“Oh the gall”, you might say, or for Jean “oh the gall bladder.”   Jean lost hers last Friday, purposely, of course.  For many years she had been having painful, strange attacks and had never been able to determine the cause.  After the results of tests, conducted by her new doctor, the verdict was that the gall bladder was not functioning properly and should be removed.  They weren’t totally sure that this small pear-shaped organ, (that is connected to the liver, and dissolves all of the fat that we ingest), was the culprit, but all concerned felt that there was little downside to eliminating it from the equation.  The theory was that once the gallbladder was removed, the attacks would subside.  Actually, millions of Americans suffer from gallbladder issues every day—it is not unique.

So, into the hospital she went, sure that her surgeon could suck it out,(vacuum cleaner style), and she would be fine the following day.  WRONG!  During the surgery her bowel was punctured and instead of that tiny little incision that she had so optimistically visualized prior to the surgery, she now had 5 incisions.  The original 3 slices for the laparoscopy, the 4th,  (not so small) incision made to remove the gallbladder, (once they saw how much scar tissue was around it, the sucking approached was history), AND the fifth to repair the leaky bowel.  Not exactly a fairy tale experience. 

Jean is doing well, and other than the aftermath of the sausage she ate the day following her surgery, (while she was surely still dazed by the effects of the anesthetic), she is consistently improving.  Her doctor had suggested that she have this procedure while she was still “young”.  Evidently, a  gallbladder procedure, which is a common surgery, is frequently preformed on very old people.

We, at AgingButDangerous, have a commitment to staying fit and feeling good.  Sometimes that means facing issues that could be/or have been avoided for years.  Feeling good takes work, and sometimes risk, but the rewards are huge.  I salute Jean for having the courage to face her health issues.

Staying healthy is sometimes a real pain!