Just had emergency surgery...

[SerenaWelsh]

Hi all.
Tuesday I didn't feel very good.
By Tuesday evening, I had a fever of 102 aches and chills, and a sharp pain in my right side. My PCP said not to chance anything and go to the ER.
I resisted and told my husband all I needed was a nice long hot bubble bath. Her persisted and at about 8pm Tuesday night I went to the ER.

The doctor there immediately zeroed in on my gallbladder. Ultrasound and Radiological tests confirmed that I had acute cholisystitis (sp?) and the darned thing needed to be removed. After consulting with my cardiologist yesterday, I went under general anesthesia and had it removed laproscoply (sp?). Today, after proving that I can keep down solid food, I got to come home. I refused narcotics after waking up very early this morning because they make me nauseated. I'm recovering with the help of ExtraStrength Tylenol.

Mother and gallbladder are doing fine...
OH! And before I forget...the cardiologist who did my echo just before the surgery says my EF is definately not at 10%. He puts me closer to 25!!!!!!!!

[JAMESFETT]

well, the good news is that 1)your GB won't cause you more trouble and 2)your EF is extremely encouraging and improving. u r gr8! Prayers and best wishes,

James

[Lisa V]

WOW.............Glad to hear that everything is better now.....I cant believe you had to have surgery...................Did you have any symptoms before all this happened? You got good news out of the deal, to hear that your EF is definitely at 25% is great, see you are improveing and maybe you will not need that transplant after all. Hope your recovery is quick and that you are feeling yourself in a couple of days.

[Lauren]

I hope you feel better very soon. What wonderful news to hear about your EF. Get some rest and let your hubby take care of you.

[momofthree]

OH Serena...sorry about the emergency and all but man I am so happy about your EF and your successful outcome. Bless your heart. You hang in there girl. Praying for you all the time and very glad you are doing better. What a joy! Alison

[SerenaWelsh]

Thanks all!
Hubby is taking extremely good care of me. My parents came down to help with the kids, but unfortunately it's more like we're taking care of them. They'll go home tomorrow and I'll be able to relax for a few days before it's back to the same routine.

Lisa,
The doctor said this definately didn't happen over night, as the gallbladder had been blocked long enough for it to begin to wither. In fact, they were unable to see it all together on the sonogram and the MRI thinggy, which is how they knew it needed to come out pronto. I didn't think I'd had symptoms until the doctor started asking some questions about how I've felt lately. I certainly didn't have any pain, but alot of the digestive problems I've had lately could certainly be attributed to the GB.
Who knew such a little nothing of an organ could cause so much trouble??

And coincidentally, I was back in 1 year and 1 day after having been discharged from my month stay after diagnosis.

[momoftwoboys]

Woohoo.....Go Serena....it's your birthday (that was for the good news about your EF). When was your last echo anyway? You must be so happy to hear those results. Sorry to hear you had to go through the surgery though. That's so strange because I was just reading my post that you responded to about the stomach problems. Little did you know that you would be going in for surgery after posting under that thread hey? I'm tempted to just go in and tell them to take everything out at once to avoid anything ever happening to me like that in the future, LOL.

[dawn]

Did you keep it? ;)

So glad that you are well. And it's about time for some positive cardiac news for you, eh? Hooray!!

Again, wish I were closer so I could help out. Hope you're able to take it easy.

dawn

[amyls]

Sorry about the gallbadder....but 25....25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YEAH!!!!
You are in my prayers!
amy

[christyh]

Serena ,
Sorry to hear about the surgery but it sounds like you came through with flying colors! Its great news about your ef!
Christy

[SarahsMom]

YAY...25% EF that's AWESOME Serena! I've been wondering where you were. Glad you're okay and the surgery went well.

I look foward to reading your "witty" post now that you're going to have to sit still for a while until you heal.

Happy Healing Serena and CONGRATS on the EF.

Take care,
Kari

[mom2gageandkeely]

Glad to hear you did well and that your EF is improving. I was hocked to see that your EF was 10%, I always thought of you as Superwomen with a normal EF, gardening, taking care of websites etc... You go girl!

[marissar]

Was it this instead of your Kidneys, or are they still concerned about that? I had talked to my Dr. last week about you and he told me there is no way I trust that EF not with the way she is getting around. I see him tommorrow and I bet he says 25 is more like it. Maybe you should get another cardio to review your echo films?

We are going to Fredricksburg VA next weekend, not for sure where that is but if we come through your area maybe we can stop in. As long as the hour is decsent all I know is it is another 6 hour dr. :eek: one way.

[Yvonne]

Oh dear, You have to go through a lot of trouble!
But it is great to hear you're doing better and your EF has improved!!!!! I'm really glad to hear this encouraging news!
Take care!!

[SusanD]

Yikes, Serena ! Glad you went in and glad they were able to take good care of you. The one thing about being a PPCM patient is you usually get the best care there !

Hope your recovery continues to go smoothly. If the pain gets to be too much, ask your Dr. for some anti-nausea meds so you can tolerate the pain meds.

[melissamph]

Oh wonderful on your EF! Congrats!

[mikeyandBellesmommy]

I am so glad your ef has improved, that stinks about the gallbladder I know that is painful!

REST REST REST and take care of yourself!!!!

[carrob]

Wow Serena!!!! I'm glad everything went well and I'm especially glad to hear about your EF !!!!!!! After I had my gall bladder removed......I didn't realize how long I had felt bad. I never had any symptoms. Just recurring back pain. But, I had been in an auto accident and was under the care of a chiropractor. He ACTUALLY figured out it was my gall bladder and not other injuries!!!!

Take care of yourself. You will probably feel like you did about 1000 situps for a couple of days!!!!

Love ya!!!!

[jmonte]

Serena- So glad to hear you are on the mend! Congrats on the huge increase in EF- That's great news! Take care and take it easy! Julie

[Anny311]

Maybe you can plant it in your garden and it will grow some nice herbs or something. People do that with Placentas all the time.

I am glad you are feeling better and excited about that EF too!

Now you have an excuse never to eat at Permani's (sp?) again!!

Anny

[margaretinva]

Wooo hoo on your EF - RIP to your gall bladder. I had mine out last May - babies are hard on gall bladders too!!!

[Lauren]

Serena, I just wanted to stop by and see how you are feeling? I hope all is well and your recovery is short. Have a great week. Lauren

[SerenaWelsh]

Feeling great. My "holes" still hurt - and I have to be really careful about where I am when I say that.
I can't even call it pain at this point. It's just uncomfortable.

I have a huge bruise on my right wrist from the art line, and a huge bruise on the top of each of my thighs. I'm not sure why those are there. And of course, the bruising on my forearms where they kept missing with the IVs. The central line on my neck didn't bruise, but it is a rather large hole. I look ALOT worse than I feel.

The gas they used to blow me up is starting to go down, so my pants are fitting again. :)

[Mandy's Mom]

Great news about your EF. Hope you have a speedy recovery from surgery. :)

[C.Alyse'sMom]

What were some of the questions that your dr. asked you? Several days before I was diagnosed with PPCM, I had several Xrays done and my GB was "unhappy"as they put it. It was kind of shriveled I guess. I don't know if it was because my heart was enlarged, or due to post preg reasons. That was in Feb., I haven't been back to the PCP. I wonder if the two conditions are related... :confused:

[SerenaWelsh]

Doc said that the two are not related. Pregnancy is apparently really hard on the gallbladder. During all 3 of my pregnancies, I developed something called Cholestasis (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000215.htm). High bile acid levels. The liver makes more bile acid than the gallbladder can store, so it ends up in your blood.... So for me, that was the first sign that the GB might not have been in totally good working order. But once the pregnancies were over, I was fine. All symptoms went away on their own.
Doctor asked if I'd had alot of nausea and vomiting, indigestion, diarrhea, light colored stool, excruciating pain in my right side, or dark colored urine. I didn't have the nausea, indigiestion, or pain.
Follow up before you end up in an emergency situation. Doc did say that a severe infection from the GB could cause worse strain on the heart, and if one ruptures, you've got all kinds of other issues like sepsis to worry about.
Also - and I didn't know this before, either... If you have gallstones, one can travel out of the GB and get lodged in a duct, blocking either the liver or the pancreas, which would wreak havoc on those two organs. You DON'T want that! So get in there to the GP and let them see if your GB has gotten any better since they last looked at it.