Tomorrow I go to hospital and on Friday I have my gall-bladder removed! I’ve never had a general anaesthetic before, so that’s going to be weird. I’ve been on the waiting list for this operation for 11 months, so I’m well and truly ready to be rid of this rouge organ. The pain side of things doesn’t bother me too much, as nothing can be as painful as having biliary colic brougt on by a gall stone blockage. This is the most pain I have ever felt ever, and it lasted for ages – whilst I didn’t wish myself dead or anything, I can see why people start to think that way! The only upside to suffering with this all this time is that I got to experience using morphine, and I can now tell you exactly how many grammes of fat ber 100g of product are in most food-stuffs available in this country! (Words can’t describe the joy I felt when I discovered that marshmallows have 0% fat)!
Many people have gallstones, but aren’t bothered by the symptoms. If a gallbladder causes problems, it’s usually because a stone has blocked the passageway from the gallbladder to the bile duct, or from the bile duct to the intestine. The bile duct is the narrow passage through which bile leaves the liver and empties into the intestine to help digest food. A stone squeezing through or stuck in the bile duct may cause the following symptoms (of which I had ALL of them):
• SEVERE, cramping pain called biliary colic. The pain is felt in the upper-right or mid-abdomen. It may radiate upward to the shoulder or through to the back. This is common when the stone is stuck in the gall bladder (cystic) duct
• Yellowing in the skin and eyes, known as jaundice. This occurs when the stone blocks the exit of bile from the liver, and the major chemical of the bile (bilirubin) backs up into the bloodstream*.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Fever
Hospital food and daytime TV here I come!
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