Last Monday morning, the day after my first 5K, I woke up with intense chest pain. "Heart attack?" I wondered but then noticed it was on my right side and radiating into my shoulder blade in the back. "Oh, gallbladder," I thought.
Gallbladder problems are common after weight-loss surgery; rapid weight loss can lead to formation of gallstones. My surgeon prescribed medication to protect my gallbladder after surgery, but I was 99.9% sure I'd had a gallbladder attack. I called my bariatric nurse, who had me schedule an ultrasound and a follow-up appointment with my surgeon.
At noon Monday, I met with my new trainer, Bobby. What an awkward start, with me far from 100%, but I showed up and we mostly talked. I slept all afternoon. Tuesday morning started fine, but rapidly deteriorated as I had a fever and became more and more nauseated. I slept all day Tuesday.
Wednesday I was okay and returned to work. Thursday morning I headed into Boston to my hospital. The ultrasound showed no gallstones — and I was shocked; I was sure I'd had a gallbladder attack. What else could that pain have been? My surgeon is stumped. He ordered blood work, which all looks normal. If I have more attacks, he'll order more tests — a HIDA scan to check the gallbladder's function — but for the moment, we're chalking it up to one of those things we don't understand. Frustrating.
The good news in all of this is that they did an ultrasound of my entire abdomen, not just my gallbladder. All my organs look great— including my liver, which before surgery was fatty. Now, 84 pounds later, there's no sign of fatty liver. My surgeon was thrilled, and I love that there's concrete proof of my improved health.
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