Feeling Better

As you all know, I have not been feeling well lately. However, I will not be having surgery.

It seems that my gallbladder is functioning. It does have some degree of abnormalities, but the Dr. says that it is borderline. He says I fall into the "might" catagory. Surgery might help and then again, it might not. The IBS could be what is causing the abnormal functions of my gallbladder. So..........if we can get the IBS under control, then the gallbladder should function in a closer to normal way.

To get a handle on the IBS, means to STAY on a special diet. A low fat diet. This is not an easy thing for me to do. I am supposed to avoid all dairy products, all fried foods, all spicy foods, and the "trigger" foods (the ones I know cause problems), like Broccoli, califlower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, onions, peppers, eggs, etc, etc.......

Watching what I eat, has made a difference. I have been doing pretty good with it lately (unless you count the fried onion rings that I ate last night at Smoky Bones-----and I did pay for it, I was miserable).

The biggest thing I could do to control the IBS is to reduce my "STRESS", I don't really have any good ideas on how to do that. Winning the lottery would help, but since I don't play it , don't really know how that is going to happen. But, my vacation starts in 6 days. I will not have to work for 10 whole days.....YEA!!!!!!!! Lindsey and I will also be in Disney World. What better way to leave all the stresses of your life behind. I can't wait!!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend and a wonderful Easter!!!

Still Testing

Nothing with me is ever simple or ordinary. This is no exception.

I saw the surgeon, on Tues. but he said that the sludge in itself is not reason enough to perform the surgery. He wants to know more details of what is going on inside me before he does any surgery. Which makes sense, but means that I have to be poked and injected and pictured and so on.

So on Friday, I had a "hida scan with a ccr injection" performed. It is a gallbladder function test. It wasn't as bad as what I had read, but wasn't a day at the beach either. With this test you lay flat on a table with an x-ray type machine very close over the top of you. There was a monitor to my left and it was positioned so that I could see it. I was then injected with a radioactive dye, which shows up on an x-ray and the screen. I watched it go through my right arm, into my heart and then into my lungs. This was pretty quick, only a few minutes. The dye then proceeded to go into my liver, which took a bit longer. I began to see the dye going to one spot near the bottom of my liver.......my gallbladder.

The technician explained the test to me as we were going along. He would say," the dye is now entering your ______" and "in a few minutes we will see it enter the _______". It was kind of neat, but scary at the same time. The machine would take pictures every couple of minutes. The technician would adjust the lighting on the screen every now and then, as to see the other organs that the dye had moved from (mainly the liver).

Once the dye had entered my gallbladder and began to go into my small intestines, I was given the second injection (the ccr part). It makes your gallbladder contract, which you CAN feel, and then empty as it normally does with the bile.

The fact that the second injection is given means that there are no blockages entering or exiting the gallbladder. No stones, no tumors etc......

That is about the only thing that the technician was able to tell me. He could not tell me if my gallbladder emptied as it is supposed to. (40% of the contents should empty)

So I will have to wait until Tues. (27th) to find out the results and to see what the Dr. recommends that we do.

In the mean time, I watch what I eat and take alot of Mylanta. This has helped somewhat. The pain and indigestion aren't as bad. Not totally gone either, but not as intense.

I'll post again, when I know more.........

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!!!

Gallbladder Sludge

Art Work By: Secret Agent Josephine

Have you ever heard of gallbladder sludge? Well, I had not until this week.

I have been having some digestion problems for quite some time, but really had not been too concerned due to the fact that for about 15 years I have had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

So when I was having eposides of nausea and indigestion, I was just concluding that it was due to the IBS. Usually I can watch my diet, try to eat healthy avoiding the high fat foods and dairy products, and only have a few episodes of misery. But in the last few months it has become a almost constant problem. I first thought that I was just overeating or eating the wrong foods too often. Like the icecream that I know is going to cause me problems. I started paying attention to what I was eating and tried to stay away from the things that I know cause problems, but still I was having indigestion and such. So I began the ritual of following my meals with tums or rolaids. Then came the pain........ I started having this gnawing pain in my upper abdomen. This went on for a few days and then it began to hurt into my upper back, between my shoulder blades. Sometimes it can get pretty intense.

I decided it was time to visit the doctor. So I did just that this past Tues. He said that we needed to do some test. Upper GI and an abdominal ultrasound. Which was performed on Thurs. I got the results on Friday. Dr. says I have "Gallbladder Sludge" and that my gallbladder needs to come out. I see the surgeron this coming Tues. ( 20th)

Three weeks before our vacation to Disney World and I need surgery................Just my luck.

I'll keep you posted.

Spring Break

Spring........warm days, flowers blooming, more daylight hours, no more having to wear a coat........Come on Spring!!!

I am so tired of being cold. I know that Spring is just around the corner, but I am growing impatient.

However, I am looking forward to SPRING BREAK!! My kids are too. Each of them have started counting down the days.

Adam starts his Spring Break this weekend. He will be off to Cancun on Monday. Flying for the first time. He is a little nervous about that part of it, but very much looking forward to the trip. He has been busy getting everything together to travel. I know he is going to have a wonderful time. Of course, I will be worring about him the whole time he is gone. Thinking about all the things that can go wrong, like a Mother does. So, Please, keep him in your prayers.

Lindsey and I also have travel plans for Spring Break. We will be going to Disney World. Just the two of us. We have to wait until April, but are still making our plans. We have our, "Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World 2007" and are going through it deciding what we are going to do when. A big Thank You to "A Travel Expert" aka, Michael, for helping us with this. He has helped us with booking a Disney Resort Hotel, our Park Hopper Tickets, and our flights there and back home. We, like Adam, will be flying for the first time. Thank goodness, it is a non stop flight. I am a little nervous about it, (fear of the unknown and all) but I have always wanted to fly and now will have my chance. Plus I get to share the experience with my daughter. Adam says that he will be able to give us the scoop on flying, since he gets to do it first. A fact that he seems to be taking great pleasure in. He keeps saying," I get to fly first!". So keep all of us in your prayers, Please, that we have a safe trip.

Well got to run, it's my day off today and I have tons of errands to do. Hope everyone has a Good Friday and a Great Weekend!!!

Dentist.....YUCK

It seems that everyone is visiting the dentist lately.

Lindsey and I have both visited and will be visiting a few more times to get all the work that needs to be done completed.

I hate going to the dentist. I have never had good teeth and they can always find one that needs filling or crowned. This time was no exception. I lost a filling and knew that I have needed to visit the dentist for awhile, so I finally did. Of course the filling I lost couldn't just be replaced.......no, it was infected. So I had to go on an antibiotic for a week and let it heal so that they could do a root canal and then crown this tooth. I had never had the pleasure of a root canal before. Believe me I NEVER will again. I have NEVER in my life had a tooth hurt so much. I felt my heart beating in my mouth for several days. I was on the verge of calling the dentist and saying, "Just Pull It". He gave me some pain pills to take, but it is hard to take those things and work. So I would take tylenol every four hours untill I got home from work, then take the pain pills and sleep. Finally after almost a week, it stopped hurting. I got my permanant crown in and it was time to move on to the other problem teeth.

They started with a cleaning, which I hate, but it does make your teeth feel better....cleaner....etc. This, of course, does lead to the finding of all the other problems. Like the what they say will be a small filling, until they start to fill it. Then, it turns out to be a small cavity under an old filling, which means, that the old filling has to come out. Making the small filling into a rather big one. Which , of course needs to be crowned. This was the story of not one, but two of my teeth. Both on the left side of my mouth. One on the top and the other on the bottom. The one on the top was a real pain. It was the very back tooth and is not exactly straight. So it wasn't the easiest tooth to get to. The dentist kept saying I'm sorry that we are stretching your mouth so much. Add in the fact they are trying to put what seems like twenty things in your mouth at the same time and they have you practially standing on your head in the chair. Plus you have been injected with so much novacaine that you can't feel your nose or mouth for hours, and when they are finished, they ask you " How does that feel?" Like you can tell at that point. Of course when the medication wears off you can answer that question......IT HURTS!!!!!!!! Duhhhhhh, you have given me 5 or 6 shots, had my mouth pryed open as far as you could for 2 hours, hit me in the mouth with instruments and had not only your hands, but your assistants hands in my mouth at the same time. How do you think it feels?

I am so looking forward to my next visit. They can start on the right side of my mouth......Joy, Joy.

I guess I could just have all my teeth pulled and get false ones. It probably would be cheaper. Oh well..........