Because my initial visit to the doctor for this whole gallstong thingy was on a Saturday, I had to go to Urgent Care. And Urgent Care had (supposedly) been communicating with the clinic I got my ultrasound at yesterday. Except apparently there's a giant, gaping, chasm between the two buildings, making communication of any sort extremely iffy. And no one seemed to want to take control of my case, so I have spent the week in a kind of limbo, wondering whether I had something major to worry about or not.
But yesterday, Mike finally got someone on the phone who
could tell us what the hell was going on. Her name is Paula. She's a nurse. And I
think I'll name my next child after her.
After my ultrasound yesterday, we were told to go home and wait for a phone call. So we did. When we hadn't heard anything by 4:30, I asked Mike to try to find someone to talk to us and give us some answers. Enter Paula. My new favorite person. After apoligizing profusely for all the confusion (which she even admitted was on their end AND offered to send us a service complaint report for it), she explained A LOT.
Evidently, my appointment for surgery today is actually an appointment to TALK with the surgeon about what's going on with me. And the phone call we were told to wait for yesterday? It never would have arrived because I didn't need a phone call since I had an appointment today. Makes sense, right? Thank you Paula!
Also, she was the first person to tell me that at this point my situation wasn't an emergency, and the only reason they told me to go to the emergency room if I felt lots of pain again was because it was Saturday and the clinic was closed.
Huh. THAT would have been good to know.
She said I was doing and eating the right things. She said she had been through it herself and suggested a few more things I might try eating. And then, and this is my favorite part, do you know what that Paula said?
She said "For some women, the pain involved with gallstones can be worse than labor pains."
And that alone, just having a medical-type person acknowledge the fact that I really, really, REALLY did hurt, that erased (almost) all of my frustration with the whole deal.
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