June 14

As tends to be the case after gallbladder attacks, today was one of those "eat what I can" kind of days. English muffin for breakfast, a ham sandwich for lunch, some crackers throughout the day, and I actually made homemade pizza with a Weight Watchers recipe for dinner (Mike has been wanting it... I figured I had to make something for the poor guy!). I also tossed some chocolate chip cookies in the oven as a treat for Miss Lacey after our walk and, well, of course I couldn't resist! Still, I totalled about 1500 calories for the day... none of which were the healthiest of calories but at least I didn't go way over board.

As I continue my research about gallstone treatments, I am all the more perplexed with what to do. I realize that most people would say "Sure, take the dang thing out!" and when I am in the excruciating pain that it causes, I am tempted to say the same thing. The reality, however, is that it does not solve the problem. There is a valid function for the gallbladder and no matter what anyone tells you, your body will not work the same without it. I've read many reports of people with continued issues even without the gallbladder, including heartburn, diarrhea, indigestion, and other digestive problems that can still include gallstones. One friend of mine will be on heart burn medication for the rest of her life. A lot of people still have to avoid the same foods that caused the gallbladder attacks prior to removal of the gallbladder. None of this sounds right to me! Sure, the pain sucks- I mean really, really sucks- but there's got to be a better solution! There are all kinds of natural gallstone removal remedies out there, but who knows what to trust there either? Most of them include some sort of olive oil concoction that you drink lots of to soften and flush out the gallstones. First of all, ew. Secondly, there are issues tied to that as well... and I'm not sure who came up with those issues or if they're even valid, but I don't know what to trust! At this point, none of my options sound great. My biggest concern, though, is that we will be getting pregnant in the near future and I cannot have to deal with this issue then. So a solution must be resolved upon, one way or the other. I have read about a medical procedure that removes the gallstones while leaving the gallbladder in tact. I believe that it's not highly recommended by doctors because they say that gallstones will likely form again at some point. I sort of disagree with that, at least in my case. I believe that they reform in many people because they continue to live unhealthy lifestyles and to damage their digestive systems in various ways. I, however, lead a healthy lifestyle and will continue to take the supplements that promote healthy organs. Plus, I get adjusted regularly, which I feel helps greatly. In fact, an adjustment is often the only thing that will work to calm a gallbladder attack. So... my hope is to get the gallstones removed completely and to see what happens from there. If I'm wrong and they do continue to reform, then we'll reconsider our options. For now, though, this is the only option that I feel comfortable with. And I'm only assuming it's an option-- I may talk to a doctor who says I have way too many gallstones for that or that they don't offer that procedure anymore or something. Then it's back to the drawing board. Noone ever wants to go back to the drawing board!

So, that is one of my health-goals for the week-- to try to figure all of that out. (sorry if I rambled... just trying to work through all of this in my head and, well, it poured out through my fingers in the mean time.) That, and I really do need to work on ridding myself of these diet dr peppers. I don't know if it will be this week, because, well, hello pms (TMI??), but it needs to be done. Like I said, we're not far from trying to get prego, and I'd like to be off of them for a while before that happens. That, and I'm sort of ashamed of myself when I see them amidst all of the healthy foods in my grocery cart. So that's goal #2. #3 is that I need to do better throughout the weekends. I'm ok with rewarding myself, but I tend to do a little too much of that. Sundays are so unstructured that I tend to not pay enough attention. So even though we will be celebrating Father's Day this weekend, I will endeavor to do better so that I can get to 150 by the time we go to Pheonix next month. Three new health goals is quite enough for this week. Let's see how all of this goes!