Posted on 2006-09-15 14:41:19, modified on 2006-09-15 21:48:44
Tags: My gall bladder
Today I saw the specialist, Dr. A. Bean. He looked at the ultrasound photos and went "You see that white area? Normally that is black, but it's the stones you see.". While laying on the table, he poked here and there and it hurt a little bit here, but nowhere there. At least that's what I thought (more on this in the next next paragraph). He pointed out that my belly button had a little problem (but that is something he would fix while I was under the knife) and showed me where he was going to put holes in my chest (including the sizes: 9 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm).
The belly button is caused by the embryolical cords, the feeding tube you use in the nine months of your pre-life. Behind your bellybutton, all the way from the pubic bone and all the way up to your ribs, there is a tender, and the area behind your belly button is a little bit scarred because of the embryolical cord. That scarred tissue is the place where he is going to fix it. Somewhere. For AU$ 93.-. Bargain!
Anyway, while we were filling in forms I felt a little bit dizzy, and had the standard somebody-is-going-to-faint symptons: cold sweat, gray face, dizzy, stomach upset, troubles concentrating. Oh oh... Better concentrate of breathing (not that this helps, just before I faint I normally concentrate so hard on my breathing that the rest of my body doesn't get any attention anymore and shuts down. At least that's how it feels when I wake up again) and better lay down a little bit. On the bed? On the floor? Anywhere, it doesn't matter as long as I don't fall of it... Three minutes later everything was fine again and we could continue with the paperwork. Mental note: don't let people poke you too much in areas where it hurts.
So the next choice: which hospital? I can go to a private hospital or to a public hospital. I myself come from a country with only public hospitals and fully support them, so it will be the Sutherland Hospital. I wonder if little Dirk remembers the time he was born there.... Then, go in a private patient or as a public patient? A public patients' costs is paid by the government, a private one is paid by the health insurance (mostly, there is a gap). As a private patient the hospital gets more money from the insurance than it would have gotten from the government. And as a private patient, you get the surgeon of your choice to hold the knife during the operation, as a public patient you the surgeon is still there but only supervises the situation. So that's easy, go as a private patient so everybody gets better out of this.
Next step: when. As with all scheduled medical procedures, there is a waiting-list for it and it is about five months. This doesn't matter if you're a public or private patient. The only way to get in faster is to develop an accute situation in which they rush you in. Let's not do that :-)
So, what is going to happen... The short version is: I will get four small cuts in my chest and will end up without gall bladder, will have to stay in the hospital for a night and have to take rest for a week. The long version (in case the short version doesn't work) is that I will end up with four small cuts and a big cut over my chest, will end up without a gall bladder and have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days and have to take rest for longer than a week. I know which one I prefer.
So the next entry will hopefully be in about five months!
ps. I'm not allowed to take the stones home with me. So much for ebaying them!
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