Hello: I ended up in emergency on Sunday morning around 2:30 am due to a painful attack. I had a lovely steak and caesar salad dinner and a few martinis Saturday night around 7:30 pm. After dinner I sat down and watched a movie and had another martini and then fell asleep on the couch. I woke up around 12:30 am and thought, "Hmm, I'd love some hot buttered popcorn with parmesan cheese" and so I made it and ate it. About half an hour later, I found myself writhing in pain. I felt pain just below my sternum which radiated to my back and shoulders. I felt like I was going to vomit, I made it to the washroom only to see myself in the mirror! Pale, sweating, shaking and I thought I was going to faint. I picked up my phone and called my daughter. I live alone and lost my best friend this year on February 4th to 100% blockage of the heart but I called my daughter because I had a panic attack a few days after my friends funeral. I thought I was having a heart attack. At any rate, I called her, I guess because I needed a wake up call and kick in the ass as I never did anything when I had my panic attack. My Dr. gave me crap for this. I realized I needed to call 911. I was terrified. Emergency response stayed on the phone with me until the ambulance arrived. They had me hooked up for an ECG so quickly but I could not sit still for it. I was in that much pain. So they moved me out to the ambulance and strapped me down. Hooked me up with an IV and gave me some gravol because I kept thinking I was about to vomit. The IV medication acted immediately and my pain diminished by 90%. I was ready to get off the ambulance and go to bed but they would not let me go. By the time I arrived at the hospital 15 minutes later, I was in excruciating pain again. For the next 4 hours, I was monitored by means of blood pressure, temperature and repeated ECG's. They took blood, urine and told me I could not have anything to eat or drink until I was assessed by a Doctor. I guess because my vitals were okay, they didn't think that I was in any danger. My attacks of pain were constant with about 15 - 20 minute breaks in between. Finally, around 6:30 in the morning, I was assessed. I was told that my gallbladder didn't seem to be too happy. So, I was sent off for an ultra sound but not before I was finally given some more gravol and a very powerful pain reliever. The first thing I did was finally cry. I was relieved to find out that it was probably just my gallbladder. HUH! Anyway, long and short of it here... I don't have any gall stones per say but I do have sludge (miniscule gallstones - likely the size of grains of sand) and I have thickening of the gallbladder wall. This inflammation is what was causing the pain (worse than child birth). It was also discovered that I have a bit of a fatty liver. This is caused from chronic alcohol abuse. I probably indulge too much, particularly over the last two months - a sad way of dealing with grief. I eat pretty healthy most of the time but I probably eat too much and when I treat myself, I treat myself. Vodka and red wine - bad. I am here to tell you, since my girlfriend passed away, I have probably not taken very good care of myself. I noticed that I was having these strange feelings (uncomfortable feelings) of being excessively full after eating - even if I ate a light snack. This fullness feeling also caused me to feel out of breath when walking to work or using the stairs. Sometimes I'd wake up feeling like I had indigestion or heart burn. All of this actually, was the build up to my inevitable gallbladder attack. Change in lifestyle is the number one thing that will help me deal with this now. I still have one more test to go through to determine whether or not the flap of my duct is operating correctly but I intend on doing all that I can to not experience this again. Do your research, learn all you can about this and if you ever experience the kind of pain, get yourself to emergency. Gallbladders can burst, get infected or inflamed. At any rate, medical attention is necessary in order to determine what the problem is. I wish you luck - don't fool around with your health. Eating french fries and onion rings is contributing to the problem (gallbladder problems can take years to develop) - read up on what fatty foods do to the gallbladder (cholesterol and bile are a bad combination). Loose stools after eating salad is an indication that your digestive system is out of wack. Gallbladder produces bile (when it's healthy) bile is what helps break down fatty foods which aids in digestion. Anyway, enough - take care of yourself.

Kinda uncomfortable when the ER nurses know you by your first name! Another sidebar.....Mom to ER for severe headache, not migraine-type according to her. So off we went. It was blood pressure related. Kept her 7 hours for observation to make sure blood pressure was stable again. (I did catch up on two books during the wait. lol) Something tells me that all these little side issues are going to make putting my DIY kitchen together a very, very long process.Oh well, so long as Mom is OK. As far as the kitchen, we've got more time than money. *smile* Tomorrow Dad has eye surgery AND the electricians come. Owner of wiring company says he's sending two guys and they 'should' be done in about 9 hours. This should prove interesting.lol I so, so, so feel for all of you who underwent total kitchen gut/remodel.......how did you live through it!?!?!? And I'm not even dealing with a decent-sized kitchen like I've seen in the beautiful finished kitchen pics here at the kitchen forum. My kitchen is only 20 ft. 7 inches long by 7 ft. 11 inches wide. During your remodel, did any of you ever feel like putting a sign out in your yard "For Sale As-Is" and just moving to another home with a kitchen already in place? OK, sorry for my vent, tirade, and thinking out loud.*smile* Buehl, We got the measurements and we went back and did it 3 times to make triple-sure the measurements were exact. (Yesterday while at ER, Mr. ran the new gas line for the new placement of the stove so I took measurements again today just to make sure nothing moved during the process! lol) Buehl, I hope I did this correctly. Did I tell you how much I appreciate you for all this!!! A= 35.5 B= 90 C= 56 D= 14.5 E= 27.5 F= 32 G= 28.5 H= 45 I= 93 J= 13 K= 58.5 L= 17 M= 45.5

My oldest son was diagnosed as Celiac when he was 2 1/2 years old. Back then, a blood test didn't find it, but a biopsy did. He's been on a VERY strict gluten free diet ever since. I remember asking his pediatrician why my baby looked like a starving baby. He was literally a stick with a basketball for a belly. His poor tummy would bloat so bad! I should show you pictures.......... The doctor just shushed me off and said there was nothing wrong with him. Never mind that he only weighed about 10 pounds and was TWO YEARS OLD! He ended up in the hospital with something unrelated when a resident took it upon himself to try to prove I was starving my baby. Nobody told me about this, the pediatric staff was all behind him. They fed him and fed him and fed him. And he lost a pound. Just like I did at home. This 10# child could eat a pork chop, mashed potatoes and a WHOLE can a spinach, then want more. Before he went to bed at night I would try to fatten him up with a bowl of cream of wheat then I put him to bed with a bottle of whole milk mixed with pablum. Normally that's very bad, but I figured he would keep eating during the night when he found his bottle. NO weight gain. When the resident saw even he couldn't fatten up my baby behind my back, they called in the specialist who ran tests. The day he was diagnosed, he went on a 100% NO gluten diet. It took about a year to see any difference in his weight gain. Because all of the villa in his small intestine had been stripped clear from all the gluten, we had to give it time to regenerate. He still eats like a horse and has to be watched 24/7 because he doesn't know how to read and will eat anything. ONE wrong food can set him back months. I don't know that taking out a gall bladder could cause Celiacs, because I'm no doctor............ but I was told back them Celiac's is comparable to an allergy. Why? Because it's your bodies way of reacting to something it shouldn't have. While it is not an allergy, it's like one. And it is possible, I suppose, that you developed it and having the surgery before the symptoms started is just coincidence. Again, I'm no doctor but you should bring up your concerns to him and ask for some tests to set your mind at ease. If you want though in the meantime, take gluten out of your diet. But that means reading each and every label and knowing how to find gluten in those labels. It's not always labels as wheat, rye, oats or barely and rarely if ever labeled as gluten. Some medications also have gluten in them, so you would have to let the pharmacist know. Processed sandwich meats and cheese slices are also full of gluten. As another person said, it's everywhere.

My dd (27) and DH (58) both have had to have theirs removed in the past 6 months. Hers was an emergency situation, his was found when his surgeon was preparing to do a double hernia repair. Yes, it does run in families. DH's family has many, many folks who have had to have theirs out in their early 20's or 30's--he was actually quite late, compared to the rest of them. Remember, that the healing for a gall bladder takes 6-7 weeks, during which you shouldn't be pushing things. From what I've learned from my two's experiences, no lifting anything over 5 pounds for the first couple of weeks, and no heavy lifting for at least a couple of months. Take care of yourself--no point in doing further damage. But if you are anything like my bunch, you will be feeling good and will recouperate rapidly. DD works in a job that's not physical at all--she was back to work in a week. DH's job is more physical and he was out of work 3 weeks, then on light duty/half days for the next week--per his dr's instructions. And his employer really thought he should have taken another week or 2 off. So don't push it--take your time to get better. Oh, and dh? Ever since his operation, he's been able to eat all sorts of things that he hadn't been able to enjoy for years. He feels SO much better--but he hadn't even realized his gall bladder was giving him problems. Wishing you the same easy, complete recouperation