Gallstones a pain in the **** and hard to diagnose. (Gall Stones)

Member Name: Ladymagic

Product:	Gall Stones
Date:	15/12/08 (464 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You get to have a long time off work recovering from operations.

Disadvantages: Pain , scarring , digestive problems for life.

Ah....gallstones , lovely little or big cholesterol balls that inflict utter sole destroying pain on ones life.
Yes, I've been the proud owner of a whole set of 25 of the little b*****s .

In 1988 I started to get chest pain of a different sort , everytime I ate something , there it was a hard pain that spread across my chest , burning , hours of pain burning away like someone had tipped acid inside of me and the pain , OMG unfortunately with my medical condition POTS I'm not normal ( was I ever you ask ) and the pain was on the left hand side of my chest , where as your gall bladder is on your right hand side , its called referred pain .

After 2 years ....yes, 2 whole years of pills , potions and diets that didnt work , my hospital consultant just happened to be on holiday when I was due to be seen again , as I walking into the new consultants rooms he looked at me and said 'my god , your bright yellow'

Pain suddenly hit me out of the blue , violent pain that sent my body into sheer spasms and all I can remember is waking up 10 days later in intensive care ....my gall bladder had ruptured in the consultants office , I had stones in my intestines setting up pre-cancer ( 1+ 1/2 lopped out as well ) and I was bleeding internally
and loosing pints of blood , it was only by the quick thinking and determination of my new consultant that I am here now writing this and not pushing up daisies .
For no-one in all the 2 years of treatments had even thought I had gallstones and why ????

Because I was under 40 years old, was fit and not overweight at all and had 3 kids, stupid as it seems they still like to go by the old saying for gallstones ' fat , unfit over fertile and over 40 '

I now have a huge scar which is from my mid chest to my navel ( along with many others that join up to make a map of the British isles ! ) which is an interesting talking point on the beach ( not)
I cannot digest fats very well so have to watch what I eat , which is not fun for me .

One thing I would warn you about if like me you have to have full chest surgery and that is ...........dont have your mother, father and granny sitting by your bedside when you wake up ( as I did ) because when you do , the pain of having most of your ribs broken to get to your gallbladder coupled with the sheer pain of a 19 inch scar and all the other bits they have hacked into and fiddled with , well all I can say is my family didnt know I knew such words !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the nursing staff had to rush in and knock me out to stop the air getting any bluer.....oooooooops.
mmmmm, I think you could say the pain was a little bit OTT , trouble was I didnt know I'd been operated on and just thought I'd passed out in the doctors room , what a shock when he handed me the little b******s in a jar , huge cream/greenish coloured greasy things.

They say bad diet causes gall stones .untrue as i have had to eat a very good diet all my life because of my POTS, they say that they can be caused by your cholesterol level getting very high by what you eat .............er nope, I make my own cholesterol !!!! I've had my levels at 40+ before and now live on drugs to suppress it as much as they can , so its nothing I've done , I'm just unlucky , well someone gotta give the hospitals a run for there money , haven't they .

Well sorry if I seem a bit flippant about all the pain etc , but honestly with so many bits of me in jars on hospital shelves I cant write a review thats all sad and down in the mouth . Whatever happens to your body you just have to take the good with the bad and keep your chin up and try to get on with it living your life and enjoying what you have , after all lifes for living not for dreaming about .

Summary: Stay healthy , keep your cholesterol levels down and keep slim .