Nothing's been posted recently because January 9th, I had my gall bladder taken out. The day after my last post I started having attacks and pretty much had at least one a day until the darn thing was removed! Fiona has been an angel through it all. On Dec. 29th we spent 4 1/2 hours at the Methodist ER because I was in excruciating pain (very similar to hard labor pains). Of course by the time the doctor saw me, the pain was gone. He prescribe vicodin and told me to make an appointment with my doctor figuring I was probably having issues with my gall bladder. My doctor ordered an ultrasound and referred me to a surgeon, but the Saturday before it I had an extremely bad attack while at work. A pill and a half of vicodin did nothing for the pain. I called the doctor on call and he recommended going to the ER, having an ultrasound and possibly getting my gall bladder out that night or on Sunday. Of course that was easier said than done.
Community North's ER doesn't do ultrasounds on the weekends unless it's a life threatening emergency, and since once again the pain had subsided, I was sent home with a different prescription and told to just deal with it (my words, not his). I had the ultrasound on Monday the 5th and met with the surgeon on Wed. Jan. 7th and surgery was scheduled for the 9th. The timing couldn't have been better, as my mom had scheduled a trip out and was arriving on the 8th! She was able to stay with Fiona while Jeff and I were at the Indiana Surgery Center and helped throughout the weekend, caring for Fiona, doing laundry and keeping me company. It wouldn't have been as easy if she hadn't been here.
According to the surgeon, my bile duct was very stretched out, meaning I'd passed some huge gall stones, which were probably the super painful episodes I'd had. Luckily it's all behind me now and all I need to do is rest and take it easy while I heal. I'm so relieved it's over and I can eat real food in moderation! While I was having the attacks, I went on the gall bladder diet, which is no fat, no caffeine, no meat, no spice (no flavor). It was awful and didn't seem to help too much as I still had attacks. Slowly I'm reintroducing fat and taste into my diet. Yeah!
As I said earlier, Fiona has been just an angel through all of this, taking it all in stride and rarely fussing. Jeff also has been wonderful. He has to get up with me in the middle of the night when Fiona needs to eat because I'm not supposed to lift more than 15 lbs. He's also been doing most of the cooking and cleaning. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family!
First real foray into "solids".
She did good getting them in her hands, but didn't seem to realize they could also go in her mouth. Why, I don't know since everything else goes in her mouth! She did eventually get one in and proceeded to gag until I got it out. Guess she's not yet ready for them!
Fiona's favorite new trick, eating Daddy's hat.
Sporting her new hat from Grammie
I fit perfectly in this box. Thanks, Mom.