Well, I got the news today. My Gall Bladder appears to be an alien entity in my body.
I've been having lower abdominal discomfort (pain-Vicodin is a friend) since January.
It screwed up our retirement vacation in Key West and I've been bouncing from doctor to test to pill throughout and since. Fasting, eating, drinking, no drinking, changing diet, liquid, no meat, meat, veggies, no veggies, fruit, no fruit, etc etc ad nauseum. Throughout all of this I keep saying: Could this be my gall bladder? "No grampster, your cat scan says no...it's diverticulosis...it's diverticulitis...it's adhesions from your prostate cancer surgery..it's...well...we're not sure...never seen anything like this, take a pill see us in 2 weeks.
Finally, my regular doc sends me to the surgeon after I began wearing out my welcome in his office and tying up his phone. She (the surgeon) is a skinny, curly black haired young thing, probably just out of med school. Somehow, I think maybe I'm her first patient. I like new docs. They're interested, especially if you're their first spot under the microscope. She actually looked at me like I might be a sentient being. I have a strange sense of confidence in her.
She says, "What's the problem grampster?" I sez, "You want the long story or the short one?" She sez, "The long one." Her stock just jumped 100 points.
So I go through it. She sez, "I'm gonna send you for a ultra sound on your gall bladder. Did you have one yet?" "Nope", sez I, "but not for lack of asking."
"Well" she says, "If that shows nothing, we have a new test we can do that tests function rather than just looking at its condition". Well the ultra sound showed it was bad and her office called and said surgery is scheduled for April 3. It'll be laproscopic and out of the hospital within 23 hours. Trust me, 3 months of cramps and abdominal pain is no treat. It'll be worth the surgery if that's the total problem.
I am registered at every local liquor store in the lower 48 for single malts, Catholic irish whiskey and vsop cognac. I'm depending on y'all for your prayers and recuperation gifts of the above. Just kiddin' about the whiskey. The support I got from y'all in the way of kind remarks last spring on the cancer thing did a lot for me and my confident entry into that arena. So, I'm asking for that moral support again from my friends of the ether net.
PS: All of you males age 40+, get your psa tested and digital prostate exam. It's a lifesaver, take it from me.
grampster
