The support from y'all has been more than amazing. I've gotten phone calls, emails, and comments; it really helps to know that I'm not alone. And I'm not. I know I'm not. But this whole having a disease thing gets me. I've always been so healthy, so on the way to the ER I had no idea WHAT to expect. My Mom took me - being as Q was at work - and did some CRAZY driving. When I told her to slow down her response was, "let them pull me over; we'll get to the hospital faster." Q left work early to come meet us in the ER, and he made it in RECORD time. He didn't volunteer his speed and I didn't ask. Thank you Jesus for taking care of us all. And I believe it.
We could see the hospital. Mom was on the phone with Q. And I was puking into one of Gooner's blankets that I had absconded from the back seat. Dad was home with Gooner putting her to bed BY HIMSELF. It was a night to remember and one I will never forget. It was one of those days where families bond tighter together and you remember not to take life for granted. My Mom held my hand until Q arrived and then she passed the baton to my husband and I've never been happier that I married the man I did.
The Drs and nurses told me that I had acid reflux. I knew I didn't. But what is the use arguing with them? So I drank the nasty stuff and a nurse put all kinds of drugs in my IV and then left. She left! Q held my hand as I writhed around on the bed in terrible pain. My tongue was numb, my throat was numb and I STILL felt like vomiting. It. Was. Awful. And Q stuck by me, I never doubted him, but he was my rock when I needed him most. And so he got a nurse.
Apparently, I did NOT have acid reflux and certain levels of what nots where high, so I had an ultrasound. And after that they gave me something that blissfully knocked me out.
And then, the news. News that might not be a big deal to YOU, but it is to me AND my family. Gall bladder stones. For the rest of my life I need to have an altered diet of about 25 grams of fat. One avocado has about 30 grams of fat. Folks, this means no corn, chocolate, coffee, onion, black tea, white flour, nuts, red meat, eggs, cheese... Are you getting the picture? I can have some of them sparingly. Sparingly! I have a whole list of things I CAN eat. I mean I can STILL eat wheat bread - PRAISE THE LORD - and butter. But what about corn on the cob, and rotisserie chicken!? And I didn't blog this, because I couldn't. I wasn't ready to fully accept that this IS my life. To be honest, it is a grieving process.
Will I always be THAT girl? The girl who you invite over to dinner and then realize you don't know what to cook. And Q and I are going camping this weekend and what am I supposed to eat? I can't eat trail mix or hamburgers. So try not to judge too harshly while I mourn never eating Doritos again. It could be so much worse and I'm incredibly thankful that it isn't, but it still is something that I need to digest.
As for my small pear shaped gall bladder; we meet with the surgeon to see if it needs removed. I don't want it removed until we've given this new diet a try AND I'm done nursing. This last bout was killer! Breast feeding while puking is rough. Not being able to breast feeding while drugged up, was difficult as well.
So folks, the diet DOES last forever. Unless I want to regularly puke and have butt searing diarrhea...which I don't. I'm actually getting a little excited. We CAN eat cold water fish, sweet potatoes, rice, garlic and a whole bunch of other stuff. Yummy stuff. Healthy stuff. And truly the pain was so intense that I don't even crave it. The problems I am encountering include menu planning and staring at a full cupboard wondering what on earth I can have. I've had a rough time of it and still am. I only had 1,000 calories today because I just couldn't down enough fruit and rice! I've never truly cared about making something low fat, but it is time to start! So, I may blog about this journey as well. Perhaps I will blog some recipes. My menu planning might look different from yours, but I bet I can cook up something equally tasty.
Thanks for praying y'alls.
Working Out 365: I've been working out, but am WAY behind on posting all about it...
Day 91: Run 3.8 miles
Day 92: Walk 2 miles
Day 93: Run 2.5 miles
Day 94: Rest
Day 95: Run 3.1 miles
Day 96: 30 minute abs
Day 97: Ab workout
Day 98: Run 3 miles
Day 99: Lt. Walking
Day 100: Rest
Day 101: Run 3 miles
Day 102: Lt. walking and 55 minutes of cardio
Day 103: Run 2.5 miles and 25 minute upper body work
Day 104: Walk 1.5 miles
Day 105: 3 miles run
Day 106: 55 minutes of cardio
Day 107: Rung 2.3 miles
Day 108: Walk 6 miles
Day 109: Run...not sure how far
Day 110: Ab workout
Day 111: Rest
Day 112: 30 minute abs
Day 113: 30 minutes of lower body and 20 of upper body work
Day 114: 30 minute abs
Day 115: Lt. Walking
Day 116: Elliptical and triceps
Day 117: Walk 5 miles
Day 118: 30 minute abs
And folks, THAT gets us through the month of February...
21 comments:
Oh girl - I know 2nd hand how bad all of that is. Back in 2007, my husband had a battle of the gall stones. It was awful. He literally almost died due to the fact that one of the stones blocked his bile duct, causing bile to back up and his liver to get infected...and him turning yellow. Seriously, they did so many procedures on the poor guy - it was awful and I thought that I would lose him. But, finally, they removed the stones and the gall bladder itself.
Now, they told us all about the diet and what he could and couldn't eat... I'm gonna tell you what we've learned and it might be different for you. We've learned that if you want to eat something horribly fattening (like Mexican food), do so, but only if you're close by to a bathroom - because you're gonna be unsure how your body will react. I hope that makes sense.
Short and sweet - my husband has no gall bladder. He eats what he wants - his diet didn't change. He hasn't had any problems with getting sick or diarrhea. Actually, let me take that back, he does get diarrhea occasionally but its usually after he eats tons of Taco Bueno.
So, after your gall bladder is out - try things. Try eating the things you love. You might just be able to handle them. We know several people in our family who had their gall bladders removed due to stones and they pretty much eat whatever they want (and trust me, they're not healthy eaters). So, don't be scared to atleast try if you want.
So glad that they know what is wrong!! Let us know if/when they remove it!
Yikes, that sounds scary. And just reminds me why I want to move back to my awful town back in NY. Because my family is there! You are so lucky to have had them at your side when you needed them the most.
So sorry you are having to go through this. Sorry about the pain.
Aww man! That stinks. I'm sorry...but at the same time so thankful it can be fixed with a proper diet and it's not something worse. Thinking of you. xoxo
Thanks for sharing... Wade and I have been wondering, and you bet Wade was super interested in hearing what was wrong so he could pretend to be a doctor ;)
Hope you are starting to feel a little better dear and sorry to hear about the frightening experience. I will continue to be praying for you. Let us know if you will need surgery.
And hey, I guess God had it all planned out with you not coming down to my shower, He knew you would be needing your family. Love you!
I am sorry you are in so much pain! I had trouble while pregnant with LD. Mine was not as bad as yours. I am so sorry.
I have some big goals for weightloss and so I am actually going to start menu planning with a very different menu. So it will be good to get some ideas from your blog and maybe my blog will give you some ideas too.
I have been thinking about you the last two days!! So worried about you. It is no fun being so miserable and it must have been pretty scary. i am glad you have such an incredible family!
Girl, that just really stinks. I know you know that, but man. I'm SO glad they caught it early, though. My Mom's friend just went through this, and had her gall bladder removed. While I'm going to pray for a complete and total healing, I'll also pray that God gives the Dr's wisdom for the best route for you!!!
Weird....a good friend of ours just found out he had the same thing and opted to get his gall bladder removed yesterday. He heard horror stories about diarrhea too, but the doctors promised it's not always true. My mom and MIL both had theirs out and had no issues what-so-ever.
Hope the diet works for you!
I'm so sorry you are going through this! I love that you found something positive to hang onto - all the good foods you CAN eat. But I can see how the restricted diet would be soooo hard.
Thinking of you and your family!
I'm sorry, friend! That is so hard...I'll be praying for you!!!
Glad you are ok...
Wow, so glad they figured out what was actually causing you pain. It sounds awful. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this...Prayers for you and you family as you adjust your menus and way of life. Take care!
Aww sweetie! Poor thing. I know that really sucks about the diet. But I am glad they found out what the problem was. I hope you get to feeling better real soon. Take care of yourself :)
Oh La. I'm so so sorry to hear this. What a time of strength and bonding for you family, but absolutely atrocious for you! I'm so sorry again. What pain it must have been.
I will mourn your losses for you. As a fellow healthy eater who eats because it tastes good, I can't imagine such a restricted diet.
I'm excited that you're preparing to take this challenge on though and I hope that you can eat more than rice and fruit quickly by meal planning.
Praying for you girl.
ps. What a champ for Gooner you are!
I'll be praying for you. It could be worse, but it's all relative to you, so it's bad enough.
I really hope you start to feel better. I remember grieving the loss of food when I got gestational diabetes with martin. It was only for a short time, but I remember it so clearly. Good luck and keep up the good work with your work outs!
that is crazy. I feel your pain about being that girl! I have 1500 million allergies and I am the annoying one when it comes to coordinating dinner with family and friends or going to restraunts! I really did mourn when I found out my allergies...I completely understand...It totally changes so much in your life
Whoa, I'm glad you are feeling better now! That sounds horrible :( And I'm not gonna lie, that is a major adjustment. But you know what? From what it sounds like, you are a very strong person with some serious will power (I mean, hello, you work out every day! Go you!), so I am sure after the initial weird adjustment you will be just fine. You'll find what works for you and work your way around what you can/can't eat. In the meantime, take it easy!
Hang in there girl! Things always work out. And always know that your blogger friends are here for you!!
You'll ge through this. Just be thankful they found out the problem now and can do something to fix it. Hang in there!
I had to deal with a "mystery diagnosis" as the doctors called it two years ago and it was an excrutiating time, but God's grace was enough. It was just so hard not knowing what was wrong because they did EVERY single test available, which all came back negative.
As someone who really loves food, I don't think you're being silly at all. That's a huge adjustment and it's hard not to focus on all the things you CAN'T eat, instead of thinking of all the yummy things that you still CAN eat. I'm just happy that you know what's going on and hopefully you'll start to feel better soon. And, hey, a healthy diet, while painful in other ways :) will definitely have some amazingly positive impacts on your body that I'm sure I'll be jealous of really soon! :)
Holy cow! I'm waaay behind on all my blog reading - so sorry I'm just getting to this now! We'll be praying that all goes smoothly and you'll find amazing recipes to make your diet more appealing=). Miss you!
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