What a Night

So, the last 24 hours have been LONG for me. Started last night with a volleyball pool party, which was fun. I took AJ with me and he had a big time swimming with the girls. I'll download pics of that onto the computer and post them later tonight.
Went home, played with AJ for awhile, had a backache and my ribs were hurting from laying on the floor with AJ. Just thought I was sore from volleyball or something and I went to bed.

2 AM I wake up unable to sleep because of blinding pain in my right side and back. Oh crap. Been there, done that - my gall bladder is acting up again. Woke Steve up, decided to drive myself to the hospital, so the boys could stay home in their own beds.

Upon arrival at the hospital, I notice there's about 12 other people in the waiting room, and I sign myself in - 2:10 a.m. And wait. And wait. And wait. Ok...so it was only about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes is an ETERNITY when you're sitting in a hospital chair writhing in pain. The triage nurse calls me in, takes my vitals, asks what's wrong, etc. etc. What's your pain on a scale of 1 to 10? she asks. "8" I reply, thinking that she would feel compassionate and hussle me along to an actual doctor. No such luck. She tells me to go have a seat again and wait for the administration people to call me up. More waiting....more writhing.....the administration people call me up to get my social security, number, address, and name of my firstborn child so they can seize him if i don't pay my bill. I'm VERY uncomfortable at this point, squirming in my chair with frequent grimacing - admin person says, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm great - it's 2:47 a.m. and I'm in serious pain as my gall bladder explodes and you people are more concerned with getting my credit card number than getting me some Vicodin."
Okay, I actually just said, "no" but that's what I WANTED to say. We finish up and she tells me to yet...go wait AGAIN and "someone should be with you soon". Another 10 minutes go by...another female about my age stumbles in the door clutching her left side (apendix - I diagnose in my head). I give her a sympathetic look as I realize that she has no idea she's in for the long haul. At this point I'm wondering if there's a black market doctor somewhere in the downtown vicinity that could suck my gall bladder out through my bellybutton in the next 20 minutes. Doesn't the word EMERGENCY Room suggest urgency?

Finally, my name is called and I go through the whole bit....I'm handed the gown that opens in the back (so glad I had cute underwear on), which effectively renders me FREEZING in addition to being in great pain. I lay in the hospital bed, cold, writhing, wishing I had brought a book or something with me. Who knew? I consider faking a seizure so I can get some more prompt attention, but decide to tough it out. Nurse David comes in and takes about 5 viles of blood and proceeds to hand me a cup and tell me the bathroom is down the hall. At this point I don't care as I shuffle down the hallway in my sexy gown and obediently fill the cup.

At 3:57 I see a doctor. I know because I checked my cell phone for the time because hospitals wisely do not put clocks in their examination rooms because they know it would further aggravate people to watch the clock tic by minute after painful minute. He is in the room with me for a total of 37 seconds and tells me with a grand diagnosis, "sounds like gallstones"
No duh, Sherlock. I guess I just had to wait for an official DOCTOR to tell me that. They send me off to ultrasound to be sure. Ultrasound tech tells me that I have a "HUGE" one in there, blocking everything up. She explains....(I wish I had seen HER instead of the doctor - much more informative):

Your gall bladder is full of enzymes that help break down your food when you eat. But mine has 3 stones in it, that is now blocking the exit for the enzymes, and causing inflammation and thus...pain. Here's a diagram:

The diagnosis: get it removed or have it get inflammed, spread infection to your other organs and kill you. Ok..that would be extreme, but bottom line is I have to get this removed in the next couple of weeks.
So that was my night. They sent me home (at 7:17 a.m.) with some Vicodin and the name of a surgeon and I'll probably have to get this surgery done in the next week. *sigh* How inconvenient. I've got a lot going on right now. Here's a toast to inconvenient bodily malfunctions!