1:45 pm update
Forgive me for the typos… I’m just gonna jot something down quickly so as not to keep you in suspense. What would I do without you internet! You are like my own personal cheering crowd. Thank you.
I went to the ultrasound. The technician didn’t say she found anything. I didn’t press her though. She seemed very efficient in her job and reading the pictures she takes is not her job. She told me my doctor would contact me in 3-5 days. THREE to FIVE DAYS!!! Well. I don’t think so.
I’m going to call my doctor this afternoon, if she doesn’t call me first. Right now they are on their lunch break so I can’t pester them too much. And man is my doctor busy! The office only has two examining rooms. It’s just a cracker box of a doctor’s office and there were about twenty people in the waiting room!!! I had to wait to see her for over a half an hour yesterday. No worries. I could hear her in the next room talking to an overweight man about losing weight. She’s very kind and thorough so I don’t mind waiting because she spends just as much time with me. I love her.
I’m thinking since the ultrasound technician didn’t exclaim something like “Wow! Look at that tumor the size of a grapefruit!” or “Your gallbladder looks like it’s being attacked by asteroids!” that I don’t have anything wrong with my gallbladder, my spleen or my liver. I think those are all the things she checked. It was tricky deciphering the code on the monitor. “RK Liver” means what? Anyway. I think the ultrasound proved nothing. Which is good but a bummer, ’cause I just want to know what’s wrong with me already!!!
When I got home I was near faint from hunger so I was brave and made myself a bowl of oatmeal. Guess what! The oatmeal has stayed down! So far so good. It might be too soon to say though. It was 11 when I ate it. It’s 1:45 now. No major pain. Just burning and some achiness in my back that I can almost ignore. I’m even thinking I might have enough strength to go to the store since we are seriously out of groceries. Baby’s gotta have diapers too.
At 2 I’m calling my doctor and I HOPE she’s not too busy to give me some news.
Until then!
Edited to add: at 2pm left msg with dr. I guess no news is good news.
30 Comments
MamaBear
Glad to hear you are in a better mood and could eat something!~
You may want to buy some yummy soups in cans or something that can go down easy and stay down hopefully yet be nourishing.
But seriously, I know your husband is the one working and supporting your family and can’t afford to take a day off to help taking care of the baby, but what about going grocery shopping on his way back from a shoot? You don’t have to do everything especially when you’re sick.
Hope to hear good news soon!
Donovan
I’ve only visited your site a couple times but I’ve heard a lot about you through Whool’s site. I’m really sorry to hear about this brutal sickness you’re dealing with. It sounds like you’ve been handling it like a total champ and we wish you all the best getting those ultrasound results and getting healthy again!
Tanya Nichols
OH big hugs from this side of the internet!
Clownfish
Keeping something down is a good thing, not to mention that your body really needs it. I trust the doctor will get a handle on this soon and give you the care you need. Get well soon!
jbomb
It sounds like yo are getting better. Get better and keep us update.
hugs+kisses
Bethany
hugs to you, hope the suspense is over soon, and the oatmeal still on it’s way down!
Marissa
I have to agree, it sounds like your husband isn’t taking some of the weight off of your shoulders. I know you hate it when the internet folks jump on his case – and rightly so since we don’t know the whole story – but he needs to pull his own weight and take that baby away from you so you can get better and she doesn’t get sick. :(
josephine
I wish Toby had a blog. He took care of the baby ALL SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, while I was dying in the other room. He really is doing everything he can. His business is suffering. He needs to work every single day all day and all night and having a sick wife was NOT in the business plan. Now that I’m feeling a bit stronger I’m hoping I can pull my load again. I wish I had written more about all that Toby does. Sure he’s difficult at times. Aren’t all men? But he does vacuume and clean up the high chair and he never leaves his clothes on the floor. In fact he’s the neat one in the family.
He does pick up things for me if I need them but he’s TERRIBLE at grocery shopping. It takes him two hours to buy what I can get in 15 minutes. Anyway… I hate to always be defensive but I am. He does read your comments and sometimes he thinks everybody hates him.
Daisy Mae
I had gallstones when my daughter was 2 months old. It was great for losing weight but thats about it. With gallstones any fat you eat will make you sick as a dog. You get a HORRIBLE stomach pain that shoots right through to the back. And quite often you vomit. What I did was eat plan boiled potates and plain oatmeal. I put a little sugar on the oatmeal but no milk. Even a plain slice of bread sent me into a tailspin.
The good news is that if it is gallstones it is little more than what appendicitis is nowdays.
It’s extremely commong for a new mommy to get gallstones although it is more common with the 2nd child. It is because of a buildup of calcium or something like that.
Hang in there and try to eat small portions of plain bland foods when you can. I can tell you with almost no doubt that it isn’t cancer because cancer is a silent killer until near the end.
I’ll hang out my dr. shingle next week. Ha ha. Seriously, try not to worry, it will work out in the end and you will be on the road to recovery soon!!! Keep us updated, we worry about you!
chris
I hate when doctors scare you and rush you in for a test and then you are told it will take days to get the results. Sure sometimes it takes a bit of time for a culture to well, culture. But with other things it doesn’t. Why add the additional stress to the patient? Stress like this doesn’t help.
I am glad to hear you are keeping food down.
Thinking good thoughts for good news.
Take care!
Gena
I’m sending healthy thoughts your way. I had to have my gallbladder removed, but I was over 40 and had 4 children. I was never sick like you have been, but I called the EMT’s 3 times thinking I was having a heart attack. I have never had pain like that, and I gave birth 4 times with NO drugs at all. When they finally did my ultrasound, my gallbladder was full of stones. The operation was a breeze, but if you have to have it, please take it easy for at least a couple of weeks, not just the 3 days they told me to. Be good to yourself. I agree with one of the other posts, try to eat lowfat foods for now until they find out what the trouble is.
Lin
Sounds like Daisy Mae shared some remarkably similar symptoms with you. That’s interesting and exactly the same as a neighbor (with gallstones) suffered through. I’d stick with the bland food, very small quantities so as not to send you into a tailspin. You’ll be fine, but it must be so tough. With Baby not getting breastmilk, and not being keen on the bottle, the organic, full fat baby yoghurts are great calcium sources. And liquid infant multi-vitamins!
Anonymous
I believe RK is right kidney and liver… they just label those things so its easier to read… on the other hand I could be wrong… and on a completely different note.. Baby Bug is ADORABLE!
aunt kathy
Please keep calling your doctor (unless she calls you) and you find out what is going on. Sometimes things slip through the cracks because they are so busy. Remember what happened to Gramma?
aunt kathy
And thank the Lord for a husband that is willing to help out. What would we do without them?
Felix
If the tech had seen anything horrible in the ultrasound, they wouldn’t have let you leave – you would have been sent straight to the ER. They won’t let you sit for days with anything horrible going on inside. Sounds like you’re getting better. Glad to hear Toby was able to help out and let you get some rest. Thanks for keeping us all updated so we dont worry as much about you. I worry anytime you dissapear off the blog for too long. Hang in there.
Amanda
Phew! I am glad you were able to get in so quickly for the ultrasound and that things looked optimistic. I hope they find out the cause of your illness soon and you can go back to being your usual, energetic self.
Era
I found your blog the other day when looking at some interesting pictures of beaches (I was extremely bored) and ended up reading all of the blogs in your archives up to the current ones. Baby Bug is absolutely gorgeous and I’m glad I got to see her grow quite a few months in just a few days. I hope you get better because I know that trying to take care of children when sick as a dog takes an unearthly amount of effort and energy you don’t seem to have. Get well soon.
Carrie
Oh Brenda! I’m so sorry to hear all this is happening to you. I’m going to jump on the gallstones bandwagon because it sounds exactly like what happened to me with my gallstones. I lost over 20 pounds in three weeks. Whoo-hoo! Except that I felt like I was dying, so that wasn’t so whoo-hoo. In the end I found the only thing I could tolerate was a can of pinto beans, a cup of rice, a can of diced tomatos and a chopped up bell pepper all boiled together. Onions would really send me into a tail-spin. I hope they get some answers for you soon. I wish I could be there to help take care of you and BB.
MamaBear
OK I can totally relate to my husband grorecy shopping…. let’s just say last time, he went to the store THREE times (forgot 20 items on the list first time, second time forgot dog food and he was out of food), called me panicky because he couldn’t find the debit card while he had all of his wallet’s insides scattered on the grocery store floor looking for the one… let’s see what else… It took him hours and stuff was still missing or wrong but I didn’t have the heart to say anything. I was just glad we had groceries for the first time this month!!!
I actually understand and appreciate the sacrifice your husband is making for his family – so you are able to stay home with BabyBug instead of working outside of home. I have to work and often wish I could be a stay at home mom.
Hope you feel better soon. Sending good waves through the net.
BeachMama
Tell Toby he is not alone in the grocery department! I send Hubby to the store for milk and he comes back with a month’s worth of junk food!! And also tell Toby that most of us know he helps out and he is busy. It is really hard when a stay at home Mom gets sick, it puts more stress on the one who has to work. It is also harder when the one working is self-employed, being your own boss is great, but difficult too. I grew up with self-employment in our family, and sometimes it is feast or famine and you have to work when you have to work.
As for you, I hope you hear back soon from your Doctor. It sounds like Daisy Mae set out a good diagnosis for you, so let’s root for gallstones for you! And keep going with the bland food until you have it all figured out. Thinking of you!
josephine
But wouldn’t the technician have said something if she saw gallstones on the ultrasound? Or maybe they just like to keep me in suspence.
jP
The technician isn’t a doctor and isn’t allowed to say anything. They just take the pictures. I think it is good news that he didn’t call a doctor in during the session to look at the pictures live. And in my experience when there is something wrong they send you immediately to your doctors office to hear the information.
Eat your oatmeal and get your rest. That’s your job right now. Everything else can wait.
Marissa
Glad to hear that Toby is helping you out, and don’t feel guilty for needing help. Nobody hates him!!! I read about a person giving a job talk (faculty position) and she had a gall bladder attack during her talk – in front of all the other faculty! They had to drive her to the hospital because she couldn’t stop vomiting. Yikes.
lolita blahnik
Hope your ultrasound is Ok.
Lots of hugs and love and good luck wishes from the other side of the world!!!!
XOXO
another Bethany
Toby, thank you for taking good care of your family while your wife is sick! SAJ, I hope the oatmeal stays down and that you’re better soon. Still praying.
Stefanie
I haven’t read all of your blog, but I wanted to comment real quick.. Have they mentioned “ulcer” at all?? I had 2 ulcers after my c-sec last year.. the symptoms that you are mentioning sound just like my symptoms..
Hope you feel better soon.. I’ll be checking for good news!!
Jennifer
I hope you’ve heard something from the Doc by now. I had just assumed that Toby was pulling his weight and you both were trying to get through this together. Your description of him grocery shopping sounds very familiar around here :P My husband goes with a cell phone and calls me to explain where each item is and exactly what brand do I like. I don’t know what’s worse, going to the grocery store when sick, or answering 10+ phone calls every 5 minutes while my husband is there, with my 4 year old announcing, “It’s DADDY AGAIN!” But at least they try right???
Susie
Sending you healing thoughts…I hate the thought of you being so sick!
Leta
Well, you look great! If that’s any consolation. I hope you get good news soon.