So I thought I'd update everyone of the state of my health
(Medical, and related content)
(1/12)
On July 6th I went to the Emergency Room with upper abdominal pain.
They stuck me in a room for hours and ignored me. Eventually they sent me home with pepcid, dismissing it as heartburn. They told me to stay away from nsaids and to tough it out.
(2/12)
Two days later I was back at the ER with even more pain. They finally decided to take a chest CT and ultrasound of my stomach. The doctor said I probably have a stomach ulcer, and reluctantly gave me some pain meds and told me it'll heal on it's own
(3/12)
They also referred me to a surgeon because my "gallbladder looked like it had a few stones". I scheduled the appt, earliest was 10 days out. Those 10 days were basically me being in tons of pain constantly.
(4/12)
I had to call out of work, I was stuck in bed, maxing out Tylenol dose daily to no help as well as the vicodin they sent me home with. (5mg pills). I could barely eat, and was basically just living off gatoraide for the better part of a week.
(5/12)
Slowly, the pain got less, but it wasn't quick or complete. I still couldn't sleep or work. I could barely sit upright. My only real relief was taking hot showers or baths. My daily routine was:
Wake, pain meds, shower, gatoraide, sleep a few hours, repeat
(6/12)
When I got there, the surgeon took one look at my CT and said "your gallbladder is completely filled with stones and is twice as big as it should be. No wonder you're in pain." And suggested removal asap.
(8/12)
I asked about the stomach ulcer. He said the ultrasound from the ER showed no ulcer. He was confused as to why the ER doc even suggested it. We scheduled a surgery for Aug 2nd.
(9/12)
I drove home and was in a state of disbelief. For 2 weeks I had been in massive pain... because my gallbladder was the problem. That night I took advil, and managed to sleep through the night finally.
For the past two weeks Ive felt a lot better
(10/12)
I'm definitely not at 100%, but I'm functional. I'm not bed bound or waterlogged anymore to mask pain. Pain can be invisible, but the doctors I saw at the ER barely tried to figure out the root cause.
I could have been spared so much suffering.
(11/12)
I still have moments of pain, but they're currently manageable, and hopefully the surgery on the 2nd is going to help even more with that.
(12/12)
By the time of my appointment, I was able to eat light meals. I had lost 8 lbs in as many days. I was now at the point where the pain was there, but not so bad I needed the vicodin.
I drove myself to the surgeon, still uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as a week prior
(7/12)