Corey Needs Prayers -- Update 5/26
 

About 5AM, I woke up with major chest pains and figured I had heartburn (I've never had it before). Billy gave me some bread and a cup of milk, but it didn't have any affect. After about an hour, I went online and after reading a bit, I decided that I probably wasn't having a heart attack, but by 8:30, I was so miserable that I asked Billy to run to the store and get some medicine. I drank about 1/4 bottle of Maalox, and it seemed to help some. An hour later, though, I was miserable. I told Billy that it felt like someone had thrown a spear through my chest. I downed some more Maalox and slept upright for about half an hour.

I made a doctor's appointment for 2:20 and counted the minutes...

About 1:45, I wasn't feeling too bad, and since we don't have insurance, I was going to cancel the appointment. I lay down for a minute, and the pain got worse, so off we went.

Well, as it turns out, my doctor THINKS I have a gall stone and that my gall bladder will likely have to be removed, and I was sent for an abdominal ultrasound. We don't know a thing yet except that gall bladder pain comes in waves (that's why I THOUGHT the Maalox had worked...), and to get me through the night, I'm supposed to take my migraine medicine for the pain.

I've had a ton of surgeries, but none of them were abdominal, so that's a little freaky. What scares me more is the expense that we're likely to incur. Heck, today was $400 out of pocket, and both offices gave us a 50% discount! The blood work will be about another $150, and that's only the beginning...

Please keep us in your prayers. I've been talking to God all day, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind it if he heard just a little more about me from you. :)

OH! As it turns out, the more I find out about this gall bladder thing, the more I think my 11 days of "food poisoning" was probably related to my gall bladder. I won't gross you out with the details. :hehe:

my wife add to have hers removed. same thing your going thru now. We will remember you in your time of need. may god bless you in your time of need. take care.

Don't suffer any more get it taken out!!!

My mom suffered with hers for 6 years and it added up the biils real quick. Finally the right doctor took it out!

Prayers sent

Lars

Oh heck, Corey - I just saw this over on f150Online. I'm so unhappy for you. You deserve a break, not more crap like this.

You're in my thoughts, as always. Keep up the fight and let us know how things are going.

- Jack

Best Wishes for you and hope u get better soon. You are right in negotiating the fees. a cash paying patient should not have to pay more than 50% of charges, Consider that most insurance companies only pay 35-45% of the billed amount. Also contact a large insurance carrier and find out what they consider "reasonable and customary"charges for whatever you have done and make an agreement for amount and payment with the hospital/Dr. ahead of time..... use what the insurance pays as a baseline

Iam no doctor but it sounds like acid reflux to me. It seems to be only when you lay down. I had this once and it woke me up in the middle of the night. I was scared to death. It felt like my heart. after a doc. visit just ended up being acid reflux. took some zantac and all was good.

I hope and pray that is something simple like that.

I'll chat it up with the man upstairs :)

Best of luck and hope you get feeling better! Chest pains suck.

Okay, so the results from the ultrasound came back today. Billy talked with the doctor and then came in to give me the news.

"You should be very proud," Bill told me.
"Proud? Why? :skeptic: I asked.
"Well, the doctor said that the opening to your gallbladder is about 3 mm, and most gallstones are a couple of millimeters wide -- like a bb."
"And?" :skeptic:
"Yours is ten times that big. It's about 3 cm in diameter. There's no way that thing's ever going to pass." :cheesy smile:

So, where are we now? We have an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday morning, and I will likely have my gallbladder removed next Friday. My regular MD called in a prescription for an antibiotic (my white cells are high) and some more pain meds (same good stuff I use for my migraines :D). We've been told that if the pain gets really bad before Tuesday or if my fever gets too high, we're to go directly to the hospital.

:hehe:

I'm a little nervous but also very interested to see what removing my gallbladder will do. After all, that gallstone didn't get that big overnight, and we're curious to see if I'll feel like a new person after it's gone! This may just be a blessing in disguise! :1disguise:

Thanks for the prayers! Keep 'em coming! :)

Corey,

You'll be fine after the surgery, just have to be really careful with fatty foods and such until your body adjusts to the lack of bile storage. You might find that some of your favorite foods don't sit so well anymore, but moderation and time should cure all that. My wife went through this a few years back, she had some food related issues for a bit, but is back to her old self now. We don't even remember it except that it was the last day of our Cancun trip, and she had to travel through that pain to make it to a US doctor:yikes2:

God Bless, and many prayers headed your way.

Mason