A Better March 24

Today is March 24. Last year, it was a Saturday. But then this year is a Leap Year, so instead of it falling on Sunday it is on a Monday. Probably just another day to most people. But not to me.

March 24 is the day that I got very sick that night and spent literally all night throwing up every few minutes. Which may seem strange to commemorate. Except for the fact that I was very sick.

Actually, I was way, way beyond very sick.

I have mentioned before that the pancreatitis could have been fatal if I hadn't gotten it treated. But I kind of soft-pedaled it at bit. It was a whole lot worse than I let on. Like much worse.

The truth is, I nearly died.

And that's why it took me around 6 weeks after the surgery to get to even feeling close to normal.

So when I tell people not to ignore the symptoms, I know what I'm talking about and it is not something to ignore or put off. It's not one of those things that will just go away. I can now look back with the eyes of experience, and see that I have had it before. There were times when it was probably "just" gallstones moving, but I know of at least two specific incidents when I'm pretty sure that I had pancreatitis that resolved itself. It's not always as bad as I had it last year - it can be but usually isn't that bad, and sometimes it does resolve on it's own but it generally always comes back until the cause of the problem is fixed. Which is usually gallstones, but not always. So please, if you even think that you might have it call the doctor.

My symptoms would come and go, over a period of a few weeks. I would have pain just below my rib cage on my right side, usually about 30 minutes after eating. I thought it was sore muscles at one point, then I thought about gas that was trapped, I had indigestion symptoms, I thought maybe food poisoning one time - a whole lot of little things that I didn't realize were not what they seemed. I tried changing my position, and when I would bend over I noticed that it felt better. Which is a symptom of pancreatitis. About a week or so before the bad night, I was fine one second and then I had a sudden pain and threw up twice in one night. And I had what I thought was muscle soreness in my side and back that went into my shoulders. I thought it was just from throwing up, but now I know that the pain in the areas I had it was also a symptom. Then the upper right quadrant pain became daily and eventually more than once a day until March 24, when I got really bad. Those are all the main symptoms, but not the only ones. When Dad had gallbladder trouble, the doctor thought he was actually having heart trouble. Gallbladders can cause all sorts of problems when they act up. Gallbladder trouble can be hereditary to an extent. The important thing is that it needs to be treated as soon as possible, so if you even suspect that you might have gallbladder or pancreatis symptoms, call the doctor immediately.