I’m no stranger to medical issues. I was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer in 2012 with tumours in my uterus, left lung, and spleen, and went through placenta percreta in 2014 resulting in an emergency hysterectomy and nearly the loss of my life. In between those things my lungs were damaged due to chemo, my heart started beating an extra 500 beats per hour, and I gained and lost a bunch of weight repeatedly. I love seeing the look on doctor’s faces when they read through my chart.
Two weeks ago I had what I now know is a gallbladder attack. Guys I legit thought I was dying. I writhed in pain for like six hours but never sought medical attention because I have a super high pain tolerance and with all things covid I didn’t even know if I could just show up to the hospital anymore or if I needed to make an appointment for an emergency.
The pain went away and I hoped that it was the end of that ordeal but then on October 30th the pain came back. The last time I was in pain like this was in 2011 the day my son was born. The pain came back 3 months later and they diagnosed me with cancer so I think maybe deep down I didn’t want to know what was causing the pain. #beentheredonethat
I writhe in pain for another 5-6 hours wondering if this is how my life ends and in the morning my husband insisted I at least call telehealth (which for anyone not Canadian is a helpline we can call to talk to a nurse and they’ll advise). So I tell her what’s going on and she’s like “uhh you need to go to emerg.”. I felt silly going into the emergency department because I wasn’t actually in pain anymore but I went anyway. They did blood work and found that my liver enzymes were super high and indicative of inflammation in my liver and gallbladder. Off I went to a bigger hospital to confirm through ultrasound where they found two large gallstones and debated doing emergency surgery all day.
It turns out my stint with Keto and eating so many fatty foods over the past few years have really taken a toll on my body and any time I consume fat now, my gallbladder constricts against the gallstones and causes horrific pain. The girl who scoffed at baking apple slices as a dessert instead of eating sugar-free cheesecake is now making baked apple slices.
So this is my new journey and to be honest, I am super grateful for it. There’s nothing like the threat of severe pain to get your mind right about eating. I’m actually having a lot of fun creating new recipes I never bothered to try before because I liked the keto-type meals better but I’d really rather not require surgery to remove yet another organ from my body. I always knew I needed more than just willpower to fight those cravings and now I’ve got it. ;)
Feel free to join me on this new journey. Lord knows I could use a cheering squad.
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