My Experience with Cholecystitis

Let me tell you about my health experience of an ailment called Cholecystitis (an inflammation of the gallbladder) and thus results to my Choleocystectomy (removal of gall bladder) which after results to another minor surgery called ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography).

from http://medicalslide.blogspot.com/2009/08/acute-cholecystitis.html

 It was the most excruciating pain I felt both physically and emotionally. It started with a symptom which I didn't pay attention with since I associated the pain with the belief that it was because I was near my due, I was 8 months pregnant then. I first experience the pain on my upper abdomen which lasted for about 15 minutes. And then almost two months after I gave birth to my first born through CS did the symptoms came back, with severe pain, vomiting and heavy breathing.

I was staying with my husband in the province, we went to a doctor who lives a few blocks from our house. And after I told him about the pain on my abdomen and the vomiting after meal, he diagnosed it as related to Ulcer and he prescribed medicines for me like Maalox and Buscopan.

I was taking Buscopan whenever I'm in pain but as days passed I was frequently having some episodes, medicines won't take it's effect on me and the pain becomes so excruciating that I was rolling on the bed and grasping for air. It comes and goes for 2 months until I was rushed to the hospital since I was vomiting the whole night until the following day. I was vomiting yellow stuff and the pain on both of my upper abdomen and on my back was unbearable, I thought that I would die.

I was given pain reliever on the hospital which does not really guarantee any relief on the pain I felt. There were series of laboratory test to find out what was wrong, then after when I had the ultrasound, they found out that I had numerous gall stones in my gallbladder. I was told by the resident doctor that I need to undergo surgical operation because they need to remove my gall bladder since I was in pain all the time. I was financially distressed because I was unemployed then, I stayed in the hospital for almost a week until we had the money which was provided by my father-in-law and we also found a Surgeon who will perform the procedure. I was brought to the operating room on December 15, 2009, I remember when we were waiting for the surgeon, there were 2 nurse interns who were talking to me and comforting since I was very nervous. It was my second time under the knife. I am very disturbed even now, when I remember how I was conscious for like 10 seconds during the start of the procedure. My eyes where shut, I can't move and I can't speak but I somehow hear the people around me, I heard my doctor talking and I felt the doctor's surgical knife slicing through my abdomen. When I woke up after the operation which lasted for more than 4 hours, I was really in pain and I had what they called T- tube inserted on my abdomen. I was told that it was necessary because there might be gall stones retained on the bile duct during the procedure and they will take the bile bag off after a month. I also asked them about my experience during the procedure when I was conscious for seconds during the operation, they said they will investigate the incident. And when they did, they came to me and told me that it was the fault of the nurse in-charge during the operation. They said that it took a while for the nurse to put another dose of anesthesia on my IV. My General Anesthesia was injected to my IV then, I didn't opt for the epidural one.

I was sent home after almost 2 weeks and the bile bag was strapped on my leg. It was very difficult for me. I was home with my baby but I can't hold him, We can't risk the t-tube being accidentally pulled off. It was 2 weeks after the operation and still I'm bringing the t-tube with me when I had another episode of pain on my abdomen just like what I felt before the operation. I was so scared because I was thinking, my gallbladder was already taken so what's the cause of the pain again.

One month after my surgery, I went to my surgeon's clinic and the Doctor told me that I need to have T-tube Cholangiogram or x-ray for my bile duct so as to confirm that there is no gall stone retained. So I was scheduled to have it on the following day. What happened on the day of the Cholangiogram was unexpectedly agonizing. I was really expecting a regular type of x-ray but I was instructed to lay down the steel bed in the x-ray room and I had the patient gown worn the other way around. The doctor used a big syringe to suck the bile on the tube and then clipped it. It really felt like something on my insides was being pulled and the worst thing that happened is when he injected the contrast dye (which took us one day to search for the specified brand but wasn't really able to find one) slowly on to the tube and the effect was really something that caught me off guard. It was like someone punched me on my gut real hard, I can't breathe, I was shaking and was almost close to screaming. I was like “where are these pain coming from”, I need to hold on to the side bars of the steel bed because they have to take the x-ray.

The doctor and Radiologists hurriedly went out of the room so they can perform the x-ray. I was sweating inside the air conditioned room. The female radiologist was very nice, she comforted and encouraged me. I saw them checking out several of the x-ray film they took and pointing on to something. We waited for the results and from what I understood there was a stone retained on my bile duct. Another surge of emotions came to me. I was so tired of the pain and really want to stop it. We went to my surgeon the following day and that's when he confirmed that there really was a gall stone retained on my common bile duct and it must be removed. I have to undergo another procedure known as ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) and it costs more than half of the procedure for my Choleocystectomy.