So, I made all these grand proclamations this year. Save more for retirement, work out 5 days a week, lose a bunch of weight, and read more. I did great starting in Feb because I was sick for 3 weeks in January. I worked out 5 days a week on my new stepper. I put more in retirement per month. I read 6 books in one month and started an online book club with a couple of old friends.

Fast forward to the 1st week of March. I started having severe pain that Monday around lunch. It went on until Friday morning when I went to a gastrointestinal doctor, and they sent me to the ER. My stomach was so distended that on the ultrasound, they could see inflammation. After CT scan and many other things, it was clear that it was not gastritis like I was told in November when I had a one day attack of pain, but pancreatitis caused by gallstones.

If you ever feel a punch in your gut that does not go away and is accompanied by throwing up, please go to the doctor immediately. My gastrointestinal doc told me a week later that the hospital should have kept me. Well, they didn’t. So, over the last month of about 3100 dollars in hospital bills and copays, I had surgery 2 days ago for gallbladder removal. I had to go to tons of specialists to clear me, and with my diligence and footwork, I got a month’s worth of appointments and clearances done in 2 weeks.

To keep myself from having more attacks, I cut fat out of my diet almost completely. The night before, I got really sick, I had a steak bowl with avocado. We made it at home with black beans. A very healthy and delicious meal. American medical personnel operate on patching issues with drugs, but it is food that matters. I was reading what is healthy to eat to avoid gallstones blocking the bile duct or how to avoid gallbladder attacks.

So, in 2 weeks, I lost 18 lbs, I forgot to mention that the gastrointestinal doc thinks I have food allergies. Joy! I had been trying so hard to lose weight for 6 months straight, and this is what I cut out to make it happen and make me as healthy as possible to keep my body out of danger until surgery:

Beef

Nuts

Avocado

Olive Oil

Hummus

Egg Yolks

Chicken skin

Cruciferous veggies

Dairy

Bread (save a few slices of organic sourdough)

All spicy foods (Sriracha, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, paprika)

This is what I ate:

Low fat yogurt or nonfat

Tuna packets

Rice pouches (90 second)

Steamed spinach

Roasted carrots (very soft)

Protein drinks with low sugar

Unsweetened applesauce

Broth

Baked chicken with no skin and gluten free bread crumbs

It wasn’t hard to cut out these foods except the spices because I had never had such pain like I had those 4 days. The pain was worse than any surgery I had, including an emergency c-section. Constant pain around the clock to the point where it was hard to speak. I was taking 8 hot showers a day to help the pain subside, and I took no pain meds because I knew it could exacerbate gastrointestinal issues. Please never wait that long to get that kind of pain addressed. I just have a distrust of the medical field, particularly after all of the half truths in 2020. But it could have ended up horribly with my body in sepsis or a blocked bile duct.

That being said, doing the research, because not one doctor told me to eat like that, saved me. My body could no longer process fats well, even healthy ones. And I am a big olive oil, hummus, healthy fats kind of person. But I immediately dropped weight, and it was like a deflated balloon in 2 weeks, I was that inflamed. Read, read, and read when something goes wrong with your body because the medical establishment wants to throw a pill at everything.

I still need to lose 60 lbs to get to my doctor approved BMI. So, the first almost 20 were due to food sensitivities or allergies or intolerance  because of medical conditions. Right? I was bigger than I was at pregnancy in my stomach and couldn’t figure out why. My PCP back in DC  in October was like GLP? And I said no. I needed to know why, even though I was doing all of the things that my blood sugar was prediabetic. And why I couldn’t lose a pound. I was going mad.

So it turns out that when your pancreas is enlarged, it  means inflammation. I learned that in medical classes 15 years ago. When your pancreas is irritated, your liver becomes enlarged. And because of what the gallbladder is doing to the pancreas, blood sugar goes up. When I got to the ER, my blood sugar was very high for me, 112. My surgery was 30 days later, and it was 106. Which means I brought it down myself through diet. I believe if I had not been eating applesauce and yogurt, it would have been lower. I have an insulin issue, so I don’t usually eat anything with sugar as a rule. I digress. It came down 6 pts even before the surgery.

So, I get to meet the surgeon a couple of hours before the surgery. He is kind of cocky. But this is one of Manhattan’s premier surgery centers, and you know people think the world revolves around Manhattan. Living 4 miles from the city, I don’t. Anyhow. So he was bitching about my blood sugar and was saying how I needed to take my health seriously and was on to me about my weight. He didn’t know how hard I had been trying or that I had an inherited insulin issue or no metabolism because of thyroid removal. He was an ass.

It wasn’t a great way to prep for surgery when I had extreme anxiety about being put under anesthesia. I have always feared surgery. This was my fifth and every time I am more scared. Anyhow, this doc told me a few weeks prior that gallbladder surgery was the number one surgery in America. And what pisses me off about the medical establishment is they don’t ask why. They get paid for surgeries and move on.

So if he touted that about gallbladder surgery. Why tf did he not know that my blood sugar was more raised because of the gallbladder issue and is probably why I crossed to the diabetic line in the fall. My first attack was in November, meaning that it was brewing for a long time, which would explain my weight and inflammation struggles. If people are going to be specialized as surgeons, they need to know 5 truths about the effects of whatever condition the patient has before surgery.

I read patient testimonials from other countries about what to eat. In socialized medicine scenarios where they wait 3 months for surgeries or more. I read medical journals and articles and asked Google- Will my blood sugar be higher with pancreatitis? Which led me to these journals. So instead of chastising me and going on about what was obvious to him as poor life choices, why didn’t he know these basic truths about pancreatitis and gallstones and the effect on other organs and systems and levels?

I should have asked them to take my blood after surgery to see if my levels changed because apparently, it can as soon as the gallbladder is gone. But I didn’t. After being there 8 hrs, I was ready to go home. You know what else gets me? He is like you can eat normally tomorrow. Just low fat. Dude! He was wrong again. I read information from different hospitals, and they had diets for the 1st 7 days. Because the liver now has to take on the job of the gallbladder, the body has to get used to the bile not flowing the same.

So this sanctimonious jerk who was lecturing me for being too fat and unhealthy, not his words, but might as well have been based on the way he was talking to me, once again had not a clue. So I ignored his advice and had beef broth yesterday, 2 tuna packs, low sugar applesauce, a protein drink, and a little brown rice in broth because I need fiber to be able to potty:). I will be eating this way until next Sunday the 19th. I have to fly on Friday to see my daughter in her last real production in college. Wish me luck.

When I get back, I will add chicken and heartier things. I just can’t be too adventurous with food until I am close to home and my body adjusts. After this surgery, I probably won’t eat higher fat things again because once an organ is removed, things never operate the same. And since the liver will be doing the main job now, I can not act like my body is the same. This is coming from someone who has had weight woes and different medical issues for the last 20 years.

Do not take doctor’s words as gospel, EVER. Research. Take the time to think about your body, your lifestyle, and what you have been doing or could be doing to improve things. I appreciate the fact that the surgery was successful, and I appreciate the anesthesiologist for  knowing how many drugs to give. I especially appreciate the nurses and support staff.  But I do not think that because someone went to medical school means they are a god. Or that they are smarter than I am.

I have 2 Master’s degrees, but it doesn’t make me a genius. I can just write papers and read a lot and regurgitate that info. The surgeon has expertise in performing robotic assisted surgeries, but he does not know everything. The point is, don’t leave anything about your health, finances, or well-being to anyone. Of course, we can not become experts in every field, and God has given us all different gifts. So that is why people go into different fields. But advocate for yourself and ask questions every step of the way and educate yourself!

The moral of the story is that we can make plans, but things happen that are out of our control. But we can’t let little setbacks stop us from reaching our goals. Even if it seems like sinister forces are at hand, it can always be worse.

The swelling will go down in my abdomen. My blood sugar will right itself. I will find out my food allergies and drop even more weight. I will be able to get on my stepper 5 days a week again and get the endorphins going. I made it through the surgery! Medical bills to pay, but at the end of the day, I have good insurance and will be in better health.

Always look for the bright side in every situation because waking up every day is a gift that some people did not get to experience today.

~simply

Dee