Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Guess who gets to have surgery?!

Ugh, yes me. I have felt crappy and had stomach pain all year and thought I could fix it. Keith laughed at me and said "it is your gall bladder" and it only took me 7 months to listen him, so that is progress I guess. In the meantime I tried a variety of things. No processed food. No alcohol. Exercise. No dairy. No gluten. Vegetarian. Vegan. If God made it I ate it. More exercise. But the pain, it just got worse and the worst pain was from eating a kale and brussel sprout salad--there was NO fat in that meal. Here I thought I was making all these efforts to be as healthy as possible only to learn that if you don't use up or empty your bile (that stuff that breaks down fats) from your gall bladder that it forms stones from lack of use. Seriously?! Everyone reading this go eat some cake.

Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

It's not clear what causes gallstones to form. Doctors think gallstones may result when:

Your bile contains too much cholesterol. Normally, your bile contains enough chemicals to dissolve the cholesterol excreted by your liver. But if your liver excretes more cholesterol than your bile can dissolve, the excess cholesterol may form into crystals and eventually into stones.
Your bile contains too much bilirubin. Bilirubin is a chemical that's produced when your body breaks down red blood cells. Certain conditions cause your liver to make too much bilirubin, including liver cirrhosis, biliary tract infections and certain blood disorders. The excess bilirubin contributes to gallstone formation.
Your gallbladder doesn't empty correctly. If your gallbladder doesn't empty completely or often enough, bile may become very concentrated and this contributes to the formation of gallstones.

Types of gallstones
Types of gallstones that can form in the gallbladder include:

Cholesterol gallstones. The most common type of gallstone, called a cholesterol gallstone, often appears yellow in color. These gallstones are composed mainly of undissolved cholesterol, but may contain other components.
Pigment gallstones. These dark brown or black stones form when your bile contains too much bilirubin.