Bye, Bye Gallbladder

          {long....sorry}
          So it turns out that dehydration was not the cause of the gallbladder problems back when I was pregnant with Audri. The Saturday before Christmas I had my 3rd gallbladder attack. I called Austin and he came home from work. Almost 2 hours later of pain we decided to go to Community Care. They gave me a shot in my hip, took my blood and poked under my ribs and were pretty sure it was gallbladder related. They scheduled an ultrasound at the hospital the next morning. Sure enough, it was my gallbladder! 90% full of gallstones. We went back to Community Care after the ultrasound to discuss our options. Even though it was pretty clear that there was only one option. SURGERY...
          The next day (the Monday before Christmas) we went and saw Dr. Hansen at the Madison Surgical Center. We scheduled the surgery for Jan. 7. {Such a great way to start my year.} Well that night I had another attack. Luckily they had given me some pain meds but it was still rough. From then on it was like walking on egg shells, will this trigger it? What if I eat this? Horrible way to spend Christmas/New Year's. Just when I was thinking, maybe I could just control this with diet and not get the surgery I had another attack, the worst of them all. It lasted more than 3 hours even with the pain meds. Pretty sure it was my body's way of convincing me that I NEEDED the surgery. {To say I was unhappy about getting the surgery would be an understatement. I had recovered so well from having a baby that I didn't want to be 4 weeks post pardum, doing great and having surgery so that I would have more recovery and healing than having a baby mad me mad. But I knew that it had to happen, I couldn't live life unsure when the next attack was going to happen.}
          Monday the day before the surgery we went to the surgical center and got my blood work done. The only upside to having just had a baby is that needles weren't {AS} scary. Then we went over to the Dahl's house to watch the championship football game. Before we left I got a blessing, which I am always so grateful for. Then we headed home. {Only to head back a few hours later to drop the kids off so that Grandma and Grandpa Dahl could watch them while I was in surgery.} 4:00 am Tuesday the 7, I woke up took another shower to wash myself with the special soap they gave me. Put my pajamas on, got the kids stuff ready and then we packed up the kids and headed to the Dahl's. We were just about the only people on the roads. We saw a deer and two walkers-crazies! I thought Bridger would zonk out on the car ride over but he was awake and chatty the whole way there. We said goodbye to Bridger, gave kisses and then headed back to Rexburg. {We had to be at the surgical center at 6:00 am}
          We got to the surgical center before they even opened. When they opened, they got me in, I dressed down and then they had me answer a bunch of questions and then got my IV going. Shortly after they got the antibiotics in me I started getting itchy. I wasn't too alarmed until I started getting hives. Austin went and got the nurse and he hurried and got one of the anesthesiologists, who got me the right meds to take care of the allergic reaction I was having. I remember my anesthesiologist coming in and talking to me and then that's it. I guess before they wheeled me in I was kissing at the air to give Austin a kiss goodbye. Haha
          When I came to I was in a lot of pain. The air in my body from the surgery was making my shoulder hurt really bad. And unfortunately pain meds couldn't take it away. Austin went and got my prescription while I was in and out, awake and asleep. I had been cleared to go whenever and was just sleeping so we decided we might as well go home and sleep. So Austin helped me get dressed and they wheeled me out to the car and we went home. Austin and I took a long nap and then the rest of the day, for me was, eat something, take some meds and then sleep. Austin's mom and dad brought the kids later that night and then Austin stayed home the next day and took care of all us. He's incredible! My brother came and helped the next day {Thursday} and then Grandma Dahl came Friday and helped. They were so helpful and I am so grateful for them and all they did to help us. The pain meds {hydrocodone} made me really dizzy, gave me wicked headaches which made me nauseous and the only way to not have that happen was to sleep while I was on them. And a mother of a toddler and newborn can't really sleep like that.
          By Friday night I was sick of it! So I decided that I would start to cut back and see how the pain was. So instead of taking 2 every 4 or more hours I started taking 1 every 4 hours. Saturday my brother came and got us and we went to my parents house {we hadn't seen them since way before Christmas when they all got sick} My brother and sister were amazing {they always are} with Bridger while my mom was at a relief society thing and I rested. The last pill I took was at 11 am. By the time Austin called to tell me he was on his way to Idaho Falls I was sore and tempted to take another pill but decided not to. We ate dinner, opened our Christmas presents from my parents and were just about ready to go when my tummy started to really hurt.
          I went into the bathroom and started coughing, my nose started to get stuffed up, my throat started to get itchy and swollen. I looked in the mirror and my eyes were completely bloodshot, my skin was red, itchy, burning and had hives! Austin took one look at me and said we were leaving to go to Community Care. We left the kids and rushed to community care. By the time we got to Community Care I couldn't breathe out of my nose and was having a hard time breathing in general. The first question they asked was if I was having a hard time breathing, when I said yes, they told us we had to go to the ER. Luckily the ER is across the street. We got in there, they asked a few questions and then there was a nurse with a wheelchair. I was zoomed back to a room, immediately dressed down. My skin still very red with hives ALL over, my face, neck, chest, stomach, back, legs. They were so thick on my arms it was like one giant hive. As soon as I sat down after getting the gown on there were 4-5 people hustling around me. One guy putting an IV in {horribly I might add}, another giving me an epi shot, the Dr asking questions, and other nurses inputting information and running back and forth bringing things to the other nurses.
          Things eventually started to clear, after awhile they took the oxygen off, and my skin started returning to normal. They kept us there for a long time and I was in and out of sleep. {Allergy medicine makes me sleepy.} They told us that I probably had an allergic reaction to the hydrocodone, even though that's what I was taking after I had Audri and had no problems. But they said that sometimes your body does funny things after having surgery. At first they thought about keeping us over night so they could monitor me but after the few hours that they kept us they decided that it would probably be ok if we went home. They wrote out a prescription for Oxycodone for the gallbladder/recovery pain if I needed it and a prescription for an EPI pen just incase I had another reaction. {I guess after the allergy/epi wears off 1 out of every 4 person has another attack} So we were released and went to Walgreens in Ammon since it's the only pharmacy opened 24/7 {it was after 12:00 at night}. Turns out that an epi pen is really expensive {$250 and up}, so we didn't get one. But it's been weeks and I haven't had any problems, so we should be ok.
          So within the last month I have been in the most pain I have ever been in my life {gallbladder attacks} and the most fear I have been in my life {the allergic reaction}. {I told Austin that I would rather have a baby than all of this gallbladder stuff} It's been an ok recovery, I only had a few days without meds that I was sore and am doing fine now. Doctor said I'm healing really nice. But before the surgery and the allergic reactions have been a lot to deal with. Not to mention that, hello, I have a 1 month old! Before the surgery I was afraid of eating in fear of an attack, so I would eat bare minimum and that messed with my milk production. Plus I was trying to pump enough for the surgery. Then I was on pain meds so I had to "pump and dump", as the doctor called it, so it wouldn't affect Audri. Luckily she takes a bottle and formula and still breastfeeds-she's such a good baby! And now that it's been 2 weeks food is sitting a little bit better so we're figuring out milk production and feeding.
          We're hoping that our 2014 will be a lot less "exciting" from here on out. And even though all this "excitement" has been stressful we are still counting our many blessings. Blessings like family that can come help, being with family when these scary things happen so we don't have to worry about what to do with the kids, priesthood blessings, neighbors and ward members bringing meals, and countless other blessings that went unseen. We are truly blessed and loved. Austin is amazing! He is my rock. He is and always has been my rock but in times like gallbladder attacks, surgery, having a baby, etc. he just proves to be more of an incredible rock than I even realize. I know that all these health things adds stress to him because he worries about me but I am so grateful I didn't have to do any of that without him. During my last gallbladder attack the only thing to help was laying my head on Austin and squeezing his hand when the pain spiked. Going into surgery was scary for me but knowing that Austin was going to be there when I left and when I woke up helped calm my nerves a ton. He is such an incredible husband and father. He took care of us all while I was in and out of sleep and continues to do so much to help me and the kids even now. I am so lucky and blessed to have him. It's funny how crazy stressful moments help you fall in love with a person even more than you already are. It's incredibly endearing watching your husband rush you to the Community Care/ER because he wants whatever pain you're in to go away.
          I am a lucky girl with an incredible husband, wonderful kids and amazing family! Things can only go up from here!