Apparently, I’m back to journal blogging, documenting my random life events! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that about 6 weeks ago, I went to the hospital for some pretty severe stomach pain. It turned out to be a gallbladder full of stones. They told me I could have another flare-up any day, or never again. I followed up with my doctor and surgeon and they both told me it’s best to schedule a removal, instead of waiting on another flare, but it was up to me what I wanted to do. I decided to just wait it out, because what if it was not necessary at all?
Fast forward a few weeks of almost forgetting about it and I had one insane attack that crippled me for 7 hours. I called the surgeon in the middle of it and took their first available surgery.
I went in last week, on Thursday, for my scheduled surgery. I was pretty fearful of going under anesthesia, but at that point just ready to get it over with! My surgery ended up taking about twice as long as it should have and my gallbladder was far angrier than expected. It was completely obstructed and the dye they put in to illuminate the organs didn’t even get through. Thankfully I had a wonderful doctor and God had me in the right place at the right time!
I snapped this picture when we got home from the hospital and literally have no memory of it. Also no memory of singing Morgan Wallen in the recovery room. 😂
The healing has been more intense than I expected, but I’m hanging in there! I have 4 incisions that are healing, slowly but surely. It is very similar to my c-section recoveries, in that you can’t really use your abs and have to roll out the bed on your side, but waaaay less intense and painful. My belly is still bigger than before and I’m rocking all the elastic waist shorts and dresses/rompers galore. I didn’t think about the fact that I would have workout limits, but am enjoying the slower pace of daily walks.
My recovery has included wearing in the left side of the couch, plenty of every liquid we have in the house and lots of movies with the family. The new Mario movie is really great, if you are thinking about watching it!
Being forced to slow down in the very busy mom month of May has been a challenge, but my family has been so great in helping me with everything! I’m able to embark on the last week of school with field trips and field days and celebrations galore and for that, I’m so thankful!
I hope your recovery is quick and strong. My husband has his removed in June last year. He had one attack a few years ago, was also given the choice so he decided to wait it out. Then last year 2 attacks in quick succession sealed the deal. Honestly, the attacks are without doubt the scariest things I’ve seem him go through. Absolute agony for him, and he has a high pain threshold. Surgery was also a bit longer, completely blocked gallbladder and gallduct, but his recovery was great. 1 week of absolute rest. No driving for 2 weeks. Other than that, all good. And he was warned he might have some food reactions but nothing changed at all.
Wishing you all of the best, all the way from Cape Town, South Africa.
Nicky
Thank you, Nicky! So glad to hear he’s doing well now!
So sorry to hear you’ve been dealing with this! Best wishes on a speedy recovery!
Thank you so much!