I finally made it to the gastro doctor. I’ve actually been
treated by him before, but wouldn’t have been able to pick him out of a lineup
if my life depended on it.
My previous encounters with him were for a colonoscopy. It must be a relief for him to see his patients’ faces once in a while.
My previous encounters with him were for a colonoscopy. It must be a relief for him to see his patients’ faces once in a while.
He’s one of
the best in his field around here and a busy, busy man. I of course had the
AMA-required 20 minute wait past my appointment time in the waiting room, then
was ushered into an examining room. After about 10 minutes there, I heard him
introduce himself to the patient next door and thought, “Aha! He’ll
But then, how
often are we given such a gift.
Time to just sit.
And stare blankly at the wall
across from you.
It can get very Zen.
He did finally sweep in at top
speed, but to his credit he sat and answered all my questions and carefully
went over my records. Everyone is still up in the air as to why my pancreas
decided to have a panic attack and send me to the hospital for four days. I
might have another attack or I might not.
I guess I thought he’d send me for
more tests, wave shiny reports, drop a lot of medical terms, and then tell me
what I should do.
Instead, he put the two options
before me:
Wait to see if it happens again
Or have my gallbladder out.
That simple.
It's up to me.
Addendum - Opinions from the comment section are pretty much all in favor of waiting. I probably should have added that another attack would mean another surprise trip to the ER and several hours of non-stop excruciating pain. Think childbirth without the blessed breather in between contractions. Can you see which direction I'm leaning?
Addendum - Opinions from the comment section are pretty much all in favor of waiting. I probably should have added that another attack would mean another surprise trip to the ER and several hours of non-stop excruciating pain. Think childbirth without the blessed breather in between contractions. Can you see which direction I'm leaning?
if it was your pancreas why take out the gallbladder? and I always take a book with me when I have a doctor's appt.
ReplyDeleteThat would be an easy one for me: wait and see. But I'm curious what you think. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've at least learned a bit more about anatomy through this: The gallbladder and pancreas share a bile duct (flawed design if you ask me) and so if you have a gallstone it will block the pancreas' ability to offload whatever the heck it is that it offloads. (As you can see, my anatomical knowledge only goes so far.)
ReplyDeleteI had that choice once. I let it slide. I'll be interested to know what you decide.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your above comment, there are, apparently, many flaws in our design.
ReplyDeleteI too would adopt the wait and see approach.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we do indeed show the signs of a rushed design job.
If you had a blocked duct it was very painful and will most likely happen again...then they will probably have you wait until you feel better to take out your gallbladder. Even after you have your gallbladder out you can get pancretitis...it happened to my brother after his gallbladder was removed...then he had to have another surgery...the Doc said he too long to have his gallbladder out. Usually it is a simple laproscopic surgery, I felt so much better after mine was removed:) Just my opinion:)
ReplyDeleteThanks. Good to hear from a veteran!
DeleteAnd yes, always bring a book you love, to any meeting with a doctor. Never start a new one, it's too damned hard to concentrate.
DeleteLong wait time under those circumstances are not nice.
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't deal with pain very well and would probably want to go ahead and do whatever it takes. What Far Side said makes a lot of sense. Sure is hard to know what to do, isn't it? Wish you the very best.
ReplyDeleteI'd say only you can make that decision, because only you know what it's like to experience the symptoms! I'm sure gallbladder surgery, like most surgeries, is much easier these days than it used to be.
ReplyDeleteI see which way you are leaning, but if you have the gall bladder out and then have another attack, does that mean the gall bladder was okay and should have stayed? If only we could unzip ourselves and ask "how you doing in there? everyone okay?" I would have thought a few tests were in order, blood test, ultrasound, just to check everything is looking and working as it should.
ReplyDeleteMy inclination, what with surgeries being what they are these days, to go ahead and have the damn thing removed. Two years ago I had a wonky hyperparathyroid thing going on, and had a parathyroidectomy. Very little pain, the IV was the most painful part of it all, and I went home that afternnon.
ReplyDeleteAt least you will never have to worry about gallstones. There is that.