Tuesday, August 24, 2010

my gall bladder is broken

so, yesterday was eventful and i felt so loved through phone calls, texts & facebook messages so i thought i'd update you all.
i had yet another gall bladder attack yesterday morning and after taking vicadin and sleeping for a couple of hours i woke up ready to go to the hospital and do whatever we needed to do to get my gall bladder removed. well, it didn't really work that way...

i first went to the ER where they did some blood work (thankfully my other organs have not been affected, which i am so grateful about) and had an ultrasound ( a lot less fun when there isn't a baby to see!) and yes... i have gall stones (shocker) they recommended a few surgeons in rexburg for me to call.

I had an appointment with one yesterday and the receptionist said i could have the surgery tomorrow but they require 50% down before the surgery. The total cost would be a minimum of $8000 and we definetely don't have $4,000 on hand (more like $4) so that wasn't going to work. I met with the surgeon and I really liked him. He reminded me a lot of my dad which i'm not sure is comforting when they will be cutting you open (since my dad designs closets) but, oh well, i felt comfortable with him and so that went well. we spoke with the finincial lady at the surgeon office about our options with $. she said we should apply for county assistance and what they do is contract the hospital and surgeon to work for medicaid rates instead (1/3 of the normal cost) and we don't have to pay anything- we pay the county back after the surgery. They take monthly payments and when we talked to the woman @ the county office she said people typically pay $25 a month but some people pay as little as $5. (and i'm not positive on this but i'm pretty sure you only have to pay for 5 years- so it's not like we will be paying this off when we're 80 which is comforting) so, in total the bill will only be $2500-$3000 instead of $8000, which seems so much more doable. We only had to pay $200 when we had Daphne so I guess we're paying for her now. OH! and that reminds me.... I've been following this SUPER strict diet for the past 4 months since my 1st attack but the surgeon said that he's pretty positive my diet has NOTHING to do with having attacks- the stones probably formed due to a hormore during pregnancy and having attacks is due to that, not with what i'm eating. This really makes sense since I would always be confused when i had an attack because i've been 100% faithful only eating 15-20 grams of fat a day. So, i'm a little annoyed that I've been SO good and it doesn't matter. On the plus side, I've lost 15 very needed pounds and I still have about 10 to go to be where I want to be. So, it's not all a loss. But, it does make me want to go to five guys (i still want to eat vegetarian... i just want to have 1 day where i go a little crazy and then i'll go back to it.. which i'm sure would make me totally sick but i'm craving a cheeseburger and chicken strips with fries like nobodies business :)

The problem with going through county is that i won't be able to have the surgery for 10-14 days. I also learned that i won't be able to work for AT LEAST 2 weeks after the surgery and i won't be able to lift (which i do a lot of @ gap) for a month. So, that's not comforting.


In other news, we are desperately trying to sell/get out of our contract and we're moving in with Nic's grandma Jane in Idaho Falls. She lives right across from the mall so I can walk to work and Nic will carpool from IF up to school each day. It's basically the only way we can survive and not get evicted. It will be temporary till we move to Denver in December and we're grateful for Nic's fam (parents included) who were so willing to help us out. Why aren't people buying invites anymore?!?!?! It's annoying :)

So, that's life. Hope you all are well <3

7 comments:

ali c. said...

Oh, Kirsten, I wish you all the luck with the gall bladder surgery. I hope it happens soon and the financing comes through! Sending lots of healing thoughts your way!

BANZ said...

I love you Kirst! I'm sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope everything turns out beautifully! You're in our prayers!

Nanette :)

Maddy Lucas said...

I wish we were there to watch daph, cook meals, watch shows with you and be really good super friends. I am so sorry your having a hard time and we miss you guys so much! You are some of the best friends we've ever had. I really hope the financial aid thing works out, stay positive!

Seth said...

^
|
agreed.

It sounds like you deserve a hamburger. When I went off of being vegetarian and had a hamburger I had no problems, I think the ground beef isn't as hard on your system. But when I had steak it was all over.

Megan said...

sorry dear, I had no idea life was so crazy for you right now. My mom and SIL just had gall bladder surgery and they were fine within days...so I am guessing your is much more serious then theirs! I hope everything works out faster then you expect! Love ya girl!

Julie K said...

When I hear you have to wait 10+ days for the surgery, I think that's not so bad....until I remember how much pain you are in. I'm so sorry you have to wait! But it sounds like a pretty good financial option. Hopefully you will be attack free until the surgery and then move on to a quick recovery. Hearing that food doesn't cause the attacks, aren't you totally T.O'd about the apple juice/olive oil diet?

Kimberly said...

I'm so happy to hear that you are getting the surgery. I hope all will go well and that you will recover quickly. Love you.