Emergency Gallbladder Surgery

The weather is changing and the winter germs start to come out of the woodwork. Illness at work was rife and it was inevitable that I was going to catch something. Little did I know that my constant sickness was not due to germ spreading!

From October 8th through to January 18th, I had three kidney infections and a bout of severe sickness. It would start with the symptoms of cystitis and gradually build into a full-blown kidney infection. All three times, I was prescribed antibiotics which seem to clear up the infection for it to return only a few weeks later.

Luckily, I have a generous sickness allowance at work which I quickly exhausted due to these infections. I was not able to work due to the urgency of needing the toilet and the constant pain. The antibiotics worked on the infections but they also caused other health problems which prevented me from leaving my home.

19th January 2019 - 20th January 2019

I was on the tail end of yet another kidney infection. I was also suffering from chest pains which I put down to heartburn/indigestion. The weekend went quickly (as usual) and I prepared to go back to work.

21th January 2019

Woke up in the early hours of Monday morning feeling dreadful. Chest pains were still there. Got out of bed to get a glass of water. As soon as I entered the kitchen, I was hit with a wave of imminent sickness, cold sweats, and a prickly feeling all over. Blank!

I woke up on the kitchen floor. Head pain registered pretty quickly and the blood on my hand confirmed it. Had I fallen over? I don't remember falling over? I just laid there, trying to work out what had happened. I shouted for my hubby, eventually, he woke up and came to my rescue. Hubby helped me off the floor, cleaned my head wound and ushered me back to bed where I promptly broke down in floods of tears. I had collapsed, split my forehead open, discovered a massive egg-shaped lump on the left side of my head/forehead and a skinned right knee. It frightened the life out of me! I have never passed out before, what could have caused it? I was both confused and concerned. I lay awake, sobbing for the next couple of hours.

Hubby insisted that we visit our local A&E and find out what is going on.

Trip to A&E

Within five minutes of arriving at A&E, I had been booked in, seen triage and taken straight round to majors. I explained everything to the doctor from being constantly ill for the last few months to collapsing in the kitchen that morning. A range of tests were ordered. Firstly, I had an ECG due to the worsening chest pains but it came back fine. Next was a chest x-ray which also came back fine. The doctor examined me. Everything was fine and I was in no real discomfort until he asked me to breathe in whilst he pressed my upper right side abdominal area. Well, I went into orbit! The pain was unbelievable! The doctor explained that he thought I might have a problem with my gallbladder. I recall having an ultra-sound years ago which highlighted that there were several stones but it has never caused any problems. Blood was taken as the doctor thought the gallbladder may be infected and would explain the pain and the passing out. By this point, I was doubled up in pain. The doctor explained that it may require surgery and I would need to be transferred to another local (ish) hospital. He said everything rested on the blood results. In the meantime, I was given medication to help relax the neck of the gallbladder in case it was contracting due to a stone blockage. I was also started on IV antibiotics to start tackling the suggested infection and morphine for the pain. The blood results came back pretty quickly and it showed that there was a massive infection. The doctor said that I would need to be transferred to the other hospital.

Now the pain was getting even worse. It got that bad that the doctor had no choice but to administer more pain meds and arrange for an ambulance to take me to the other hospital. The doctor explained that I should expect to be admitted for a few days. Hubby left and went home to sort out our teenage son and to pick up some overnight bits for me. I was so high on pain meds that I was able to travel by ambulance with no panic, no anxiety and no stress at all.

Surgical Assessment Unit

I was booked into the unit and was more or less left alone. Hubby arrived shortly after with my overnight bits and brought our son along for the ride. I cannot remember exactly how long I was in this unit but it was several hours.

Did not have the best experience being on the unit. No observations were taken. No food or water were offered even though other cubicles were offered? When I requested pain medication, I was offered paracetamol!

Eventually, I was taken up to a gynae ward as the surgical ward was full. Got no sleep that night. One of the other women (elderly) was groaning all night! Luckily, I had my tablet and a huge Kindle library!

22nd January 2019

At 10:30 AM, I was seen by the general surgery team and they explained that I would need to have an ultra-sound. I was to be kept on IV pain meds and antibiotics for the foreseeable future. From this point on, I was nil by mouth and seriously craving a coffee! Finally, I was taken for the ultra-sound (sometime late afternoon/early evening). The results were not welcome. It showed a huge mass of stones and clear signs of infection in both the gallbladder and liver. My pancreas and kidneys were also slightly enlarged! I was taken back to the ward and awaited to been seen by the surgical team that evening. Hubby arrived and I told him about the scan. He stayed for a few hours before I told him to go home. There was nothing for him to do except more waiting around. I also told him to go to work tomorrow. There is no point him being off work, wasting his annual leave when he is not allowed on the ward until 3 PM.

A few hours later, I was informed that the surgical team would see me tomorrow morning!

23rd January 2019

Slept a lot better even though I was anxious. I was seen by the surgical team and they explained that surgery was going to be needed and sooner rather than later. I was informed that the surgery would be happening that afternoon from any time after 1:30 PM. We talked through the risks etc and I had to sign a form to say that I would like to go ahead.

I called my hubby and told him that I would like him to come up the hospital. The realisation of having surgery was suddenly dawning on me, I wanted some moral support and a large hand to hold onto.

More blood was taken and I eagerly awaiting a cuddle with my man. I remember looking at the clock and noticing that it was 10:45 AM. I needed some air! I was only outside for a few minutes as it was freezing. As soon as I got back to my bed, I was informed that I needed to be prepped for surgery as I was going up now! Luckily, Hubby turned up 5 minutes later. I only saw him for a matter of a few minutes before being taken up to theatre.

The next thing I can clearly remember is pain, the urgency to pee, and a very dry sore mouth/throat. I had been in surgery for over four hours. I was shocked as I was told it should all be done within an hour. One of the surgical team came to see me a while later and explained that the surgery was tricky! The gallbladder had been removed along with a section of my liver due to the amount of infection. Apparently, I was very lucky as it could have ruptured at any moment!

That night was awful. Lots of pain and discomfort. Lots of pain medication and nausea.

24th January 2019 - 4th March 2019

I was allowed to go home that afternoon. The journey home was very painful and I am now very aware of the amount of potholes there are in the roads. I am also now aware that my hubby thinks he is a rally driver! Ever corner, traffic stop etc was excruciating!

I did not realise the amount of time it was going to take to start recovering. I have never had an operation like this before and thought that I would be a lot better within two weeks. I was very wrong. The first week was so painful. The second week was marginally better. My biggest milestone was being able to wear a bra! By week three, I returned back to work. Week four was still uncomfortable but I was starting to feel more human.

By week five, I was feeling really bloated. My stomach was swollen and it was very tender near my belly button. I had not been given a follow-up appointment so made the decision to visit my GP. My GP was not happy with the amount of swelling and told me that there was a hard lump which she would like the hospital to look at. Went to A & E, blood tests showed a slight infection and another ultra-sound was ordered. The scan showed that there was fluid where my gallbladder was and that this was to be expected due to the difficult surgery. There was also a pocket of fluid near my belly button. I was given a course of antibiotics and told to return if the swelling got any worse.

A week later and I am feeling much better. The antibiotics seemed to have done the trick and the swelling is a lot smaller.

Aftermath

The whole situation was very scary and unexpected. The doctors told me that the ill health I had been suffering from was directly caused by this! I thought I was just susceptible to kidney infections, eaten something which caused heartburn/indigestion and was just generally under the weather. Never in a million years did I think that I would be having surgery to remove an organ! I have since made a lot of dietary changes—I cannot tolerate anything remotely fatty. I have also cut out a lot of meat. Since the surgery, I have lost 20 pounds and still counting. I definitely think that this was a huge wake-up call and made me realise that I need to be more aware of my general health and wellbeing.