The ER Visit
After the eighth day of constant searing stomach pain, I finally broke down and went to the ER. I was there from about 5:30pm to 1:00am. They took two vials of blood and offered me a morphine shot, which I turned down. Sure, I’m curious about it, but I wanted to be fully cognizant of everything they were doing and (hopefully) be able to go home afterwards. Also, narcotics make me fairly nauseous and considering I was there for stomach issues, I thought there was no need to risk further complicating things. I spent a long time laying there, watching tv- one episode of Plain Jane and two episodes of South Park. When someone finally reappeared, I got to pee in a cup. They then gave me anti-nausea meds and I drank Contrast before getting a cat scan.
Diagnosis: Gallstones. Treatment: Follow-up ultrasound in a week or two to determine whether I need my gallbladder removed via laparoscopic surgery. Cost: Astronomical for someone that is uninsured and lives paycheck to paycheck.
Although my blood pressure was kinda high (140/60) and my urine sample white cell count was high, my metabolic panel didn’t show anything unusual. Most importantly, liver function was normal, which means the gallstones aren’t blocking anything, so surgery may not be mandatory. I was running a fever of 100.4 though, which normally indicates an infection, however there was no visible evidence of infection/inflammation of my gallbladder (yet), so that’s a bit odd. They went ahead and gave me an antibiotic (Cipro) as a precaution and Lortab for pain. [Note: Surprisingly, Kroger beat out Walmart on the prescription prices by a little over a buck.] The doc suggested I try a liquid only diet if I can stand it, or at least low-fat until the pain gets better.
Today is my first day back to work. I’m feeling scared, relieved, angry, sore, tired and little bit sorry for myself. :P
Edited: September 1st, 2010