Who really needs their gallbladder anyway?
Apparently, I don’t.
I spent Father’s Day and my birthday in hospitals in two states dealing with issues a surgeon told me stemmed from “an angry, gangrenous, pus-filled gallbladder.”
Fun times, right?
My family and I were on vacation in Florida a couple weeks back and I woke up with a painful stomach ache on Father’s Day that was more than just your typical constipation or heartburn. Off to an ER, where pain meds worked for a bit and an ultrasound was inconclusive. We made our flight home that night, thankfully.
I felt OK all last week until waking up early on Friday with the worst pain of my life in my abdomen. Off to ER once again, where another ultrasound showed gallstones and a gallbladder that needed to come out immediately.
Last Saturday morning – Happy 43rd Birthday to me, sheesh – I went under the knife and woke up with a drain on my right side. The surgeon said my gallbladder was “really disgusting.”
I suppose all those years of dousing every food under the sun in Buffalo sauce came back to haunt me.
In any event, I came home Sunday afternoon with a laundry list of instructions, including a new diet that is, gulp, healthy and lacking Buffalo sauce.
Married to a nurse – and a darn great one at that – I have always known that nurses and others in the healthcare field have thankless jobs and are in this job field because they are compassionate and caring souls. The doctors get the glory and accolades, but nurses and aides, especially, the ones who cared for me over the weekend, please take a bow.
These caregivers deal with a lot, from angry and in-pain patients, to agitated family members, to doctors talking down to them, to answering call lights and phone calls, to finding time to breathe and chart. It’s not easy.
This past weekend, I saw all of this firsthand and the care I received was off the charts. I legitimately felt like these ladies cared for me as a person and not the guy who had his gallbladder taken out over in Room 2152.
Thank you for the great care and thank you for choosing the profession that certainly fits you best!
— Matt Mackinder