Category: Jenny is neurotic

About three weeks ago on a Monday night, I went to bed as soon as Bobby got home from work.  I had this weird pain in my side that had been plaguing me all day.  The next morning, I felt better – for a few minutes, and then it came back.  It wasn’t super-bad (trust me, I am a MAJOR WIMP), but it was annoying and uncomfortable.  I knew it couldn’t be my appendix because I gave that organ the heave-ho when I was 18.  I began to suspect kidney stone, gall stone, or cancerous tumor (see: post category, Jenny is Neurotic.)

Six days later, on a Sunday, I decided to go to Urgent Care because a) Bobby was home with the kids and b) the pain was so persistent I had really psyched myself out that a terminal diagnosis was forthcoming.  So off I went, with super-high nervous blood pressure brought on by my wild imagination as well as my symptoms.

At Urgent Care, the doctor asked me a few questions, pressed around my abdomen, assured me I did NOT have a tumor, and upon learning I also did NOT have an appendix, told me I most likely was experiencing a gallbladder attack. I was relieved and not really surprised. I had expected that, if I wasn’t to soon me on my deathbed, it was probably my gallbladder.  My mom had hers out when she was younger than I am now, and my BFF Luanne just gave hers up in December.  My friend Lori had hers out just after having a baby (or were you pregnant, Lori?)

The good doctor told me (in heavily accented English and using the phrase, “ok, cool” a lot) that I could go get a liver function blood test and an ultrasound at the nearest hospital if I wished.

I thought about it and decided to pass.  That sounded expensive!  The past two weeks I’ve been treating my symptoms  by drinking ridiculous amounts of water (previously unheard of for me) and taking herbal supplements to promote gallbladder health.  And, it’s really helping.  I can still feel that gallbladder telling me it’s there sometimes, but not nearly as much as before, and it really is not painful, it’s more of a nag.  I’d really like to try to avoid surgery, because who has TIME for surgery, I’ve got a fabulous trip to Miami to plan for! (However, see above, I AM A WIMP – if it gets excruciating, I will head to the nearest hospital and demand they operate.)

But then.  This week, for some reason the gallbladder PLAGUE has hit all of my Facebook friends!  THREE, count’ em THREE people I know (two I actually KNOW, like, in real life) have gotten their gall bladders removed THIS WEEK!!  One is only 21 years old, the other two both have babies that are less than two months old.

What’s the deal, gallbladders of the world?  Is there like a general uprising going on?

So, have any of you dealt with this?  Any exciting remedies I should know about?  I am using one that has like, a million fab herbs for liver & gall bladder function in it.  I got it from Health Foods Unlimited, so you know it has to be the cure-all. Ha.

Give me your best advice or gallbladder stories!  Save the gallbladders!

Last night I had a stressful night in my vehicle.  It started when the drive-thru at McDonald’s gave Sophie a chicken nugget container full of TARTAR sauce instead of chicken nuggets, and escalated when  I had to go back through the drive-thru and the guy in front of me in the very long line wouldn’t PULL FORWARD enough for me to get to the speaker even though he was done ordering.  For some reason, this enraged me, and as seconds ticked by while he SAT THERE when I could’ve been ordering them to whip up Sophie’s nuggets, I found myself seething and really wanting to get out of the car and go postal on his car with the nearest blunt instrument.  BUT.  Of course, I didn’t.  I mean really, I would NOT do well in prison, and McNuggets are not a good enough reason to get sent up river.  But I was, let’s just say, unreasonably angry.  I always let stuff like this get to me.

When I stress myself to death, when I DIE of a stress attack, keel over from a stress-induced aneurysm, here are the possible straws that broke the camel’s carotid artery:

• not being able to open a jar
• not being able to open the frozen doors of my vehicle
• banging my shoulder on a door frame
• banging my head on a car door whilst trying to buckle a child in their car seat
• folding up my very expensive supposed-to-be-easy-to-fold-up stroller
• when the tab rips off a brand new diaper
• biting my tongue (literally)
• grocery cart wheels not turning
• grocery carts in which the baby seat belt does not work
• a wrong order at the fast food drive thru
• people who don’t DRIVE when the light turns green
• people who DO drive when the light turns red
• parents who let 11-year-olds terrorize the mall play place
• My children asking “WHY?” to something I’ve told them to do
• when I can’t get something to work and then my husband makes it work with no trouble whatsoever even though I am glad he fixed it I hate it that EVERYTHING IS SO EASY FOR HIM!

Steam is coming from my ears just after writing that list!

While I go try to avoid a fatal meltdown, tell me – what makes your blood pressure skyrocket?

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s Resolutions. This is mostly because I have zero faith in my ability to keep them! So, I’m not making any this year either. But there are some things I want to, how shall I say, adjust for 2012.

You see, I didn’t enjoy 2011 all that much on the whole. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, either. Just writing that makes me feel horrible ungrateful and sinful, because I have SO MUCH to be thankful for and so many blessings in my life. Seriously. My un-enjoyment of 2011 had nothing to do with what I didn’t have. It had to do with what I had on my plate, and with how I handled it.

Having a new baby (third child), and having a child who had turned up developmentally delayed was way too much for me. 2011 was pretty much all about workworkworkworkwork for me. Take care of the constant needs of an infant while working on and being hypervigilant about getting Sophie over her delays. Also I spent the first several month of Jonah’s life battling the postpartum injury to my left hand which slowed me down and left me in constant pain. Add to this financial stress that accompanied the therapies and evaluations for Sophie (co-pays are a b!tch when you have weekly appointments. Especially when you have more than one weekly appointment. And don’tgetmestarted on our insurance only covering 20 visits of therapy per year for a child who needs 50 visits per year…) and the fact that we spent our life savings on our van…by the time summer came around and I had all three kids underfoot all day, still running around to appointments all the time, I was living my life in a constant state of anxiety and panic.

And I was doing my best. I handled it. I don’t think, all that well. And yet. We made it through. Jonah is a thriving one-year-old, Sophie is about all caught up and is kicking butt in school, in therapy, and on all her testing, and Joshua is doing awesome in 2nd grade, and swimming lessons, and it seems so far has retained only *slight* emotional scarring from having an angry mommy all summer.

So 2011. You kicked my butt. I was not even close to being a worthy opponent for you. I am not sad to see you go!

2012:It’s nice to meet you. I am already looking forward to how much better I am going to handle you than I did your predecessor! Mostly because my known circumstances are just plain going to be easier this year, but hopefully because I’ve grown and learned some things in the past year as well. I am not dumb enough to assume you won’t throw me any curveballs, but I’m optimistic enough to think I can knock them out of the park this time.

Happy New Year everyone! What are your hopes for 2012?