Friday night at the ER

I have been trying to take a vacation from cancer and see how it fares........apparantly this is a foolish notion as I lost a very good friend and another girl who was a cancer acquaintance-both young and it is still too painful to talk about. So instead, I will tell the tale of the 80 year old woman who has possessed me and is giving me all her creepy old lady diseases. I should have known sooner, I had pleurisy at the age of 10 when I got home from 2 weeks at freezing wet camp. Then I had gastroenteritis at 20! I mean, who even knows what these conditions ARE at that age?

Friday night, I am hunkered down, watching On Demand at my house sitting gig. My upper back starts aching as does my upper abdomen. I swam fairly hard that day so I thought maybe I tweaked my back and took a hot bath but it still was hurting and felt worse. I was having this dilemma of "Does this really hurt or am I being a wuss? Is it getting worse or am I imagining it? Should I go to the Dr or just try and go to sleep?" I could not get comfortable and decided to stretch out my back which did NOT help. I soon began thinking I should just go to the ER because I could sleep if I couldn't lie down. I made a couple calls and couldn't get any family or friends on the phone so I drove myself. It started REALLY hurting and I ended up going through red lights like a mad woman. I get to the ER, they get me right in, thankfully. Getting an IV in was a nightmare, as usual, but the pain medication helped for a while. I had lidocaine-GROSS beyond imagination, x rays, a CT scan, and they couldn't find anything. Around noon the next day, they gave me a sonogram and decided I have gallstones. Gallstones?! I am officially 80 years old. I am in a holding pattern until next week to see if the gall bladder goes. Whatever.

The good news is: It is NOT cancer!!!!!! I was so happy to have those scans to let me know that NO, cancer is NOT everywhere in my liver. And after a little investigation, I have learned that there is actually a market for human gallstones somewhere in Asia and I am not above an Ebay auction. The mind reels with the possibilities.