Gallbladder!

This was my view on Easter morning. I woke up around 3am with a firm pressure in my right abdomen under my rib cage, and it wasn't a horrible pain but it was uncomfortable enough that I couldn't sleep. I finally fell back asleep around 7, woke up at 9 with a lingering aura of that annoying pressure, and decided to go get it checked out. This had happened two previous times within the last few weeks, so I wanted to make sure my kidney wasn't going to explode or something. I finally remembered that my mom had had her gallbladder out a few years ago and once I searched the symptoms I knew that's what I was having issues with!

In this age of covid19 it is hard to go anywhere that isn't essential, but I felt like this was urgent enough that I could be seen. I tried to go to the normal urgent care place that we like, but it was completely turned over to coronavirus testing (when I tried to open the front door the receptionist literally put both of her arms out and yelled STOP! and told me to get in my car and call the number posted on their window. So crazy!) They sent me across town to another urgent care. That place said that they didn't have an ultrasound and that's what they need to check for gallbladder issues, so they sent me to the ER. I felt kind of dumb going because my "attack" was over and I wasn't in any pain or anything, but it was Sunday and Austin was home with the kids so if I was going to get this handled, this was the time to do it.

I absolutely HATE hospital blood pressure cuffs. They squeeze SO unnecessarily tight and they do it like every four minutes. The worst. Stockton loves that picture of me haha.

Sure enough, the ultrasound revealed that I had gallstones in my gallbladder, so they recommended surgery ASAP so that it wouldn't get worse and that we could get it taken care of before the virus was supposed to peak in Nebraska. I had an appointment with the surgeon later that week (Dr. Rathje, SUPER nice and down to earth, grateful for him!) and we scheduled surgery for that Monday. I was kind of reeling from the quick turnaround, especially because it didn't feel like a super urgent situation, but like I said, they were trying to handle anything medical as soon as possible in case they had to shut everything down when covid19 peaked.

Emily gave me a ride to the surgery center (thank you, friend!) at 6:30 in the morning and I had to go alone because they weren't allowing companions. (Once again, due to coronavirus. It's changing everything!) This was probably the worst part of the whole experience: I just had to wait in this little pre-op room on the stretcher watching the IV drip for more than an hour before surgery. I brought a book but I was too anxious to read, and I didn't feel like being on my phone, so I literally just laid there like a worried slug. Finally it was time and they wheeled me into the operating room, asked me my name and what surgery I was having, and then I can't believe how fast I fell asleep! It was practically instantaneous. I woke up and my belly button area hurt - they made four incisions for this surgery to remove my gallbladder, and the biggest one was a semicircle under my belly button. That's also where they repaired the umbilical hernia that developed while I was pregnant with Claire, so it was double tender. I was SO groggy and just wanted to lay there forever, but the nurse made me put on a mask, go to the bathroom, and then she called Austin to come pick me up.

I took a good nap that afternoon (I got home around 12) and sat in the chair with a bag of peas as my ice pack on my belly. I wasn't ever in horrible pain, but I moved slow and didn't really want to bend over for a few days. It's been two weeks now and my incisions are mostly healed (they were sealed with glue thankfully so I didn't have to get any stitches removed or anything). I'm not supposed to lift anything for 4 weeks total, and I'm not ready to exercise, but otherwise I feel normal. I'm grateful that it was a pretty easy recovery and that it shouldn't be an issue any more!

Grandma and Grandpa came over the morning after surgery to hang out since Austin had to go to work, and the kids had so much fun with them. I was very grateful for the help!

Grandma took the boys in her car to go get Little Caesars and you would have thought they were getting a million dollars. They were SO excited haha. And Claire found a cozy resting spot and kept going back to it throughout the day. So cute.

Natalie needed some Mommy time so I let her stay up a little later and watch the Disney Family Singalong with me. We had a great time. I love my girl!

Jack enjoyed watching Hercules, finally. I've been trying to get my kids interested in Hercules for years! It's my favorite classic Disney movie.

Doesn't Claire look so sweet with her daddy? 

Natalie brushes Claire's little hairs sometimes and Claire actually really likes it, which is cute.

So, now I am gallbladder-less! Life goes on as normal. : )