The only update I have for you today is about my health. Yesterday, after much urging from friends, I went ahead and took a cab to the emergency room. I was unable to stand upright because of the pain in my right side.The pain went all the way from my ribs to my hipbone, and got worse when I moved. They took blood, gave me an IV, and slammed some morphine into my system. I don't remember the last time I had morphine, but I'm pretty sure I didn't like it then, either. It made me feel like I had the flu, all hot and gross.
They took me down to do an ultrasound, and I'm guessing that's why they gave me the morphine first. Even under the effects of the drug, it hurt so much when she pressed that little thing onto my already painful stomach. I saw the images on the ultrasound, and asked the tech some questions. She said she didn't analyze them; she was just the photographer, but I could see in her face she saw something wrong.
Then there was waiting. The doctor came in and told me that the ultrasound confirmed what he figured was wrong. I have gallstones. Luckily for me, my gallbladder isn't infected. If that were the case, I'd likely be waking up from surgery right now. But the doctor said the stones are large, and that my gallbladder is almost full of them. He said that if it were him, he would get into a surgeon straight away, because once it gets infected, the chances of complications go up drastically. I need to have my gallbladder removed. There are other treatments besides surgery, but they are either for stones that are small, or if there are only a few of them. I'm neither of those cases. They can also take years, and it's pretty unlikely that I will be able to go even months without infection.
So that's that. I call the surgeon Monday to set up a consultation, and figure out when we can do this. I'm on some heavy duty pain medication now, because it's not just going to go away on it's own. The medication makes it extremely difficult to do schoolwork and focus, but without it, I'm in severe pain. My instructors all know, and are standing by to help me out should I need it and sending me their best wishes. I've been ordered to put my research on hold until we figure this stuff out. Hopefully, my school insurance will pay for the surgery. If not, I have no idea what I'll do. I'm also hoping that any time off I have to take doesn't affect my funding. If it does, I'm totally screwed on rent and the like. It's very stressful and worrisome.
I'll be doing my best to continue writing the news. Supposedly, after you have the surgery, you go back to normal within weeks, and you feel so much better it's ridiculous. I'm hoping that's my case. I'd love to feel better very soon.
That's all for now. Thank you all so much for your support in this. I just have to keep telling myself this is just one more thing I have to get through. Wish me luck.
Solidarity to all,
Kitty
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