A Bilious New Year's Eve

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a couple of my posts about having a stomach ache. I felt sick after eating lunch on Tuesday, made a slight recovery, and then had some gut-busting stomach pain at bedtime. I woke up on Wednesday feeling just fine, and assumed the previous day's complaints were caused by questionable leftovers.

I ate breakfast (pancakes by Charlie, yay!) and lunch (whole wheat pasta) without any issues. Dinner was a turkey sub from Jimmy John's. I had to head for bed early because I was scheduled to open the next day. Almost as soon as I lay down, the same god-awful abdominal pain came back with a vengeance. Unlike the previous night, where the pain came in waves and I was eventually able to fall asleep, the pain was unrelenting. Eventually, I horked up my dinner.

Charlie was there next to me, rubbing my back and saying how sorry he was that there was nothing he could do. I felt beyond awful. Finally, we decided that I should probably go to the ER and get checked out since vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and fever can be signs of really serious problems. Charlie took care of all the phone calls -- my mom, my boss, etc. I bundled myself up in the Jeep and then we were on our way.

I tell you what, I must have had the magical combo of symptoms that ensures speedy admittance, because within about ten minutes of arriving, I was in a hospital gown (hello! there's my butt hanging out the back!) and laid out on a bed. The nurse started an IV, then a doctor came in and asked me the usual questions. She suspected right away that my gall bladder was the culprit, and ordered an ultrasound.

Fast forward a few hours and I was full of painkillers and anti-nausea drugs, and my ultrasound was done. The nurse came back and told us that I had gallstones, but that I wasn't in need of immediate surgery (whew!). She referred me to my regular doctor, and sent me packing with a nice kit of drugs.

So that's where we are today. I'm feeling better, although there were some twinges after lunch (nothing fatty, just more wheat pasta). My doc's office is closed until Monday, so I've got to wait until then to make an appointment. In the meantime, I'll be back at work on Sunday, and eating bland, non-fatty, non-spicy food for the next few days (bleh!).

All I can think of is that a) I'm glad we didn't have any fancy or expensive plans for New Year's Eve and b) I'm REALLY glad they didn't whisk me off to surgery last night. I mean, waiting for my regular doctor, waiting for more test results, waiting for a surgical referral, that's all going to suck, but I'd rather be home with my family (and my drugs, bwahahaha) instead of putting my life on hold for God knows how long.

Here's hoping that 2010 is a better year for me, health wise. I sure would like to try and go a year without any major medical procedures.