Last night, I got back from Sarah’s. Traffic had been crappy on 90, so it took me a half-hour longer than usual. I had a bowl of ceral and started installing the iPhone SDK on my mac mini, so I can take it with me to WA.
Adam came downstairs and said he’d been watching movies all weekend, he got a Hitchcock box set.
We decided to watch North by Northwest.
We got about 30 minutes in, and all of a sudden my abdomen started to cramp. I shifted around on the couch, but then the pain hit. Not mild pain, but 9/10 pain. My face was suddenly wet with sweat, and I could barely breathe or speak the pain was so great.
I took a couple oxycodone, I’d never timed them to see how long they take to kick in, though.
I IM’d Sarah to distract myself from the pain. She pointed out it could be a blocked duct, and that I should probably go to the ER, since a blocked duct can cause complications.
I waited a few more minutes, but the pills weren’t kicking in. So I asked Adam to drive me to the ER.
He dropped me off and told me to call when I was ready to be picked up – usually trips to the ER are 6-hour affairs.
Since I was obviously in horrible pain, and barely able to speak, they got me a bed quickly.
A doctor examined me and a nurse put an IV in my arm and drew some blood for labs.
Finally the oxycodone began to kick in and the pain subsided, I could breathe and speak normally again.
A doctor came in with a student doctor in tow, she did an ultrasound while the student watched. She was nice, I asked lots of questions, and she turned the ultrasound so I could see. It looked like there was a small pile of gallstones at the bottom of my gallbladder. She couldn’t find any obstruction.
An RN came by and adjusted my bed for me and got me a warm blanket. I texted Sarah as I lay waiting for the lab results, sent a picture to my blog, and finally took a little nap.
The labs came back. A couple numbers were elevated, but not indicative of a block or infection. So they gave me a new prescription for oxycodone and sent me home.
I called Adam to pick me up and walked out in front of the entrance to wait.
Suddenly, I felt lightheaded, and nauseous. My vision dimmed, and I could feel I was passing out. I stumbled back inside and sat down in the waiting room, and took deep breaths. I figured perhaps it was a mix of getting up after lying down so long, the pain meds, and dehydration.
Adam arrived and drove me home.
I wasn’t really able to fall asleep for long, instead slept in bursts throughout the night.
This morning I woke up feeling shaky and nauseous. I half-slept. Then, I got that overactive salivary gland that means one thing: vomit is coming.
I threw up, though not a lot.
Then a half-hour later, just now, I threw up a lot. Everything left in me, I hope. Now my throat is burn-y from the acid. Bleh.
Two thumbs up? four anna haff stars? A totally excruciating pain experience?
so if it’s not a blocked duct and there’s no sign of infection in the bloodwork… what *is* it?
– ak
It could have been a momentary blockage, sending the gallbladder into spasms. But by the time I had bloodwork and an ultrasound, it wasn’t blocked anymore.