Gall Bladder Removal Operation is Booked

Gall Bladder Removal

Yesterday was one of those days. It started with a short to-do list of big time-consuming things. I managed to get most of it done hurrah. We then spent a fun hour at my local trampoline park where I got a phone call from my gall bladder consultant’s assistant asking if I could go into hospital on Monday to have the operation to have my gall bladder removed. Okay, wow that’s like 4 days’ notice. I replied to her in a panic, oh I’d better check with my husband…then I thought no Lynn, there will never be a good time just book it in.

Now I am on a mission to reorganise the whole of next week, get practical and not think too much about the fact that I am going into to hospital to have a general anesthetic and part of my body removed.

The Facts

My consultant is a lovely man. I liked him a lot from our original consultation. He was fair and considered and answered my firing squad of 30 questions very well. Before the appointment I wasn’t sure if I should have the operation. I was scared about complications and a potential 6 weeks off work. He assured me that he had done this key-hole operation 600 times and he has only ever had complications with 3 people, I liked that statistic. The complications included being severely overweight, I am alright at the moment;-)

This is the man who will be doing my surgery on Monday. Recovery time is 7 to 10 days. I am hoping for quicker. As after 6 days I want to be going to my personal finance SHOMO awards. I promise to listen to my body and only go if I am feeling up for it, and I certainly won’t be using the tube. I’ll give Uber a go:-)

The Fear

Best to face facts and face the fear. And this maybe sounds irrational but I am scared of going under and dying. So I am thinking ‘OMG I need to call people to let them know I am having an operation, but then my human side of my brain takes over and looks at the facts and the probabilities and realises that this is very unlikely to happen. I did this when I had my C-section that was booked in with 14 hours’ notice. I called my sister and she cried down the phone, I ended up reassuring her that it would be okay, when all the time I was freaking out about dying!

I am truly worried about things going wrong, like being opened up, or losing blood (I have low platelets, ITP, so I could bleed a lot). I worry about needing several week’s recovery time, and not being about to work. If I can’t work I can’t generate income and then I can’t pay the mortgage and I have no insurance for this illness or loss of work/income.

The Reality

The reality is that I will most likely be fine. I can put my last few questions to rest later when I go see the doctors for my pre-op assessment. This will make me feel better.

I need this operation. I have the fear every time I eat something remotely fatty. I have had painful episodes that are unbearable, and I don’t want another situation of 6 hours of pain in a Las Vegas hotel room not knowing what to do. Or 4 hours in A&E being checked out and dosed up with painkillers then sent on my way when the pain subsides.

So many people have told me I will feel better after the operation so I am going for it. I’ll let you know how I feel afterwards. I probably wont be moving much for a few days so I will writing a lot:-)