Surgery

A personal post... 

I had some stomach pain before Christmas that got very annoying.  I thought I might have had an ulcer.  Went to the doctor between Christmas and New Years and he told me it sounded like my gallbladder.  Scheduled an ultrasound for the first week of January and, lo and behold, a gallstone in the neck of my gallbladder.  Gave me the number of a surgeon whom I saw next week and in two days (Thursday) I get to have surgery.  A little less than a month from start to finish.

Unfortunately, the best treatment for gallstones is to have the gallbladder removed (cholecystectomy).  Ignoring the problem will usually result in the gallstone eventually blocking the bile duct, causing intense pain, and needing emergency surgery (never good).  So, under the knife I go.

I'm a little freaked out because I've never had surgery before (I've been lucky, I guess) and never even had ansesthesia for anything other than novacaine for dental work.  Hopefully, they'll be able to do the operation laparoscopically with relatively small incisions and a quicker healing time (most people go home the same day).

If you have a strong stomach, here's a YouTube video of the procedure.  Can't resist adding this too, it's the first in a series of articles about gallstones from a surgeon's blog.  Wish me luck!