Thursday, July 25, 2013

The end, we hope, of the gall bladder saga

Cliff is back to being his normal self.  You wouldn't even know he went through hell back in April and May.  It took him a long time to get his appetite back, and even longer to regain his strength, but he is certainly well now.  
Today the gastroenterology doctor is scheduled to remove the stents that were placed in a leaky bile duct in order to let it heal.  
I was going to google up the reason why biliary stents have to be removed, while those placed in arteries stay put, so my readers would perhaps understand more about what's going on.  However, this is one of those things that become a slippery Google slope when you go looking for answers, and you find things you really don't want to read on the day your husband is having a procedure done.  
You know how it is:  You stumble across possible complications and percentages, and it all goes downhill from there.  So I will remember the gastroenterologist's calm demeanor as he explained the simple procedure that will be done today.  
I recall my skepticism when that doctor explained why a stent had to be placed in a bile duct in the first place, and there was even more skepticism when we were told that another stent had to be placed because the first one wasn't doing its job of preventing bile fluid from leaking into Cliff's abdominal cavity.  At the time, it felt like they were experimenting with my husband.  Cliff felt as though he would never be well again, and I was beginning to wonder, too.  Good grief, people, get it right the first time!  
If a doctor managed to place not one, but two, stents inside my husband with good results, I am sure he will be able to remove them just fine.  I think a lot of my problem today is that our going back to the hospital brings up all kinds of bad memories.  Let's face it, Cliff originally went in for a gall bladder surgery that was to last one hour, and it ended up being seven hours followed by eight days in the hospital.  
So when I hear "simple procedure", my first thought is "Yeah, right."   
Anyhow.  All should go well, and if I never hear the words "gall bladder" again, that will be just fine with me.

I finally found a link to a site that explains the putting in and removal of stents.  Click HERE.

4 comments:

  1. Prayers for Cliff and for you.

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  2. I'll be praying all goes well. It should be a simple thing.

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  3. I know what you mean about the hospital and your fears; I'm sure it will be very routine! Hope Cliff is soon out of there and back to normal life. xoxo

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  4. I hope all went well.

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