Once upon a time (seriously) I ate 2 double cheeseburgers while working 12 hours at a movie theatre. I was alternating between: trashing theaters (lingo for cleaning up after a movie was over), ticket checking, kicking people out, running up 32 stairs to thread-up the movie (lingo for getting the projectors ready), run down 32 stairs and back into concession to be a runner (lingo for doing the extra jobs for all the registers to make the line go faster). I looooved it. I didn't work 12 hours everyday, but when I was assistant manager in college- I did that quite frequently. I loooved it. I ate something that would last a while.
Then, I graduated, got married, and got a job as a sign language interpreter. Not quite the running that I used to do, instead it was driving from place to place and I understood that 2 double cheeseburgers once a day was not the way to go. So, I didn't.
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Then one New Years Eve, in 2007 we were at a friend's house and we were having a fun time eating, socializing, and playing the Wii. The next morning- Happy 2008: I'm sick. My stomach feels horrible, but after about a day, I'm back to normal.
2008 New Years Eve repeats. Happy 2009: I'm sick. A few months later we went to a friends house for a kids play-date/lunch. She had tons of goodies that I couldn't resist. So, I didn't! That night, I was sick- AGAIN.
This little piggy went to the market, bought a crescent wrap and went "weee wee wee" all the way through my digestive system. I finally made the connection. Okay, got it. No lil' smokies. No Pigs In a Blanket. None. Check.
Then, New Years 2010 starts approaching. No lil' smokies- got it! Buuut, I got sick BEFORE New Years. Happy New Years Eve 2009, and happy, "loose stools" along with my upset stomach. No party for me, but at least I felt better the next day, to start out 2010 healthy instead of sick- like the past 2 years.
Then, a couple weeks later, I suffered from the same nursery rhyme without having eatin any lil' smokies....strange. Then, at the end of January, I was starting to feel better. We thought it'd be fun to grab a bite out to eat cause we hardly do. Sonic was the destination.
No tots, no cheese, just a wrinkly jr. burger. I ate it. What else was I going to do? Not eat it is what I should have done. I still had a case of the 'lil' piggies' but was on the curly tail end of it. This- did not help. My stomach was a rock. In a few hours I could barely move. I had a more intense case of "loose stool" and was in pain. Then I was on the bathroom floor in pain- not moving. I felt like I did the night we went to the hospital and 4 hours later had a baby. But worse, there was no baby.
We decided to go the ER- they did some tests, but said it was a virus and sent me home with instructions to do a followup with my Dr....Great- I already had my yearly appointment scheduled for that Monday. My mom sent me with a family tree of how many people in our family were without gallbladders.
My mom, my grandma, my aunts, my great grandma, my great..great...you get the point. My genes were not helping any more than the Jr.Burger was.
After an ultrasound and HIDA scan- the conclusion was that my gallbladder wasn't bad enough yet to take out. But to try to regulate it with diet. My response: we don't eat that bad! I mean seriously, we make most our food at home, we eat out like hardly ever- where is all the fat coming from that was stressing it out?! Their response: it's just bad genes.
In conclusion:
The more I read about it, and asked questions, I realized that everyone has their gallbladder out these days. Our diet is so awful that we destroy it. But wait- mine's not THAT bad yet. Still functioning about 7% above the average removal functioning of 30%. Great, right? Well, for me, yes. I am not one of the people who came equipped with a functioning part. My factory settings came with a handicap. My galbladder started the food consumption, fat break-down process race with bad genes.
My goal: To limit fat intake so as not to put additional stress on my already genetically stresssed-out galbladder AND while I'm at it, take out everything else that's not good for the rest of me. I want to know what I'm eating.
Why? I want those lil' piggies to go home and stay there.
5 comments:
I've been having a really intense pain in my stomach, kind of high up in my lower ribcage. It comes and goes for the last two years. I first thought it was gallbladder, because that is a genetic thing in my family too. One doctor told me it wasn't.
Now I'm thinking it might be ulcers. Certain foods, liquor, and stress cause me immense pain! I just don't have insurance and can't afford to go get it looked at.
I am trying to eat the best I can and stay un-stressed. Good luck to you too!
Hi Calista, you have a beautiful family.
You must be concerned about health of your family as well as your genetically weaken galbladder. I am sorry to hear that.
I think just because you eat home-made food does not mean that you eat healthy. How you cook and how you eat are as much important as what you eat.
How about eating less salty, less sugar, and more water? Actually vegetable satisfy every condition. But not a canned vegetable. I was really shocked with so many kinds of canned products such as canned soup, canned vegetable, or canned everything that I have never imagined. Your people are genious to make everything with a can. But it has a lots of chemicals which are harmful for a human.
One thing we do not eat but American eat is burned or scorched food. We never eat a burned burger, or marshmallow. It also contains chemicals and other sources that cause a cancer.
If we are alert to how to cook and how we eat, we can be healthier than now.
The blog it shows is my old blog. The blog I use cannot be verified. I do not know why.
Hi Calista, you have a beautiful family.
You must be concerned about health of your family as well as your genetically weaken galbladder. I am sorry to hear that.
I think just because you eat home-made food does not mean that you eat healthy. How you cook and how you eat are as much important as what you eat.
How about eating less salty, less sugar, and more water? Actually vegetable satisfy every condition. But not a canned vegetable. I was really shocked with so many kinds of canned products such as canned soup, canned vegetable, or canned everything that I have never imagined. Your people are genious to make everything with a can. But it has a lots of chemicals which are harmful for a human.
One thing we do not eat but American eat is burned or scorched food. We never eat a burned burger, or marshmallow. It also contains chemicals and other sources that cause a cancer.
If we are alert to how to cook and how we eat, we can be healthier than now.
Hi, Calista. I love your blog. I also have had my gallbladder removed. Like yours, my was borderline but I was sick a lot. My regular doctor did not want to remove it, but he went out of town one weekend. I ate a chicken fried steak, which I rarely do. That did the trick. I felt like I was in labor. That weekend, my gallbladder was removed. Sometimes, I am glad and others not. I have health issues without it as well.
I'm really sorry to hear about your really bad cases of the "little piggies." Loved your post though! You are a wonderful story teller.
I know a lot of people who've had their gallbladder removed (mostly overweight people) and I can't believe how much of a problem it is.
I can relate with the bad genes thing though. I'm healthy, I eat healthy, I exercise, I don't smoke or drink, but my cholesterol is super high. I have been on medication for it since I was 20. The reason: bad genes, like you. Sometimes there's just not much we can do about it. Congratulations to you for being so responsible and trying to make your life even healthier!
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