Peace Out Pancreatitis and Goodbye Gallbladder

Last week was a whirlwind.  Nothing like it had ever happened to me, other people, but not me.  It all started in February.  I was shopping and I suddenly had stabbing, searing pain right under my sternum.  I was sweating, faint and in a lot of pain.  It lasted for about 10 minutes and then went away.  I thought maybe it was just really severe indigestion and just brushed it off.  A couple of weeks went by and I had another episode at my parents house.  We were thinking I might have an ulcer.  I was nauseous all the time but not in pain.  Several weeks went by and then I had an episode in the middle of the night that lasted 5 hours.  It was awful.  I decided to make an appointment with a GI specialist.  Then, last Saturday as we were walking up to Cole's last soccer game of the season it hit me and I couldn't take it anymore.  My parents took me to the emergency room so RT could be there for Cole.  At the ER they did blood tests and a sonogram to determine I had several Gallstones.  Awesome.  I was given a surgeons name and was told to contact him and schedule surgery to remove my Gallbladder.

Sunday was a rough day.  I was so nauseous and so tired.  I think I slept most of the day.  Monday I was feeling better and went about our normal routine.  Tuesday morning I met with Dr. Cione, who is amazing by the way, and scheduled surgery for Friday afternoon.

Then Wednesday came.  It was awful.  I woke up feeling ok.  I ate two pieces of toast and then it happened.  The worst pain I had ever felt.  Worse than any contraction I ever felt giving birth and I thought that was pretty painful.  I was miserable.  Then came the vomiting which I hadn't had with my other episodes.  And not to be graphic but it was not normal looking, it was grey in color and totally gross.  RT rushed the kids to my parents and took me back to the ER.  I threw-up in the car, in the ER and the entire time the nurse was putting my IV in to give me pain and nausea medicine.  She took my blood and sent it to the lab.  The Dr. came back and said I would not be going home.  Normal pancreas enzyme levels are around 150, mine were at 12,000.  I had developed pancreatitis.  Dr. Friedman, a GI specialist came in and said more than likely a Gallstone was lodged in a duct in my pancreas and was causing all the pain.  Wednesday night I was sedated while he sent a camera down my throat to clear the ducts.  

Thursday was just a waiting game.  We had to wait for my enzyme levels to come back down before they could remove my Gallbladder.  The kiddos came up to visit me for a little bit but I mostly slept.  I was still on a lot of pain medication.  Oh, and I could not eat.  I mean I was not aloud to eat, drink or take medicine orally.  They hydrated and gave me my medicine through my IV.  I did not eat or drink anything from Wednesday morning to Saturday morning.  That part alone was terrible.

Friday morning I napped while RT tried to get some work done.  Then at 2:30 they took me down for surgery.  Dr. Cione came in and went over everything one more time and then prayed for me and the surgery in general.  He is awesome!  I kissed my parents and RT before the nurse wheeled me into the OR.  The last thing I remember was being transferred to the operating table.  The surgery was about an hour long and was done robotically.  Only one incision in my belly button was needed.  The next thing I remember was the nurse telling me I needed to breath.  Then I was back in my room not fully awake and kind of in and out for a while.  Once I was finally awake they let me have a Popsicle.  It was the best Popsicle I ever had!

Saturday, RT and I passed the time away by eating breakfast and watching a movie.  We received our discharge papers around noon and we were out of there!  I was super sore but happy to get home to my kiddos and my bed.

 {Sweet. I have Gallstones.}

It was such a crazy ordeal.  Did I mention I had only been in the hospital twice before....to have my babies.  I had never been put under or had any kind of procedure or surgery.

I want to thank Dr. Cione and Dr. Friedman for being amazing doctors.  Thank you to my favorite nurses, Sharifka and TJ for taking such good care of me.

Thank you to my parents for visiting me, helping with the kiddos and just being there for support.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for coming in town and staying with the kids so RT could stay with me and my parents could be with me too.  

And thank you to my husband for being so amazing the whole time.  Making sure everyone knew what was going on, when things were scheduled, letting his mom know when and where the kids needed to be all while  trying to work, take care of me and sleeping on that terrible hospital couch.  I love you!