A Fistfull of Gall

[bearded]

Dr said my gall bladder looks like a bean bag and was shooting stones everywhere and one got stuck in the pancreas tube. (I am paraphrasing, this is what it sounded like to me.) Apparently this is very deadly, so I am having an adventure! (With lots of pain meds.)
Is this cause of all the fried foods I eat in the south?

[SickAlice]

My we are an unhealthy bunch here aren't we? Best of luck with it and especially I hope the least amount of pain as possible. Cause? Probably all the comic books. My grandmum used to tell me they rot your brain and soul and everyone else told me grams was always right. Explains why I'm sick all the time too, but addiction is a powerful thing.

[spydermann93]

Dr said my gall bladder looks like a bean bag and was shooting stones everywhere and one got stuck in the pancreas tube. (I am paraphrasing, this is what it sounded like to me.) Apparently this is very deadly, so I am having an adventure! (With lots of pain meds.)
Is this cause of all the fried foods I eat in the south?

Careful, Bearded! DaGlob might get jealous that you're developing a pea-shooting superpower.

But in all seriousness, this is terrible news and I wish you the best, Bearded.

Just remember: whenever you're down on hope, we're all here rootin' for ya!

[Uncle Yuan]

Dr said my gall bladder looks like a bean bag and was shooting stones everywhere and one got stuck in the pancreas tube. (I am paraphrasing, this is what it sounded like to me.) Apparently this is very deadly, so I am having an adventure! (With lots of pain meds.)
Is this cause of all the fried foods I eat in the south?

Basically.  The pancreatic duct joins the bile duct right before it drains into the small intestine. If a gall stone is small enough to get down the duct but too big to get through the "valve" at the end a blockage occurs.  Blocking the bile duct is unpleasant, blocking the pancreatic duct is excruciating and dangerous.  The pancreas produces the enzymes we need to digest proteins (among other things) .  But what is the pancreas (and most of our other organs) made out of?  Protein.  Care to guess what happens when a bunch of proteases start spilling out into the belly willy-nilly?  It ain't pretty.

I'm guessing you are going to have an ERCP (where an endoscope is passed through the mouth and stomach to the small intestine where they will partially cut through the sphincter closing the bile duct to allow it to open wider and allow the gall stone to pass through).  This will probably be followed by having your gall bladder removed to prevent this from happening again.  Both are pretty straight forward surgeries and most are done as day surgeries these days.

In any event, good luck and a speedy recovery!

[bearded]

dr juan is excactly right. ow. i have had both procedures now. ouch.
I have re evaluated my idea of the pain scale and what a ten means.

[Outcast]

I can only imagine what you're going through, Bearded.

Hope the procedures will eventually help you get well. Be strong.

[bearded]

Quite an adventure. I have about 2 hp left, and am waiting for my xp. How many hp do I get back for this magic hydrocodone?

[stumpy]

Just keep in mind that the hydrocodone is providing only temporary hit points. (Some might say illusory.) So, don't rely too much on them. ;-)

Seriously, I'm glad that your procedure went well.

BTW:

Is this cause of all the fried foods I eat in the south?

LOL. Yes. Just move North and you can eat all the fried foods you want! 

[hoss20]

I had my gall bladder removed over a decade ago and I've never really had any "gastrointestinal distress" when eating fried foods, gravy, or anything high in fat. I had a friend, though, who had his gall bladder removed before I did and he mentioned that he had to watch himself and eat those things in moderation. So, like most things, it depends on the individual. I live in Texas, by the way, so I'm fortunate not to have had any real adverse issues.

I'm glad you got through this, Bearded. Remember, each day of full bed rest will allow you to regenerate hit points. As far as when you gain your XP (in the hospital or when you get back home) will be up to the big "DM in the sky", I guess.

[thalaw2]

I do the apple juice cleanse every year because I'm afraid of stones.  They don't sound fun.

FYI:  This year's cleanse starts Monday.

[daglob]

Here's hoping everything gets better.

Bill

[bearded]

Yes sir Mr. Glob. I can't wait to get out of this hospital and work on that project.

[Epimethee]

...Ouch. Wishing you a speedy recovery Bearded.

As for the XP, no worry: after that boss battle, you've gained a couple of levels, at the very least.

[bearded]

thanks you guys are the best. getting out of hospital today. everything looks good, I am just moving very slow. while I was on the strong pain meds I had some innovative ideas for meshes, hope to work on those soon. and I don't want to put daglob on the spot but we have a neat mesh/skin we are working on.

[bearded]

It was supposed to be a simple procedure/minor surgery, but there was infection complications so they had to butcher me. I mean that in a good way. Have you ever seen a chameleon in a documentary? that is how I move now. Mending however. Also, when they said my pancreas being blocked was deadly, they meant in the bad diabetes sort of way, not the immediate lightning strikes sort of way. I think. Still not sure about that. Uncle Yuan explained everything better than when I was at the hospital, but that might be cause I was panicky there.
I didn't mean "put daglob on the spot" as anything more than I hope he doesn't mind me posting some pics. I'm going to skin-bash some and post some more.

[Glitch Girl]

Wow, glad you're doing better bearded.  So many bad gallbadders lately... maybe something in the water?

Take it easy and heal up dude. 

[DrMike2000]

That's the most entertaining description of a painful medical condition I've seen all year, bearded!

Hope it's all plain sailing from here, and a speedy recovery.

[BentonGrey]

Doc is right, that's a great description of the whole adventure, Bearded.  Ha, I'm glad you're doing better man, and it's better to move like a chameleon than not at all!  I hope you'll heal quickly and completely.  We'll keep you in our prayers man.

'Zen and the art of Freedom Force.'  There's a trendy book in there somewhere.

[SickAlice]

Cool to hear your fighting the good fight. Walking funny. But able to move about right, that's something. You know simpleton advice to someone I think is anything but but take it easy and plenty of rest.

[WyldFyre]

Glad to see you are on the mend Bearded.  Hope your recovery is speedy and as painless as possible.

[abenavides]

Speedy recovery Bill!