Hey, Y'all. I know I haven't posted anything in nearly a month - and, for that I'm truly sorry. I've been pretty preoccupied lately and figured it's time I spill the beans as to why. Bear with me as I try to condense a month long story into a blog post. :0)
It all started a little over a month ago when I went for a routine pap smear. I hadn't had one in years. Shame on me, I know. I found a doctor here that I was pretty excited about seeing. She is a medical doctor who also leans toward preventive/natural medicine. Anyway...I told her about some symptoms I was having - part of which I thought I was going into early menopause. So, in addition to 2 different ultrasounds and a mammogram (Boy, was THAT ever fun!), she took a lot of blood work. Thankfully, the ultrasounds and mammogram came back fine. But, my blood work showed some things were out of whack. One of great concern was that my insulin level was really high. I don't have diabetes but, if I don't get my insulin down - I will. I definitely don't want to go down that road. So, I am making changes and taking some pretty drastic step to ensure that doesn't happen.
I am half way through an 8 week diet designed to rapidly drive my insulin levels down. This is what I get to have EVERY day; four 8 ounce shakes (specially designed by doctors) and 1 protein bar. Oh, and all the water I care to drink. Thank God I like water. BUT...my stomach has been absolutely tore up for weeks now. I forgot to mention that I have to see the doctor once a week during this time. Last week she put me on a prescription that is supposed to get my body to listen and respond properly to how it's supposed to be pumping out insulin - or something along those lines. She said that one of the side effects could be stomach upset, but thought that in my case it would probably help. I won't go into the details as of why - because that's not the point I'm trying to get at. I told her that I was having what I thought was gall bladder issues and wanted to make sure this new script wouldn't accentuate the problem. She wondered if I'd had it looked at before. I haven't. I have a doctor's appointment for it, but that doctor couldn't get me in until July. So, this doctor told me that my gall bladder could heal itself as my insulin comes down and I get healthy. It would be better to do that than have it surgically removed. But...we needed to make sure I didn't have gall stones. So, she scheduled me for an ultrasound of my gall bladder. Did I mention that this is all being taken care of by my gynecologist? I love her. She is the first doctor I've ever had that I feel really wants to see me healthy and well. She wants to get to the root of the problem rather than just throw pills at my symptoms. I'm so thankful to God for leading me to her. But, I digress...
I had that ultrasound yesterday morning. Not good. I don't have stones. I don't have thickening of the wall which accompanies gall bladder disease. What I do have is a gall bladder that is - and I quote, "...almost completely filled with sludge." It is so abnormal and uncommon that the doctor reading my ultrasound has never seen it before. He said that on the rare occasions it does occur it's usually found in very sick people who are bedridden and can't eat - not in relatively healthy people who can eat. When I asked him if there was anything that I could do to get my gall bladder to start pushing the sludge out - he apologized for not having any answers for me. Crap. Or should I say 'Sludge' in this case? Either way...
I saw my gynecologist yesterday afternoon. Apparently my gall bladder is beyond the healing process and has to come out. Evidently, it is the reason for all of my stomach woes. She was impressed that the doctor reading it was so impressed by my freakishly abnormal gall bladder. Glad I could make their day. Not really.
Anyway, she told me that she had already taken the liberty of scheduling me an appointment with a surgeon for tomorrow. I guess it needs to come out fast. I'll know more tomorrow after seeing the surgeon as to just how fast it needs to come out. I'm not really looking forward to having surgery. But, I'm not thrilled about being sick all the time, either.
My mom told me yesterday that my grandfather had his gall bladder rupture and he almost died from it. I don't think that's normal, either. So, maybe freakishly abnormal gall bladders is a hereditary thing. I don't know.
Well, that's my little tale of where I've been the past month. With all of the not eating and weekly (sometime more) doctors appointments and trying to get this school year finished up and stuff - my head just hasn't been into blogging. I will try to do better at keeping y'all updated now that the cat's out of the bag.
Say a prayer for me!
XO,
Pam
Pam,
ReplyDeleteYou're in my prayers! I had my gall bladder removed way back in 1994 because I had gall stones that had blocked my bile duct. Not fun!
Good idea to get yours taken out write away. :)
--Kari
Well that is the BEST excuse for not blogging that I have ever heard! (Totally kidding, lol).
ReplyDeleteMy, but what an ordeal you've been through! And being a medical marvel to boot~!
My mom had her gallbladder out a few years ago due to some very un-fun gall stones that kept recurring. It was horribly painful, and she said that it was the best feeling ever to know she'd never have to go through that again. She said it was right behind childbirth, but worse, because there wasn't an end in sight.
Anywho, I'll be praying for you, Pam! It sounds like you're in good hands with that doctor.
It's always a huge blessing ot find a doc that wants to get to the root of the problem and not merely put bandaids on everything.