It's so wonderful being on the other side of the surgery, being in the light at the end of the tunnel. Things are so much more clear now. The pain I was experiencing before now makes sense, whereas before I was confused and felt like I was going crazy.
That intense hunger pain wasn't hunger at all, but gallbladder attacks. A year and a half of this. They always started at night with accompanying back pain, a few times vomiting, and then they'd take several hours to go away, except a little over a month ago when it lasted 3 days. But that became my way of life. Food I was used to eating suddenly became a problem, and I had to stop eating dairy. I was afraid to eat, and eating was difficult. It would take over an hour to eat oatmeal or a baked potato. I would stare at food and cry.
Last week I met with the assistant surgeon who confirmed what the primary surgeon said about my gallbladder when it was taken out: I was one the edge of another major attack, and I wasn't going to last long before being in a really dangerous situation. The large gallstone was the size of a marble, and it was protecting my bile ducks and pancreas. For that I am very thankful. On the day of the surgery they removed six gallbladders, all of them were very bad, they couldn't catch a break, and mine was in the middle of the pack in severity, though the last removed.
I'm doing a lot better. There's still a little pain where my gallbladder was and around my belly button where there's inside stitching. But I'm doing so much better. Those first few days were crazy, so much pain, hardly able to move, but slowly and surely everything is working itself out.
Now I'm starting to get brave with food again. Some of it is going through me. The doctor said it takes about 6-8 weeks for the system to rearrange itself. It's about then when I can really start experimenting to see what food I can and can't eat, which is different for everyone. He thinks I'm going to do just fine. Here's to hoping!!
I asked him about supplements. Should I be taking digestive enzymes? What about Ox Bile? Multi vitamins? He discouraged me on the enzymes and ox bile/bile salts. Said my body needs to adjust without the help, and actually some of the enzymes are dangerous, because my body would get used to the supplements and stop naturally producing the enzyme. The vitamins are okay.
So now it's a wait and see game. Each day I get a little better and a little braver. It's So Nice Not BEING IN CONSTANT PAIN!!!!!!!!! Oh my, being on the other side of it, I didn't realize how much pain I was in. How much I was suffering. I was just in survival mode. No more back pains, stomach pains, referring pains, and gallbladder pains. There's still some healing pain and possibly phantom pain, but it's really light.
Right now I'm just so thankful and grateful.
Sarah
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