Me vs my Gallbladder - so far I am losing:(

In mid-February I had my first "attack".  I had no idea what it was!  All I knew was I wanted to curl up into a ball until it went away.  Unfortunately, that wasn't an option.  I had two of my three kids, and had to take one of them to a birthday party.  The pain subsided after about 5 hours (or I got used to it!).

The next day, the same thing happened, this time the pain was later in the evening and lasted well past my bedtime.  I tried Tylenol and hot water bottles, but this didn't help.

Then a week later, it happened again.  This was getting annoying.  But after some googling, I found out that it was probably my gallbladder so I tried to avoid the foods that cause the attacks.  Then for the next week, everything was better.  I didn't have an "attack".

Then the pain started, but I wouldn't call it an "attack" it was more like a dull pain in that area that never went away.  The pain was somewhat manageable  although I would rather be curled up in a ball, I was able to work and take care of the kids like normal.  This went on for a week before I went to the doctor.  I really dislike the time it takes to be at the doctor's office.  This is time I could be spending at home with my family.  Also I usually have only small windows of available time while the Husband is at home, otherwise I have to take all the kids with me!  That is definitely not a fun time.

The doctor sent me for an ultrasound, and basically confirmed what I had googled.  I spent nearly three hours at the walk in clinic waiting to see the doctor.   Three hours!  Wow!  I arrived home hungry and tired at 10pm that night.  The doctor told me if my symptoms worsened or I got a fever or vomiting I was to go straight to the hospital.  She also told me to not eat any fat.  Ok....really? No fat? How is that possible?  I turned to Google, and searched for 'Gallbladder diets'.  I didn't like what I found.

• Eggs this sucks, because eggs are my saturday morning treat
• Pork - OK we eat this once a week
• Onions - don't like onions anyway, so good riddance!
• Fowl (turkey, chicken) - we eat a lot of chicken, this is bad!
• Dairy (milk, cheese, cream) - I love cheese and yogurt!
• Gluten (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, etc.) - Bread...really?  It's hard to make a sandwich!
• Corn - we eat corn, the kids like it!
• Coffee - I don`t really care what organ it is hurting, I NEED COFFEE
• Oranges, grapefruit - I like orange juice, so again, this sucks!
• Nuts - not a big deal, unless I was a squirrel or a bird
• Trans fats, Hydrogenated, partially-hydrogenated oils - hmmm....this is in a lot of food, but not really good for you anyway, my guess is the next one on the list should be here too!
• Margarine
• Fried Foods - Obviously. I will do better!
• Saturated fats(even coconut oil until feeling better) - again, not good for me anyway! 
• Red meats - I like steak a couple times a month....boo!
• Spicy foods - I`m not really a spicy food person, so this is OK
• Chocolate - hello!  Just shoot me now.
• Ice cream - It is March in Canada, not really ice cream time, but if this hangs on until July I might feel differently!
• Black tea - I am not a tea person, so I can cut this out.
• Alcohol, beer, wine, liqueur - I have three kids, I need the wine!
• Fruit juice - apple juice is one of my favourite drinks, even as a grown-up!
• Carbonated water - OK I can pass on the Perrier for a while
• Tap water - can`t live without this!
• Turnips - any excuse not to cook turnips is a good one in my books!
• Cabbage, cauliflower - I like coleslaw and I like cauliflower, so this hurts a bit
• Colas and all sodas - I love my Coke Zero....
• Oats (for some people) - let`s just believe that I`m not `some people`

What foods are left?  How am I supposed to bring my lunch to work?  Surely there is nothing in the food court that I can purchase for lunch.  I tried this diet for about one day.  I was starving!  So I decided to think back at what the triggers were for my "attacks":  Hamburgers with bacon and french fries, although delicious, are probably responsible for attack one and two.  I am thinking the second one was due to pasta with Alfredo sauce and mushrooms.  I haven't had either of those meals since.

Yesterday I had my ultrasound and it hurt.  Then the doctor called me to come in and get the results.  I had to do what I hate....go to the walk-in clinic with three kids and no snacks!  The receptionist promised to put me right in, I said I couldn't come otherwise. It was a torturous half hour.  The Toddler cried, the older ones couldn't sit still and I got to see the doctor.  The doctor gave me some pain pills and a referral to the surgeon.

This morning I felt great after a good night's sleep with the pain pills!  I also got an appointment with the specialist for tomorrow night!  Wow! Things are looking promising.

February 23, 2013 - Family Wedding

Today my niece got married.  Wow!  I feel really old now.  It was a lovely day, the bride looked beautiful and happy.  I don't really know the groom too much, but hopefully we will all get to know him at upcoming family functions.

The Girl and the Boy were in the wedding party.  The Girl was a flower girl and the Boy was the ring bearer.  After the wedding the Boy proclaimed that being a ring bearer was the most important job he'd ever had!  I was really proud of both of them.  They smiled when they were asked and behaved themselves at every moment.  People complemented our well-behaved children.  The Boy looked so grown up in his tuxedo, he definitely looked older than eight.  The Girl got her hair done and she was so good, she sat still for over an hour while they curled her hair.  We got her hair done at the Manewave.  Hopefully she will be able to wear her flower girl dress for her first communion next year, the dress was very pretty and she loved it.  She told me that she liked the way the shoes sounded when she walked.  I vaguely remember liking that as a child too, she said her shoes sounded like tap shoes.


The Toddler was semi-well-behaved.  He pretty much acted like a 17 month old child.  Which is all I could really expect from him.  He was happy and spent a lot of time wandering around the hall with various family members.  He ate some dinner, drank some milk and refused to go to sleep (even with his soo-soo!).  He looked adorable in his outfits.  He had the cutest vest and pants outfit that he wore to the church, then he did a wardrobe change before the reception, and put on an elegant suit that was complete with jacket, vest, tie, pants and even a little handkerchief in the pocket.



Everyone was asleep within a half hour of arriving home.  Even the Husband and I were too exhausted to even watch TV!