It Was the Gall-darn Gallbladder

Saturday I had what I thought was heartburn-from-hell, but five hours later on in the ER it was revealed to be a gallbladder attack. Apparently passing a gallstone (not to be confused with passing a kidney stone--two very different things) feels similarly to trying to birth a bowling ball from your stomach up into your esophagus. After some fine IV drugs I was doing much better. Sunday I had fun with an MRI--luckily I am not claustrophobic; it is a bit like hanging out in a well-lit coffin. Ah, yes, the rogue gallstones were found and it was decided that my gallbladder must be removed. I guess this is not an uncommon thing for women who have recently had babies to suffer. Is that fair? So on Monday morning I had laproscopic surgery to remove the offending organ (good thing it is expendable, no?). My sister flew in from Mexico for Christmas and, being a dutiful sister as she is, spent the night in the hospital with me, God bless her. It was like a painful pajama party full of vicadan and hospital gowns. Katie is thinking of having her her gallbladder out just so we can have a repeat fete.

I'm fine, but poor Lily had a very hard go at it without me (Tiger was always very appreciative of what I did at home, but now he REALLY admires my work). I've been home for a day and a half, but the poor little thing is still distressed whenever I leave a room. Until this weekend, she and I had never been apart from each other for more than four hours, then suddenly, 48. I would have seen her, but I thought it would be nothing but cruel to have her see me but not be able to nurse due to the drugs they were pumping into me. Tuesday when I came home was one big laugh/cuddle/nurse/nap fest for the two of us. Unfortunately in the absence of the nursing antibodies, she came down with a cold, so we are working on getting her back to her bubbly self.

Many thanks go out to the three Grandmas who did their best (two at a time) to keep Lily distracted from the fact the world she knew and loved was in a complete state of baby-hell (no mom? no milk? no!!). Extra special thanks to my friend Marlene, who even came to nurse and comfort Lily while I was unable to.

In case anyone is interested, here is a link to a YouTube video of my surgery.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ycvwAfx3yF0