So At My Work...

TheWesDude

TheWesDude

Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
so.

at my work there are like 7 of us on shift, 5pm to 5am.

we are required to have 2 people there for every shift minimum.

with the holidays coming around people are taking their time off. it looks like so far that its just going to be 2 of us "scheduled" to work thanksgiving.

i am not sure my boss is taking me seriously as to why she would do that.

i have told her that i have a medical issue in the form of gall stones. i am trying to get in with a surgeon to schedule and perform the surgery, but unfortunately this process is not moving very fast. PCP scheduled with GI specialist, GI specialist refers me to surgeon with ordered stuff. gall bladder removal and 3 biopsies.

the last time i was checked for my gall stones, she said i was at like 1/3 of my gall bladder was stones. she is seriously shocked at how i have not gone full on symptomatic. currently my liver numbers are pretty far off. after my doctor got my last round of ultra sounds on my gall bladder she gave me some orders.

1) no large meals. it could set it off.
2) no alcohol, it could set it off, and my liver numbers are so bad it could induce alcohol poisoning
3) be very careful moving around like when waking up. it could set it off
4) be careful of applying too much "internal compression" with deep breathing or when taking a shit. it could set it off.

she is convinced that i am having pains, and she may be right, but im not attributing it to the gall stones which would be the cause.

if i ever go full on symptomatic with pain, i have to go to an emergency room for immediate surgery, and if that happens 2-8 weeks recovery. and there is no guarantee that i could drive myself to the hospital which would mean ambulance.

but she also told me to not be too worried about it, as if it happens, it happens. large meal could set it off, drinking alcohol could set it off or worse, and eating even something like a bite size snickers bar could set it off, so there isnt any point in worrying about it.

but at any time, i could go full on symptomatic with pain, and im out of the running. i am not sure her scheduling just 2 of us for thanksgiving is that smart of an idea.

i have already turned down 3 offers from people to join them for thanksgiving because i know that if i am sat in front of a lot of food, i would over-eat. and thats not a good thing.


do you agree with my boss that this is a reasonable idea, or that this could be disaster for her.
 
1/3 OF YOUR GALL BLADDER IS STONE!?

:shock:

Yeah she should know not to do that with your condition or try to fix it once you told her. Typical boss behavior of just assuming your trying to avoid work at some point even if you have a legitimate reason.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
oh no, i wont lose my job. i have enough vacation to even go off a month.

and she has known about it for a few months. i told her about it when i was first diagnosed, and also been keeping her appraised once my PCP ordered me to get it removed due to my horrible liver numbers. she is seriously mystified at how i have not had severe pain yet and gone fully symptomatic.

my PCP was hoping that it would be removed before thanksgiving.
 
Dude, get that surgery done. This shouldn't be a question or an issue: your health is at stake. There is nothing more important than your health.
 
i am getting it done. but without full on symptomatic pain i have to wait for the "process" to finish. which currently looks like it should be done by christmas.

but the question of the thread is, is my boss doing something wise considering my condition only having 2 of us scheduled for thanksgiving when at any time i could go full symptomatic with pain.
 
As long as you have access to a phone, and call call emergency services for an ambulance, then it's fine. as long as whoever you're on shift with knows to call the ambulance then your boss to get a replacement in there.
 
What Eli said: if everyone involved is aware of your problem, an ambulance is only a phonecall away.
 
More importantly, why are you so fucked up to have a gallbladder full of stones? Wtf have you been doing to yourself?
 
It's *very* unusual for gallstones this size to remain asymptomatic. In fact, if the abnormalities in the levels of your liver enzymes are related to the gallstones, then they are not in fact asymptomatic at all.

Whilst asymptomatic stones are in no way serious, symptomatic stones are. I think there is a high likelihood that your stones are actually symptomatic - a view it appears that your doctor shares. Pancreatic/ hepatic complications can occur when symptomatic gallstones remain untreated. Given the size of your stones and your enzymatic alterations, I would strongly advise you to get them surgically removed ASAP. If this means claiming to feel pain you in fact don't, then so be it. Your lack of pain is extremely idiosyncratic considering the stone size, I have no idea what mechanism could be behind this - I don't think it is an accurate indication of the danger presented by your stones though.

Seriously man, normally stones a fraction of this size cause severe pain and threaten serious complications. That your stones are painless if extremely off, it doesn't mean that they are not a serious and immediate threat to your health and potentially life.

Not to alarm you or anything, but were I in your position working hours would be the last thing on my mind. Medical diagnostic techniques are a long way from being infallible, please don't risk becoming the exception to the rule and coming down with acute pancreatitis just because your stones don't appear symptomatic. Put number one first and assume they are. Your condition and (lack of) symptoms is highly idiosyncratic, and idiosyncrasies are the bane of diagnostic guidelines.

Finally, depending on exactly what deviations from the norm are present, altered metabolic concentrations in your liver may in themselves be harmful to your health. If for example isozymes of CYP or MAO are greatly reduced in concentration, then otherwise benign foodstuffs can become hepa/neuro/cardiotoxic and can even trigger acute medical emergencies in and of themselves. You would imagine that your doctor would have acted should anything too odd have been observed, liver function tests do not show the full metabolic picture though. Liver function can also change very quickly. Your body is a symbiotic machine equipped with organic feedback systems that have been fined tuned over millions of years. Inorganic abnormalities such as gallstones can be like throwing a spanner in the works.

If in doubt, chuck it out.
 
yes, i am going through the process of getting them removed. my appointment with the surgeon to schedule the surgery is currently set for dec 10th.

and the thought has occurred to me to just "fake" symptoms and claim pain and go in for emergency surgery.

and yea, i think i am getting some occasional pains that could be caused by the stones but i just never thought that could be the cause. now im starting to think it may be.


and my brother and i are the only ones in the extended family to not have their gall bladders removed by the age of 30. it will just be him now, he is 36 and ill have mine removed before 35.

but then again i also held onto my appendix longer than anyone in my family, 30, but due to complications during emergency removal surgery, recovery was really long ( little over a month until i could put on my own socks ) and surgery itself took like 6 hrs because they had to "fish" around for parts of it as it dissolved when they tried to remove it.
 
ok, so just thought i would post an update.

there were 3 people on shift for thanksgiving.

my original appointment to meet with surgeon was for the 10th, i called up and got a much earlier appointment ( this past wednesday ) and got the schedule and orders for my surgery. i go in for surgery on the 11th.

he said if everything goes right, 2 weeks off work. if things go slightly bad, up to 6 weeks. if things go majorly bad then 3 months. if things go catastrophically bad, my mom gets 100k in company provided life insurance. :)

so i emailed my boss the request for 2 weeks off with notice that it could go longer. she asked me if i really needed that long off for such a simple procedure. i pulled out the doctors orders he gave me and she said ok fine.

now they have a rotation to train the new guys asap to cover the monitoring position.

and just to make sure they dont try to get creative, i put in my request 12/11 to 12/26 just to make sure i have myself covered if they try to get me to come in early or something.

i am still at some minor discomfort but it is becoming more persistent especially if i sit for long periods of time, and i have started to get muscle cramps especially on the right side when i bend and twist. so sometimes during the night i have to stand up for a bit.

and it seems like i picked a good insurance plan as my co-pay for this is $100 out of pocket.
 
ok, last update for a while, at least until post surgery.


got a neighbor to give me a ride at 6 30 to the hospital tomarrow morning, as i work nights ill be staying up.

what sucks is no energy drinks. and i can only take my blood pressure pills. but that wont work period as i must take my prevacid.

doc said there is a real chance they may not be able to do it laproscopically and have to do it the old way. and if they do its minimum 6 weeks out of work. due to my symptoms.

when i woke up yesterday i woke up with abdominal pain that went away after an hour or so. i had cereal for breakfast yesterday, and then for dinner at like 10 pm i had like a pound of frozen mixed veggies.

probably do the same thing but eat dinner at like 11pm or so as they said no food for 8 hrs before surgery so basically nothing after midnight.

figure ill stay up, go in at 6 30, and then go to sleep and wake up after the surgery. this is one aspect working nights makes nice other than the whole staying up so late in the morning.
 
ok, i am now post surgery.

went in at 6 30, they did the surgery at like 745, and they kicked me out of the hospital yesterday at like 2 30pm.

some reason i have 4 cuts not 2. and they gave me oxycodone which barely takes the edge off the pain, not actual pain relief. for pain relief i need to take a bit of ibuprofen with them but i cant because of my blood pressure pills.

and i can only sleep in 1.5-2 hr blocks which is annoying to say the least, and i pee a crapload. and my throat is very sore, im guessing from the tube. had to change over to sweat pants from jeans to make it easier to pee in.
 
Post-op I was pissin like a madman. Finally broke down and started pissing in poland spring bottles. Then I woke up from a nap and took a huge swig of mine own piss by accident.
 
Wow TheWesDude good luck with all that. It sounds terrible. How long do symptoms last?

mobucks said:
Post-op I was pissin like a madman. Finally broke down and started pissing in poland spring bottles. Then I woke up from a nap and took a huge swig of mine own piss by accident.
Click to expand...

This is so funny it could derail the thread.

:clap: ,
The Vault Dweller
 
not sure, right now the biggest problem is i have not gone poop since monday afternoon, and not going poop on teusday is little understandable.

but not going poop on wed is an issue. i have farted a few times, but no pooping. if i dont go poop later today, i have to go to the surgeons office because it will be a large issue.

have tried doing stool softeners, but nothing yet.

taking the oxycodone they gave me for the pain could cause it. i have cut back a bit on that to see if it helps. and have cut back a bit on eating.

and i get to take the dressings off today sometime.
 
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