Unfortunately, I no longer have it… The gall… Gallbladder if we’re being specific. I recently found myself being rushed into surgery to remove mine before I felt I’d even had a chance to get to know it or know it was no longer interested in living with me.
What is a gallbladder?
The quick and dirty answer is a bile storage organ. The gallbladder collects and holds the fluids produced by our livers for fat digestion purposes. Sometimes these little pouches get all ticked off with us and decide to manifest negativity within our bodies. Mine came in the form of intense, sharp, continuous pain right below my right ribs. I have a very high pain tolerance, and I was in real tears, writhing around on my bedroom floor like an earthworm. Even though I’d felt the pain before, I didn’t know that it was my gallbladder.
So what happened next?
My husband took me to the ER and I was immediately admitted into care and scheduled for surgery the next morning. Keep in mind, at this point, I still had no clue what a gallbladder was and why mine was so upset with me. After a restless night of poking, bloodwork, and vital signs every two hours, I was taken into surgery. I distinctly remember the nurse saying, “Ok baby, let’s get you over here…” I can’t tell you what happened between then and me waking up to my nurse saying, “Hey hun! Did you know you snore?” My gallbladder was removed, covered in alleged gallstones, and purportedly ruptured on the table. Had it ruptured in my body, I would have been in dire straits.
Did you bounce back?
Even though my surgery was performed laproscopically, I still had a bumpy road to recovery. The pain in my abdomen the first three days after surgery was more intense than the pain that led me there. Having a gallbladder removed with a vertical incision is much more difficult to recover from, so I have to be thankful for the skilled hands of a great surgeon. Pain management was the most important thing, but also getting my digestive system to reboot proved to be a whole other level of receovery.
So what do you eat now?
I eat what I want! No really… I eat what I want. But everything has a price. I can’t process the things I used to easily as I used to. I’ve come to find that spicy noodle bowls are forever in my rearview (no pun intended), as well as ground beef. Those two foods have taught me some very tough lessons. I can eat them if I’d like to, but only if I am also prepared to power through the gambit that awaits me at the bathroom door. There are plenty of lists, articles, suggestions, etc. online of course, but each of us is different. My best advice, listen to your body and your paid medical professional(s).
What’s the bottom line?
The bottom line is that we have to listen to the quirks of our bodies when they quirk. Don’t be afraid to ask a question (not on the internet though… that’s frightening sometimes) and get the help you need to understand what your body is trying to communicate to you. I can tell you that I did not treat my digestive system well, and my gallbladder divorced me at the tender age of 40 years old. Had I made better dietary choices more consistently in my life, things may have turned out different. They may not have, but I’ll never know now because I don’t have the chance to see. When I end these posts with “Take care of yourselves.” I really mean it. It’s very important and no one can do a better job than you can.
Take care of yourselves and each other.
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