Two weeks ago, I started to feel excruciating pain after being sick for 4 days straight. What I thought was the flu, turned into terrible, unbearable lower abdominal pain. I went to the doctor in the morning, who told me they weren't sure what was wrong, gave me a shot for the pain and sent me home. The pain came back even worse than it had been that morning and I found myself in the E.R. at Kaiser. What scared me the most is the fact that I had been to the E.R. some two years before for terrible abdominal pain and the E.R. had shrugged it off as "a stomach ache." Last time, I waited 4 hours in the waiting room before being admitted. This time, I was taken right away (probably because I was having trouble standing at that point). I won't lie, I was in the most pain I've ever been in - in all of my short 23 years of living. While the doctor still didn't know what was wrong with me this time, he did offer to do a CAT scan. It's not something they like to do unnecessarily, especially on young people, but after the morphine wore off and the pain came back as strong as ever, they decided to give it a shot. What they found was fluid and irritation around my gallbladder and other evidence that my liver too was suffering. They sent me for an ultrasound and discovered that I had gallstones. One (according to the doctor) was at least half an inch in size (apparently that's a pretty good-sized gallstone). The doctor said that he recommended removing the gallbladder entirely, or risk being in pain longer and the gallstones either not passing or simply coming back. I opted to have it removed. My grandfather left me at the E.R. to pick up my mother, who flew down to stay with me while I had my surgery and stayed in the hospital. The surgery was about an hour and a half (if I remember correctly) and went fine. It's not a risky procedure but it is pretty unusual for someone my age to have gallstones or gallbladder removal. The whole producer was fairly uncomfortable, but I will say that I was on drugs for most of it so I can only say it could have been far worse. Morphine is my friend (my friend who makes me nauseous).
I'm extremely grateful to the doctors AND nurses who were so kind to me. While it was not a difficult surgery it was still scary for me and I'm glad that I had so many people around me to help me get through it as painlessly as possible. It's a humbling experience that not only makes me realize how fragile my life is, but how lucky I am. I got health insurance just a month ago. I never would have been able to afford these expenses otherwise. I don't think it's a coincidence. I have a loving family who did everything they could to be there for me. My Father, Sister, Grandmother, and even Godmother all called me to say that they loved me and everything was going to be ok. My Mom flew down from Placerville and stayed with me for several days even when I got out of the hospital. Many of my friends from rugby and band and everywhere posted on my Facebook to show their support. My friends from work at the Symphony had flowers and a card delivered to my apartment. I am so privileged to know the people I know. I feel blessed by my God. I wasn't alone.
I also noticed how much I've grown in just the past couple of years. If this had happened to me just a few years ago, I would have flipped out. It's true that I was scared and nervous, but when I found out I had to have surgery I was far less afraid then 20 year old Alana would have been. I believe God really does give us the ability to evolve. I have grown and become stronger. Sometimes I'm not always sure people change for the better but for this event in my life, it was definitely for the better. I was able to handle myself pretty well and act like an adult (and I maintain that I acted like an adult even though I cried after my Mom went home - adults cry too ok!).
I thank the higher being today that I was not only so taken care of, but that I was able to see how much I've grown in this life.
