Two weeks ago I was in the ER for severe chest pain under my breast...and in the ambulence (they thought I was having a heart attack) it shifted down into my gut and I got really really nauseous. They did an Ultrasound and a CT and didn't see anything wrong with my gallbladder...
I went to see a GI and he had me do a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. He told my mom what he found but didn't tell me and she forgot. All I know is he found gastritis, whatever that is...and that I've been taking some pill every day that he prescribed.
Yesterday I went to have a HIDA-CCK scan. They didn't even get to do the part with the CCK that makes the gallbladder shrink because apparently my gallbladder didn't do what it was supposed to do. The radioactive isotope went through my small intestines and liver but very little of it made it into my gallbladder and my gallbladder wasn't showing up on the scans. The tech told me this was not normal, and that my doctor would discuss the results with me at my follow up on Tuesday and he would tell me where we could go from there...
I think maybe i'm scaring myself. I read about the HIDA scans online and it said that if your gallbladder doesn't show up that means something is blocking the bile ducts and that your doctor might want to take out your gallbladder. I'm not scared of the surgery or anything, just taking more time off of work and possibly losing my job. My boss has already had 2 talks with me about being sick so much...and I'm really nervous that I'm going to go into the Doctors Office on tuesday and get told that I have to take more time off of work.
So I've got a question. If you had your gallbladder out laproscopically, how long was it before you were back to work? I work with little kids and sometimes I'm bending over and picking things up and lifting kids onto changing tables. I am really nervous that I will get in trouble with work so I want to take as little time off of work as possible without risking my health?
Also, I've been feeling sick after eating a lot lately. It's been getting worse and worse. Last night I ate dinner (quesidillas at a mexican resturaunt) and got home and my whole back and neck hurt and a muscle relaxant didn't help and motrin didn't help and then my stomach started hurting and I got really nauseous. Does this sound like gallbladder? I don't want surgery, but at the same time I really want to find out what has been causing me all of this misery so that they can fix it and I can be done with it...
Also, if anyone has any tips for making the back and neck pain go away I would appreciate it because it's all still there and it's really starting to bother me.
Ugggg! I just wrote you this really nice reply and it disappeared! Take 2-
I so feel for you! I had gallstones when I was 19 and had to have my gallbladder removed. It started with a really sharp pain in my upper abdomen, then spread to the right side. It got so bad I could feel it in my back on the same side. I went to the ER, had an ultrasound and they found the stones. One of the stones was blocking a duct causing an 'attack'- the pain was from my galbladder contracting. I had the laproscopic surgery about 2 months later. Between the original attack and the surgery, the doctor told me to be really careful about eating fat (even healthy fats) because digesting them makes your gallbladder work harder and could trigger another attack. I honestly don't remember much about the recovery time (I was a student and was off for the summer), but it couldn't have been more than a week. I know I went home from the hospital right after the surgery though.
Hopefully the doctor has some more conclusive news for you on Tuesday! I think in these cases, the not knowing and living with all the what-if's is so much worse! And I hope your boss is human enough to see that you need to take care of yourself and get well and can cut you some slack on this one! I know this can be stressful, but hang in there!
My father had to have his gallbladder taken out, and prior to the surgery date (and following it) he really had to watch his Fat intake. Now, I'm not saying your doctor would tell you the same thing, just that his doctor told him to stay around 30g of fat per day. If he didn't, he'd be more likely to have an "attack".
My father was in the hospital for a few days following the surgery, and then came home to rest another few days. All told it was about a week before he was moving around somewhat normally. But, he doesn't do lifting or bending for his job.
It sounds like what I went through before I had my surgery. It took about 2 weeks to recover from the surgery, but after about 4 days, you should be getting around good. You will feel much better after the sugery. If you loss your job because of the surgery, then its worth it cuz all that pain stops. I had pain from the bottom of my ribs all the way around my back, I was so tensed up and hunched over that my neck also hurt. I even started getting anxiety attacks. I had been going to the doctor for months before the stones showed up, and I had endoscopic procedure, ct scan, was taking protonix for months, they couldn't figure out what it was. I lost 20 lbs starving myself. All they said is that it gallbladder was working slow, afew months later, I had gal stones. Crazy huh. Once I got the surgery, it all stopped, but I do get heart burn more now. Stay away from lettuce, garlic, red sauces, real spicy food, greasy food, and gash food. I was eating a lot of cold cuts, crackers, soups. Let me now how it goes.
Laprascopic cholecystectomy is a REALLY common surgery! It has a fairly easy recovery time, and you will feel much better when it is out. As someone above said, when the HIDA scan doesn't react to the dye, there is something blocking your gallbladder's ability send bile to your stomach to help your stomach digest your food (this might explain the gastritis). Most likely the blockage is a gall stone. You will want to avoid fattening foods, as most people have attacks following high fat meals, especially dairy like cheese and ice cream. The pain you are getting in your neck, etc. is called referred pain, and is completely normal and expected with gallbladder attacks. Hope that helps.
As for your employer, are you able to get protection under the Family Medical Leave Act? (FMLA) Most employers are bound by this and have to allow you to take up to 12 weeks off of your job for medical issues without it affecting your employment. Some small companies are exempt, but I would definitely check into it!
thanks for all the responses guys....it really helps to know thaat i'm not crazy, and that I really might be beginning to piece the puzzle together and figure out what's really wrong.
FMLA doesn't apply in my situation. The company I work for only has about 20 employees and it's technically a church. I have only been working there about 15 months and I have already had one foot surgery and had my tonsils out pkus a bunch of sick days and I had to go out of town for a family emergency when my grandmother had a stroke and almost died. All in all i've missed over 60 days that I was supposed to be at work. That is A LOT. If I had to take a week off for gallbladder surgery (even if it fixed all of the problems and I wasn't sick anymore afterwords) I don't know that my boss could justify keeping me. I absolutely love my job and i'm just so scared to lose it...
I guess there is no reason to borrow trouble though. We will see what my doctor says on tuesday.
I of course am not 20 something over twice that actually, but I did want to give you some personal info about the gall bladder business. I too had gall stones in my duct and actually they did emergency surgery to take them out. The pain as far as I was concerned came and went in long intervals then shorter and shorter until about a year after the whole thing started it came and would not go away no matter what I did. I had a daughter in high school at the time and my husband was on a business trip. I put her in the car and drove around town all night long as I hurt so much and couldn't stand it. I finally drove to the ER that morning and they took it out that afternoon. I had lathroscopic which they do three small incisions, one in your belly button and two higher up that are very small and do the surgery that way. You aren't going to be down and out like you would otherwise with surgery, but no way are you going to want to lift kids and such I would say at least 1-2 weeks with the kind of work you do though if you could talk to your boss you could go back after several days if you didn't lift children for a couple weeks I would say. Can you not head this off and go to your boss and talk to them instead of waiting until you get the word you need surgery? I know you don't want to lose your job, but losing your life would be worse and though gall bladder surgery is commonplace nowadays a blocked duct is serious business and it won't get better. You don't pass them like you do kidney stones. I will say a prayer for you that things will come out ok.
Gallblader Problems? Help!
You take care of yourself right now!
