Hospitals, doctors, and surgeons, oh my!

I ended up in the hospital on Monday of last week (Sept 18th )due to pancreatitus and passing gall stones and vomiting my brains out. It was extremely painful. The doctors actually scheduled surgery to take out my gall bladder but couldn't do it until my pancreas levels went down and they scheduled it for last Friday. Well the Thursday prior to the scheduled surgery I passed another stone and they re-scheduled for the following Monday, the 25th. The official diagnosis at that point was that I had gall stones and there was a gall stone blocking the entrance into my small intestine.



The doctors decided to perform a precedure called ERCP in order to clear any blockage other than the gall bladder so they could do a simple lathroscopy. In this procedure they stuck a tube down my throat with a camera and tried to clear the blockage. A simple procedure, it was supposed to take about an hour. Mine lasted over two and I wasn't completely sedated like I was supposed to be. I remember the tube being put down my throat, it felt bizarre. But when they hit the block, I came off the table. Wow that hurt! I also remember throwing up on them, poor guys!



Come to find out the block was actual tissue and not a stone. It was a tumor blocking that entire tube. They cut a relief drain through it and put a stint in. They took a biopsy of the tumor and it came back as an adnoma. Benign, but could possibly turn cancerous if left. The problem is that it is in an extremely rare and delicate place where the liver, gall and pancreas all empty into the small intestine, right at that juction. The surgeon said he'd never seen a polyp there and it was rather unusual.



They sent me home Wed and told me they would be in contact about the surgery. My surgeon wanted a more experienced doctor there with him as well as a full staff in case of any emergency. I go in Monday at 2pm for open surgery. The recovery time is 8 weeks. By the time I go back to work it will have been 10 weeks off. I don't have health coverage and had to pay for my surgery half up front. Please pray for a good recovery and my finacial situation.