Thank you so much everyone!
It all went so quickly! I have been having this pain off and on for the last several months (over a year I think) where I get huge and bloated and my upper abdomen and back hurt. It has aways gone away, so I just figured it was gas. This time though, it wasn't going away, and my chest started hurting. Plus I was sweating, so I thought maybe I was having a heart attack. We went to the emergency room. As soon as I said chest pain, they put me in an ER room and started checking me.
They did an EKG, made me chew up 4 baby aspirins, and put a nitro patch on me. They asked if I had felt nauseous, and I said yes. It wasn't 2 minutes later I threw up all over. Then another doctor came in and checked me. He said the x-rays showed a bad gallbladder. He just happened to have an opening right then, so they took me right down to the operating room (How often does
that happen?!). The surgery wasn't quite as long as James thought--some of that was recovery, etc., but the doctor said it was, "the gallbladder from hell." He told me this morning that it usually takes no more than 15 minutes, but mine took over an hour. It was just about to become gangrenous. He said it was the nastiest looking gallbladder he had ever seen.
I felt so much better right after the surgery. I came home today. I'm still a little sore. Like the doctor said, I have 4 stab wounds in my abdomen, so that's to be expected. I never needed any painkillers after the surgery, which I think surprised them.
It is good to be home! Both my physical home and my DC home. You all are the greatest!
Barbara