Gallbladder Labor Day

This past Thursday 8/28/08 I went in to have my Gallbladder Removed. The surgery was setup be 1:10pm, and I was supposed to go in around 11am. I got a phone call around 10am from the hospital, and I was thinking they would be telling me that the surgeon was running late, but it was just the opposite, they asked me to come in “right away”. We got to the hospital around 10:15, and spent until around 11:15 getting “prepped”. Mom’s Pastor stopped by and spent a little time talking and praying with us. It was nice. They cam and got me around 11:50 or 12. I remember being rolled down the hall to the operating room, and that’s all I remember till around 1:20 or so. It was 2-3 times harder to “wake up” this time than it was last week. I really never woke up all the way, at the hospital, I was just groggy. I think we got home around 2:15-2:30. I kind of floated up to the bed, and crashed till 4:30 or so. Got up and was hungry (hadn’t eaten since 9pm last night). It's been a rough afternoon with the meds making me feel like crud, but the Dr said everything went well, no complications, or problems. Just have to be very careful of what I eat and do for the next 4 weeks. Not allowed to lift anything more that’s 15lbs, lol that means my laptop bag is out.. it's about 30 HAHAH.

Its been a tough few days, trying to sleep has been next to impossible. I do not sleep well on my back, I'm used to being on my side (both sides actually, i move around a LOT at night) and so I think i have ended up with about 2-3 hrs of sleep each night. Last night I managed to get about 4hrs and it feels great. Been taking my pain meds when i should, but they don't seem to do a lot for me, except make me light headed (yeah i know I'm already pretty light headed now.. lol). The holes hurt a lot when i try and stand up, so i end up walking like the hunchback of romanda.

I am on a VERY strict 20 grams of Fat a day diet, I'm not allowed to eat a whole lot of things, and to be honest i don't want anything more than a few bites of anything.
Because of this, i have managed to drop about 5 more pounds in the past week. I'm now down almost 15 lbs since the beginning of July. Again, not the diet i would suggest to anyone. I have been hurting non-stop across my "bare" no longer BEAR chest.. lol Thats another thing thats taking me time to adjust to, have not seen my clean shaven (or hairless) stomach since i was about 16.

I appreciate everyone's prayers, emails, phone calls, and comments. Its great to know i have so many people who love me.. or at least pretend to.. LOL

I was tempted to post a photo of the hairless gorilla but i figured i didn't want to make everyone sick. i thought this one gave you the idea:

A Not-So-Great Way to lose weight.

Ok, So in the past month I have lost a little over 13 lbs. YEAH ME, or not. Since the way I have lost weight is not a way I would recommend to anyone.

Lets start the way-back machine to July 10, I was working in TN with my good buddy Jack. We had a pretty good week, got as much work done as we could and it was after a very small dinner. Got back to the hotel and felt really bad, had not felt that great all day, but this was something really bad. I tried to sleep but my body was having none of this, and around 9pm it hit me pretty hard, spent from 9pm - 9am in the bathroom, i couldnt leave the room, I was either sitting or praying (lol). I am not one that "allows" myself to throw up. I just hate it, for me its not like you see in the movies and tv were people just lean over and all this crud comes out; for me its a battle, my body doesnt want to do it, and my mind hates it, so its about a 4 min battle each time. So by the time it all stopped and i was able to drive home i hurt like i had been in a major fight.
The next week i felt bad, didnt want to eat, and when i did my body hurt, especially my lower right back. I thought maybe it was gas bubbles or something, no idea. So, like everything else i just ignored it. A little over a week later i had another bout with the same type stomach thing, it wasnt as bad but it was still not good.
I had to go to Houston for work the week of July 28th. It was so hot, and i was working in a place that was outside in the heat. I felt cruddy most of the week, just not THAT bad. Went to dinner with my friend Zubaz (not his REAL name lol) and his wonderful wife. I think the calzone that i had set off the stomach issue again, because that whole night (again back in another hotel room) I was fighting the same crud, stomach fighting me big time. I had to get up EARLY to fly home, and i was not feeling well at all, cold sweats, nausea, etc. Flying when your sick SUCKS.
I got home, and my wife, and mom told me i had to go to the doctor to see whats causing this. The pain in my back was really getting worse, and when i ate anything i would feel like garbage for hours. The doctor didnt know what was going on, but he wanted me to give them a urine sample, and so i did, and he was concerned when it showed a "large amount" of blood. This kind of freaked me out a little. So, they scheduled me for a CT Scan (thinking it was a kidney stone). Had that on Friday the 8th. Didnt get the results from that till Monday. They said i didnt have a kidney stone or gallstones, but they did see a small cyst on my liver. The blood was still an issue so they scheduled me for a apt with a Urologist to see if they can find anything. They did the normal checkup, bend over elbows on the table.. lol all that GOOD stuff. Didnt seem to find anything, but he did tell me they wanted to do a cystoscopy. He also made a comment on a Cyst on one of my testicles. It was about 1/2" in diameter, and about the same in height. It had been growing for a very long time, and had not really bothered me, just a slight itch now and then.

The procedure was set for Monday the 18th. Went in at 7am, they knocked me out, stuck the camrea up my.. and then cut off the cyst, and stitched it up, the cut was about 3/4" long. not something you want to have cut EVER!
They didnt find anything in my bladder or kidneys, so we still dont know where the blood is coming from. I have been recovering from this this week. My throat was killing me from the tube the put down it to help me breath, and the other end hurt like made from the camera being inserted in it. Burned like crazy when i had to go to the bathroom. My arms and one leg hurt as well, i assume it was from the way they had me laying on the operating room table, or maybe from the anesthesia. The stitches didnt help the pain, or the discomfort.

--UPDATE 8/21/08 --
Well met with the surgeon today, my gallbladder is inflamed, and I do have a large number of stones. Of course the suggestion is to remove it. The surgery is scheduled for this coming Thursday (8/28/08) Not sure of a time. They will go in thru my belly button, with 4 small incisions.

Will see how this goes, they will have me on VERY limited duty for a week then LIGHT duty for a month.

Keep you posted.
Thanks for reading

Illness

Hey all (is there anyone out there reading this?)

I have not been feeling all that great for the past month or so. Started with getting what I think was food poisoning in TN June 10th. Man that was bad, lost about 4-5 lbs in a few days. The hard part was getting well enough to get HOME, being sick in a hotel just plain sucks.
After this mess, i have been noticing some pains in the right-side of my back. Its been like a pulled muscle or something, and with all the crap i have moved (office mezzanine) in the past month, it could easily be. I have had 2 more boughs of this stomach bug in the past 3 weeks. The last one was when I was in Houston last week. Again, it sucks being sick out of town, it sucks more when you have to get on a plane and fly back when you feel like curling up in a ball and hiding from the world instead.
My wife and mom pushed me to go get this mess looked at because the pain in my back has been worse all week. The Dr didnt really know what was going on, but wanted me to do the usual test, blood, urine, etc. They found "large blood" (whatever that means) in my urine, and this made them schedule a CT Scan for my kidney tomorrow.

Just HATE being sick, My wife and mom leave for NY with my sisters on friday (while im getting poked and prodded) and hopefully i will be ok next week alone with just my 12 year old. I would hate to wake up needing to go to the hospital or something without anyone there to help.

Anyway, was a little board, have a great one all!
David
Pilsung!