I woke up at 2AM thinking I was having a dream about having leg spasms in my abdomen. Only, it wasn't a dream, it was real and the pain? At first I thought it might be food poisoning because I had thrown away a smelly rotten raw chicken. But then as I lied there writhing and moaning in pain reviewing everything I had put in my mouth all day long I realized that I had eaten a hefty sum of goat cheese. Damn cheese! As soon I recognized my over abundant day of cheese indulgence I had my answer. I was having a gall bladder attack and it hurt so much I thought I was going to die.
Seriously.
It lasted two hours. If I wasn't alone in the house with Josh I would have called 911 so I could have gotten painkillers at the emergency room. I really really wanted pain killers. I thought about calling a neighbor, but the one neighbor who works nights and is usually awake at 2AM didn't answer her cell and the truth is that I really didn't want to go to the ER because it's July and that is when the new guys start and the last person I want looking at me in the ER is the new guy. Believe me folks, I am a magnet for the new guy (aka; the guy who doesn't have a clue what he is doing) so I have to avoid the new guy if at all possible, especially since in the ER a new guy could be hiding a scalpel behind his back. I am not a fan of the scalpel.
I googled the situation, and found out that an episode typically lasts between 15 minutes and 15 hours. I would have gone to the ER if I was still in pain when the sun came up. The pain lasted for about 2 hours. It faded enough for me to go to sleep just before the sun came up.
There was no run for me this morning. Instead I rolled my post gall bladder episode self out of bed, into the shower and into my truck so I could spend the next 11 hours driving around a new neighborhood because we are moving on up, and out of stepford. But not for another year so Matt can graduate from stepford HS first, so this whole searching might be totally premature. Unless we find a house that needs lots and lots of renovations, in which case we can get that done before we move in, but I am WAY more enthusiastic about renovating than the husband is, which is weird, because my whole thing is that I want to buy something cheap that needs TLC, but he wants to buy something that is move in condition, except the truth of the matter is that we are TOTALLY spoiled between our stepford house and utopia and we are never going to find a house that measures up. And I should know because I trekked through TWENTY houses today.
I am exhausted.
Oh man, they are NOT FUN, not. one. bit.
My first gall bladder attack made me dream I was in a battle(think LoTR) and somebody ran me through with a spear! I woke up in the worst pain I'd ever experienced. At the time I didn't realize what it was and it didn't happen again til the end of my third pregnancy.
All it took was a piece of chicken skin the size of my pinkie fingernail and I was doubled over for hours. This happened several times the last few weeks and once more about 5 weeks after birth. That one landed me in the hospital after 9 hours of being on the floor. I got some pretty good drugs but they said I didn't have stones, just "sludge", whatever that is.
I completely eliminated fats from my diet for the next few years and never had another attack. Very occasionally my side will ache like a slight pulled muscle but that's all. Ten years later I still have my gall bladder and I now eat fats(but stay away from processed foods as much as I can).
If you have another attack, try laying on your right side. This helps the stones fall back into the gall bladder and not get stuck in the ducts.
It is good to try and keep your gall bladder. My mom and aunts have had theirs out and have all kinds of bowel issues now as a result.
I hope this was your last attack ever!
Molly
Posted by: molly | July 20, 2010 at 06:55 PM