Friday, May 13, 2005
R.I.P. Cecil (11/18/1983 to 5/5/2005)
Cecil was a good friend of mine. I never really appreciated him as much as I should have. Even though he stabbed me in the back right before he died, I still feel empty inside now that he's gone.
Cecil was my gall bladder.
Last Monday night was not a good time for me. I had one final exam left at 8:30 the next morning and I was in no mood to study for it. I had been slightly uncomfortable for most of the day and right around dinnertime a persistently intense abdominal pain had set in. I'd had this kind of pain before; 3 or 4 times in the past semester. Usually, the pain woke me up early in the morning and continued for a few hours before finally easing and vanishing. It was an intense pain in my upper abdomen, right around my diaphram, worse in front, but wrapping around to my back as well. It was like an internal pressure straining against my muscles. I was pretty much crippled by it. Sitting, standing, laying down, I couldn't find a comfortable position. More importantly, I couldn't even get to sleep. By 2 AM, things hadn't gotten any better and I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that I needed to see a doctor. I proceeded to get dressed and walk myself over to the emergency room at University Hospitals. I figured I would have to walk almost as far if I tried to drive and park anywhere. So in the middle of the night, I found myself in the emergency room. At first, the doctor just gave me a pill and some liquid stuff to "coat my stomach". After about an hour or so with no improvement, they decided to give me an IV and test some blood. After another hour or so of lying around in pain, they came back and told me they wanted to take an ultrasound of my liver and gall bladder. Sure enough, it turns out I had a nice big gallstone blocking my cystic duct. (That's right...gallstones, typically found in obese middle-aged women.) After another couple of hours of lying around (I still couldn't get to sleep) and talking to different doctors and surgeons, they finally admitted me to the hospital and set me up in a room. This was around 8 or 9 in the morning. After about an hour of lying in my room, they took me somewhere and did a procedure on me to remove my gallstone. They had me lying on my stomach and gave me some partial anesthesia to supposedly put me in a daze. They put a camera and instrument down my throat to remove the gallstone. There were no incisions or anything. It's actually quite amazing. I don't remember any of it though. I figure at that point I was so tired that I just passed out when they drugged me. I do remember waking up as they were pulling the thing out of my throat and choking on it and vomiting into the pillow. It was all very Matrix-like. I gradually woke up more and more and they moved me back to my room. Finally the pain was gone and I was feeling great except for some gas and a sore throat.
They told me that everything had gone well and I would be able to be released from the hospital the next morning. By this time, Matt, Jon, and my parents (from New York) had come to visit me, which I really appreciated. Thanks also to Mark, JP and Amber for visiting later that night. When they told me that I would be released, my parents went back home. They told me that I would probably have to get my gall bladder removed at some future time, so I figured that I would get it done when I got back home. The next morning, however, I got a visit from a surgeon who said they could schedule me for an operation the next morning. I consented and spent the rest of the day lying around and catching up on sleep. They kept telling me that I could eat real food, but all that they brought me was broth. Luckily, JP and Mark brought me some Quizno's when they visited that night. Jon visited too, but left shortly after breaking the other bed in the room. Thursday morning I got woken up at about 5:15 AM and about an hour later they took me down to the operating room. My surgery was scheduled for 7:15. This time they would put me fully under anesthesia and do a laproscopic procedure to take out my gall bladder. I remember going into the operating room and seeing the bright lights overhead and then getting strapped to the table but everything after that is blank. I woke up slowly and remember being very cold. I was just exhausted and didn't feel like moving at all. They moved me back up to my room and I just went to sleep. My dad came back to visit and got there about an hour after I got out of surgery. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping and they wouldn't give me anything to eat or drink other than ice chips even though my mouth was really dry and I was dehydrated. Finally late in the afternoon, my surgeon came by and said I could be having all the fluids I wanted. All day I was in quite a bit of pain. There were 5 small cuts made in my stomach for the cameras and instruments. There were only supposed to be 4, but apparently I have a floppy liver and they had to make an extra cut to put something in to hold it out of the way. Hence, my liver is now named Floppy. My stomach was in quite a bit of pain. The muscles were just really sore and it was hard to move. Almost worse than my stomach though, was the pain in my shoulders and neck. I had a lot of soreness and sharp pain which they said was from the way they had to lay me on the operating table to put in my breathing tube. Other than a one milligram dose of morphine, they didn't give me any painkillers. As the day went on I got slowly better. Still, surgery took a lot out of me. Much more than I thought it would. My dad left that night to go to Columbus to pick up my brother from college and he came back around 1 the next day. I finally got released from the hospital on Friday afternoon when my dad got there. He drove me around to get medication and groceries. Friday I was feeling a little better, but walking still was sort of painful. Each day since then I've felt a little better. Now I'm almost back to normal. My stomach still gets a little sore when I walk around a lot, but I'm off my painkillers now. I took my last final this past Tuesday and now I'm all done with schoolwork. Overall, the past couple weeks have been quite crazy. It wasn't terrible and I'm glad that I won't have any more gall bladder problems anymore, but still, it isn't an experience that I would recommend. Thanks to everybody for your support and visits. Now I guess it's off into a world without Cecil.....
Current Mood: Empty
Currently listening to: Hot Fuss by The Killers and "Modest Mix" by Modest Mouse
Last movie I saw: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (again)
One line review: Entertaining and better than I expected, but doesn't get better with repeated viewing.
On a scale of 0-5 sucks (0 being the best): 2.5 sucks
Cecil was my gall bladder.
Last Monday night was not a good time for me. I had one final exam left at 8:30 the next morning and I was in no mood to study for it. I had been slightly uncomfortable for most of the day and right around dinnertime a persistently intense abdominal pain had set in. I'd had this kind of pain before; 3 or 4 times in the past semester. Usually, the pain woke me up early in the morning and continued for a few hours before finally easing and vanishing. It was an intense pain in my upper abdomen, right around my diaphram, worse in front, but wrapping around to my back as well. It was like an internal pressure straining against my muscles. I was pretty much crippled by it. Sitting, standing, laying down, I couldn't find a comfortable position. More importantly, I couldn't even get to sleep. By 2 AM, things hadn't gotten any better and I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that I needed to see a doctor. I proceeded to get dressed and walk myself over to the emergency room at University Hospitals. I figured I would have to walk almost as far if I tried to drive and park anywhere. So in the middle of the night, I found myself in the emergency room. At first, the doctor just gave me a pill and some liquid stuff to "coat my stomach". After about an hour or so with no improvement, they decided to give me an IV and test some blood. After another hour or so of lying around in pain, they came back and told me they wanted to take an ultrasound of my liver and gall bladder. Sure enough, it turns out I had a nice big gallstone blocking my cystic duct. (That's right...gallstones, typically found in obese middle-aged women.) After another couple of hours of lying around (I still couldn't get to sleep) and talking to different doctors and surgeons, they finally admitted me to the hospital and set me up in a room. This was around 8 or 9 in the morning. After about an hour of lying in my room, they took me somewhere and did a procedure on me to remove my gallstone. They had me lying on my stomach and gave me some partial anesthesia to supposedly put me in a daze. They put a camera and instrument down my throat to remove the gallstone. There were no incisions or anything. It's actually quite amazing. I don't remember any of it though. I figure at that point I was so tired that I just passed out when they drugged me. I do remember waking up as they were pulling the thing out of my throat and choking on it and vomiting into the pillow. It was all very Matrix-like. I gradually woke up more and more and they moved me back to my room. Finally the pain was gone and I was feeling great except for some gas and a sore throat.
They told me that everything had gone well and I would be able to be released from the hospital the next morning. By this time, Matt, Jon, and my parents (from New York) had come to visit me, which I really appreciated. Thanks also to Mark, JP and Amber for visiting later that night. When they told me that I would be released, my parents went back home. They told me that I would probably have to get my gall bladder removed at some future time, so I figured that I would get it done when I got back home. The next morning, however, I got a visit from a surgeon who said they could schedule me for an operation the next morning. I consented and spent the rest of the day lying around and catching up on sleep. They kept telling me that I could eat real food, but all that they brought me was broth. Luckily, JP and Mark brought me some Quizno's when they visited that night. Jon visited too, but left shortly after breaking the other bed in the room. Thursday morning I got woken up at about 5:15 AM and about an hour later they took me down to the operating room. My surgery was scheduled for 7:15. This time they would put me fully under anesthesia and do a laproscopic procedure to take out my gall bladder. I remember going into the operating room and seeing the bright lights overhead and then getting strapped to the table but everything after that is blank. I woke up slowly and remember being very cold. I was just exhausted and didn't feel like moving at all. They moved me back up to my room and I just went to sleep. My dad came back to visit and got there about an hour after I got out of surgery. I spent most of the afternoon sleeping and they wouldn't give me anything to eat or drink other than ice chips even though my mouth was really dry and I was dehydrated. Finally late in the afternoon, my surgeon came by and said I could be having all the fluids I wanted. All day I was in quite a bit of pain. There were 5 small cuts made in my stomach for the cameras and instruments. There were only supposed to be 4, but apparently I have a floppy liver and they had to make an extra cut to put something in to hold it out of the way. Hence, my liver is now named Floppy. My stomach was in quite a bit of pain. The muscles were just really sore and it was hard to move. Almost worse than my stomach though, was the pain in my shoulders and neck. I had a lot of soreness and sharp pain which they said was from the way they had to lay me on the operating table to put in my breathing tube. Other than a one milligram dose of morphine, they didn't give me any painkillers. As the day went on I got slowly better. Still, surgery took a lot out of me. Much more than I thought it would. My dad left that night to go to Columbus to pick up my brother from college and he came back around 1 the next day. I finally got released from the hospital on Friday afternoon when my dad got there. He drove me around to get medication and groceries. Friday I was feeling a little better, but walking still was sort of painful. Each day since then I've felt a little better. Now I'm almost back to normal. My stomach still gets a little sore when I walk around a lot, but I'm off my painkillers now. I took my last final this past Tuesday and now I'm all done with schoolwork. Overall, the past couple weeks have been quite crazy. It wasn't terrible and I'm glad that I won't have any more gall bladder problems anymore, but still, it isn't an experience that I would recommend. Thanks to everybody for your support and visits. Now I guess it's off into a world without Cecil.....
Current Mood: Empty
Currently listening to: Hot Fuss by The Killers and "Modest Mix" by Modest Mouse
Last movie I saw: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (again)
One line review: Entertaining and better than I expected, but doesn't get better with repeated viewing.
On a scale of 0-5 sucks (0 being the best): 2.5 sucks
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