What comes to mind when you think of the word "accessory"? If you are a female perhaps you think of jewelry, handbags or any other kind of wardrobe enhancer. If you watch much Law & Order perhaps "accessory to murder" is your thought. I bet "accessory organ" wasn't the first thing to leap into your mind! That is what the doctor called my gallbladder a few weeks ago when he informed me it had to come out. Like somehow calling it an "accessory" would ease my mind, lol. How many accessory organs am I carrying around?? I already donated my tonsils when I was 10. Still have my appendix though. Greg is minus his appendix and his thyroid, another so called "accessory". The doctor was quick to contrast my "accessory" gallbladder to my "essential" heart. Phew, I was almost worried for a minute.
So, yesterday at 6am Greg drove me to the hospital to get de-accessorized. It took 3 nurses to get an IV in me which was probably the worst part of it all. Apparently I left my good veins at home. I asked the nurse if there was any way they could do some liposuction while they were in there. She didn't think it was funny. And the answer was a big NO. She must have been in a grumpy mood because she didn't think it was funny when I told her to make sure they didn't do any organ harvesting either...just the gallbladder. Sheesh!
The next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room with blurry vision and nausea. That poor nurse tried her hardest to get me to wake up. She gave me ice chips, apple juice, graham crackers, kept telling me to take deep breaths and cough. I tried really hard but kept falling back to sleep. Every time I opened my eyes 20 minutes had gone by. I even tried to sing. I sang that little ditty "Jesus is the rock and he rolls my blues away, bop shoe bop". If you know it, then it is in your head now isn't it?! You're welcome. Another 20 minutes went by. She was determined to get me out of bed so I finally appeased her wishes and moved from the bed to the wheelchair. Where I proceeded to get so nauseous that I lost my guts. Boy what a mess! But I did feel better ;). After fixing me up she asked me if I wanted to go back to bed? Lady, make up your mind! I managed to get dressed and they were finally able to let Greg come back to see me. By noon we were pulling in the driveway. Yeah...6 hours start to finish. Isn't it amazing what they can do these days? My belly looks a bit like Swiss cheese but I feel really good. Much better than I anticipated. The doctor must have done a good job getting most of the gas out of me because I have had minimal pains. Haven't even touched any of the 40 Oxycodones they gave me. Are they trying to turn me into an addict?
Before surgery I asked about the possibility of seeing the stones they claimed I had. Sure enough, there were 5 stones, one of them almost a 1/2" big! The surgeon told Greg it was a good thing it came out because it was swollen and he could tell it had issues for some time. Apparently my body was compensating for it all this time because the attacks only started about 2 months ago. Boy am I glad I don't have to worry about another attack lurking in my future!
Now I get a few days to recover at home. I am liking the house all quiet and to myself. I promised Greg I would be a good patient so I am sticking to sitting at the computer, watching a bit of TV and hopefully finding time to stamp a card or two. I have lots of thank you cards to send after another very successful stamping event on Saturday. We had nearly 100 women from all over NY, PA, MA and Canada come for a day of stamping and fun. If you are interested in more about that adventure, I have posted some things on my inky-doodles blog (link is in the sidebar). The timing of the surgery worked out well, forced rest I think.
The rest of the fam is doing well. Greg is reading, reading, reading. His first session of school is coming up in June. Boys are doing well, looking forward to summer vacation.
I hope you and your accessories are doing well!
