Re: for Mama

[Guest guest]

Since I posted this for Mama and immediately got that return mail from the

Gov. of MN., I thought that I'd repost this in case she didn't get it. If

you-all have already read it, just please disregard.

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Mama writes>>Why did you end up having your GB out? In hindsight do you think

your could have done more, or done it differently, to have avoided the op? I

hope never to have to have the op but you just never know what's going to

happen in the future. What changed things for you?

Hi, Mama:

Well, when I started cleansing, I did it many times that first and second

year. I was doing okay, then I found out that Dr. Mercola gives his GB patients

with gallstones that Beta-TCP. I was doing so much better after that, and

that's when I cut my cleansing down but still eating healthy. This went on for

over a year of me doing just fine.

Then in the end of Feb. 2003, I did a cleanse. I was okay until early March

when I had a very bad GB attack, so I went to ER. After that calmed down, I

came home, waited about a month and did another cleanse. Well, on April 25th,

2003, I had another really bad GB attack, so I went to ER again and this time

they did a sonogram. I had two small gallstones stuck in the mouth of my GB.

So I waited, did another cleanse and did a catch this time. Since I had

several small things in my catch, I figured that I got these two small

gallstones.

However, several weeks after this, I came down with what I thought was a

virus or food poisoning. I was having a whole lot of diarrhea. This went on

for

a couple of weeks. All this time since my last ER visit, the doctor told my

husband what to watch for if I happened to get worse. Anyway, one day I was

really ill, and that night my high fever woke my husband up. He took my temp

and was 102. Shortly after I woke up and getting ready to go to ER again the

third time, I started turning yellow with jaundice. So went to ER, this

hospital still had no surgeon yet, and then they sent me by ambulance to another

hospital of my choice. I chose one where I had my hyst in in 1990.

Well, turns out my two small stones were stuck in my bile duct, but nothing

was now in my GB. One of the stones was causing bile to back up into my

pancreas. At this time I had pancreatitis, which is extremely dangerous and can

also be fatal. At the hospital they gave me very powerful antibiotics and held

off doing surgery until my pancreas improved, which is much safer. I'm very

glad they took this route. I was constantly on demerol/phenergan (spelling?),

and I was very thankful for that because of the pain. I got to the hospital

sometime in the early morning hours of Friday. Well, by Sat. afternoon, my

yellow was disappearing. I was thankful.

We keep sabbath and I thought that was a neat day for my sick yellow color to

start disappearing and me to improve! My husband stayed with me because I

had started having diarrhea again since the antibiotic. Apparently I had passed

the stone that was causing the problems with bile back-up on Sat. So I

improved for a couple of day.

Then on Tues., a doctor did an ERCP to sweep my ducts and remove the other

stone. Again, no stones in my GB, however, the walls had started thickening. I

am already aware of thickening walls in the GB, which can be a bad sign. It

could either be irritation or the starting of cancer, whichever.

The surgeon came in later after my ERCP, was a different doctor, and asked me

did I want my GB removed. That was an extremely difficult question because I

knew how hard that I had tried to save it. But since my walls were

thickening, I decided to have it removed. It's just a final choice that I made.

Like

I said, I am aware of what the thickening walls mean. Since I can't look in

there myself day in day out, I decided to have it removed. I also considered

the fact that I may just be a stone-maker. But I also realize that I may still

have to do cleanses anyway because you can get liver stones.

Before all this happened, maybe a month before this, a friend in our Bible

study group had a friend, a young married man with children, who had GB trouble

and when they went in to remove his GB, turns out he was eaten up with cancer

in his GB that spread to his liver. This too was fresh on my mind at the

time.

Anyway, the surgeon and I discussed the type of surgery that I may or may not

have. He always goes in the keyhole way first to determine which way to go.

If there's any sign of irritation, he chooses the major surgery. He didn't

expect me to be able to have the keyhole method because of my irritation and

infection with my pancreas. However, when he went in there, he was surprised

and shocked. He was able to do the easier method. I actually had an easier

time and less soreness with that surgery than I did with the ERCP. As a matter

of fact to this very day, I've never had any problem whatsoever with my GB

removal. Now, I do have poop problems, which my RN friend calls a bile dump

syndrome or something. I can't remember the name.

Hope this helps your understanding. I always felt when I started cleansing

that I would take a day at a time. No one knows what's going to happen to them

at any time.

Take care,

Susie