a 'drain' in my side, which I can't express enough how inconvenient, gross, painful, and intrusive it was. That was pulled out of my side this afternoon, after someone had told me that 'yeah, that's really painful'... Great. It was. It sucked. But, only for a few seconds. It felt like someone was pulling a rope through my entire mid section and out the other side. It still kinda hurts... but I'm at this point, feeling like I'm recovering. Quite an ordeal. Quite.

In any case, hospitals are no fun, and I hope to keep as far away from them as humanly possible. Tonight I'm mourning the reality that I can't have pizza for dinner... that low fat is in my future for at least another week. Hopefully things will feel more normal as days go by...

Thanks for the prayers and emails, texts, and FB notes. I appreciate the support. Keep yourself in check people, because this sort of week is something you don't want to do more than once!