A Wild Week

17 Jun A Wild Week

It’s been quite a wild ride the last few days. Even just typing this right now drains quite a bit of the energy from me. The last few days, knowing so many have been praying for me, has been a very deep honor. I appreciate it so much.

In my last post, I gave some history of what landed me in the hospital. On Friday evening, about 5:00 pm, I rolled into the OR and had my gall bladder removed. It was said to be “inflamed, infected, and thickened.” We were also told there were multiple stones in it.

After surgery, the doctor mentioned to Colleen that they also found some infection underneath the liver that had to be cleaned up. However, even with that, they were able to do the surgery laparascopically, which will make for a shorter recovery, versus an open incision. That’s a good thing, but I have yet to know that “shorter” part yet.

On Saturday, when the doctors came by, I was told I would be going home Monday at the earliest. However, over Sunday and Monday, I experienced significant waves of nausea. On Monday afternoon, the surgeon decided to keep me another night and stop antibiotics immediately in the suspicion that the antibiotics were causing the nausea.

On Tuesday afternoon, after about 24 hours without the “significant” nausea, the surgeon went ahead and sent me home. So, I’ve been at home for about two days now.

The question on all of our minds is whether or not the gall bladder going bad is the cause of the nausea and pain of the last 5 months. All of the doctors answered the same. We don’t know, and won’t know, until I have recovered from the surgery and see how I feel. That’s going to take at least a couple of weeks after surgery. Tomorrow is the one week mark.

Over the couple of days being home, I mention I have yet to know the “shorter” part of the recovery from doing the surgery laparascopically because the incision pain has been quite something to overcome. I’ve also still had nausea all day that increases and decreases the same as pre-surgery.

The same symptoms I had still exist, and the nausea often increases with anything I put on my stomach. On top of that, I am quite exhausted whenever I try to expend any energy, even just taking a shower or doing the recommended walking.

However, the doctors have encouraged me to be patient. The nausea I am currently experiencing could come from a number of surgery-related factors. It could be from the surgery itself, the antibiotics, the anesthesia, or the painkillers. And if it’s from any of those factors, the nausea could resolve once the surgery recovery does.

That’s obviously what I’m hoping for, though it’s admittedly difficult to remain patient when I’m having the same symptoms I’ve had for over 5 months now. I am trying to eat more normal foods, but just can’t put much food down.

In the mean time, just in case, I am still working on getting referred down to Cedars-Sinai for potential further help with gastroparesis. Also, the events of last week stalled getting together with the holistic chiropractor. I am currently not sure whether or not I will pursue that route, at least until I’ve recovered from surgery.

I think that’s about it for now. For those who have been leaving emails and praying and riding this roller coaster with me, thank you!