Sometimes life throws you a curve ball.

And sometimes you’re hit with the pitch.

I’m currently sitting at my dining room table still feeling the impact of the fast ball that hit me on July 14th.

That evening, after the kids were in bed, I began feeling some pain on the right side of my mid-upper back. I thought I had pulled a muscle so I spent some time stretching in hopes that it would feel better.

On Saturday, the pain was still there off and on, but had begun to move to my upper right abdominal area. It was uncomfortable, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Again, it was off and on thru the day and night.

Same thing on Sunday. Very uncomfortable, but nothing debilitating.

Then Monday morning around 1:30 a.m., I was woken up in excruciating pain. It came in waves and radiated from front to back. Back to front.

I took some Tylenol and it would begin to subside, but then intensify again. I didn’t want to wake up hubby or the kids, so I kept hoping it would go away, but after 3 hours of pain I gave in and woke up hubby. We were off to the ER to try and figure out what was going on with my body.

After asking a few questions about my symptoms I was asked, “Do you still have your gallbladder?”

Yes, in fact I do.

Blood was drawn, weight, blood pressure and respirations checked. The nurse tried to get me set up for an IV, but my veins were not cooperating, so I was sent to the waiting room until a bed opened up. There I sat with hubby. Waves of pain coming and going.

When they got my back to the room, they were able to get me set up with in IV and eventually gave me some medication for the pain. Then it was off for a CAT scan. All my symptoms pointed to my gallbladder, and they were looking for stones.

After about 4 hours in the ER, I was released with a diagnosis of gastritis and given medication to help with the pain and to help with the gastritis. Although the diagnosis didn’t make sense.

The next day I was off to see the doctor who needed to decide if I needed further testing or should be referred to a gastroenterologist. I was told they would get back to me, but overnight I had another severe pain episode. Fortunately, the pain medication helped, and I was able to call the doctor’s office the next morning for information on what the next steps were to determine the cause of my pain. I was told that I would need to go back to the ER as they couldn’t get me into the office. Even though I was no longer in severe pain, the fact that I was having pain at some level and because they couldn’t get me into the office meant my only option was to incur more ER expenses.

I had hubby drop me off at the ER and go back home to wait. The kids needed him more than I did at this point.

More blood work, vitals taken and an IV then another wait in the waiting room until a bed opened up.

When I was finally in a bed, they ordered an ultrasound. They took pictures of my gallbladder, pancreas, liver, spleen and stomach. It went on for about 20-30 minutes and then I waited again.

Finally, the doctor came in and told me I had gastritis. I had no gallstones. They could find nothing wrong with any of the ducts in my gallbladder. It had to be gastritis, even though I had virtually no gastritis symptoms.

Since this had been going on for a couple days, hubby had gone out to get his internet medical degree and found something called Biliary Dyskinesia (BD). It described my symptoms perfectly, so with a gastritis diagnosis that made no sense, I asked the doctor about BD. She assured me I did not have BD and this was gastritis. When I asked why all the pain was on the right side instead of the upper stomach area, she assured me that referred pain can happen due to all the nerves that run thru the digestive tract. It didn’t make sense, but it was obvious that they were not going to do anything further other than release me with more gastritis medication instructions as well as dietary instructions and send me on my way. However, they did refer me to a gastroenterologist, who I contact immediately and was able to see the next day.

All my test results were reviewed, and she asked me to go over my symptoms. Then she said, “This is your gallbladder. I think you have what’s called Biliary Dyskinesia.” I told her what happened with the ER doctor when I suggested it could be BD and she rolled her eyes and laughed. She explained that the medications I was taking should have provided me some relief if it were gastritis. But I had no relief. I was still in pain on a regular basis. Still needing Tylenol and pain medication throughout the day and night. Pain, every time I ate something. Pain on my right side, under my rib cage.

The doctor put in orders for a HIDA scan which will look at the function of my gallbladder and liver. If the gallbladder isn’t functioning correctly (putting out too much or too little bile), then I will need to be removed. She told me to call right away to get it scheduled. This test is needed to determine is BD is the cause of all my pain.

By the time I got home, my phone was ringing. Scheduling was calling in regard to the orders for the HIDA scan and I was so happy to get this test scheduled to see if we could get some answers. But soon found that I would be getting no answers right away. August 8th, so the soonest they could get me in for the scan. I got off the call with an appointment and complete sadness, frustration and overwhelm at the thought of continuing this pain for 2 1/2 more weeks.

So here I sit at my dining room table, feeling like I’ve been hit by a fast ball and there is nothing that can be done other than wait and avoid foods that cause me pain. Which, by the way, is pretty much everything I eat at this point.

On top of all this, the doctor told me she would strongly recommend I not travel, which meant cancelling our trip to Guatemala which is where I should be now instead of sitting at my dining room table.

So, there we have it. No trip. No answers. No real pain relief. And a cruise coming up on September 3rd, which I may or may not be able to go on either.

While I should be happy that I’m able to see a doctor and go the ER, I find myself angry at how flawed of a system we have here in the U.S. Because I know there are many that don’t have access to the same level of care. They can’t afford the medication. They suffer in ways I don’t. We need to fix this broken system and make sure that when people are in pain, they are able to quickly get the testing and medications they need.