The Alien Within

I have had back pain for years.  I figured it was a slipped disk, something most people have.  However, I now blog from the Catholic Memorial Hospital of Chattanooga.  It seems like I have had an enemy/ alien within myself.  This entity is also known as my gall bladder.  I had horrible muscle spasms for three days, and went to the walk-in clinic.  Who then sent me to the urgent care clinic.  And they sent me to the emergency room.  They said I had muscle spasms, and gave me muscle relaxers.  I then checked in with a regular doctor two days later.  He ordered an echo-gram on me, and they found lots of gall stones.

One of the gall stones was 2.2 cm long.  There were also lots of little ones.  He wanted to send me into surgery immediately.  Well, it ended up being agreed upon that my Dad would come up here to Chattanooga, and then I would be admitted to the hospital.  It seems my white blood cell count was twice what it should have been at 13,000 units.  So I was given lots of antibiotics. 

The doctor then went to perform a routine gall bladder removal.  It was not to be.  He had to cut me open since my gall bladder was "dead and gange-green."  It was also calcified the size of a golf ball.  And let's be honest, doctor's know their golf balls.  The operation ended up taking five hours long instead of one hour. 

So here I sit in lots of pain.  This should have been simple, but with my luck, I should have known it was not going to be simple.  When I woke up, I remember asking the doctor, "What went wrong?"  I knew something wasn't right.  I was in a lot of pain, and I think my internal clock knew something was off.  He was trying to be reassuring, but Dad ended up filling me in on what happened.

This is going to make my recovery take a long time.  Normally they go in through the belly button so there isn't too much to cut through.  But with me, well, let's just say I am now part of the zipper club.  I believe I am going to be out of work for two months. 

But there are a few things I have learned about hospitals. 

1. Nurses can be nice, but they can also be very, very evil. 
2. Also nothing here is sacred/ private/ or too personal. 
3. Dad can not shut up about all my "personal" things to the nurses and family members.  If I had the strength, I would have choked him a few times.
4.  This hospital does not let me have access to Facebook.  I need to play Frontierville.  I get angry if I don't get to play it.
5.  Liquid diets suck, but they beat the alternative. 
6.  Nurses have a sick sense of humor. 

So that's all I can think of for the time being.  I'll keep posting, cause let's face it, I have nothing else to do.