Merry Christmas

I will return in the new year and I promise to post a little more often. There has been much controversy about saying Merry Christmas. It's okay here in the land of political correctness to say Happy Kwanza, Happy Eid, Happy Diwali etc.... but god forbid you say Merry Christmas. I've made a point of saying it to everyone I meet and I counter Happy Holiday with Merry Christmas.

So to all my friends I want to wish you a very very Merry Christmas and I leave you with the following clip, it made me smile, I hope it does the same for you.

Aarrgghhh Deadlines!

Today was the last day to get parcels in the mail for Christmas delivery at regular prices. After that the only option is Xpress post which costs double. I'm happy to report that for the first time in four years I have managed that deadline. The parcel went out an hour ago.

I woke up this morning, a woman with a mission and I was like a whirling dervish. The list was long with numerous stops and then home to pack. Fortunately for me the cookies had already been baked and I did mange to hide them from Steve. Otherwise there would have none left. I'm not sure where all my new found energy comes from but I suspect not having any more pain has something to do with it. I'm now almost a week post surgery and I feel amazing. I still have my usual collection of body aches that come with RA but that awful grinding pain I had in my gut is gone and gone for good.

We will be alone this Christmas with our kids in Calgary and California. Nobody can come visit this year. I am so not anxious to fly anywhere into the U.S. After hearing of another elderly woman being strip searched on a flight from New York to Florida it is the last thing on my to do list. I would definitely be singled out because I beep going through the security and I absolutely refuse a full body scan. Maybe we will just head to Cuba or somewhere warm.

That's it for today, I'm off to do some decorating while I'm still feeling great...

It's All Good

It was a stone, no visible sign of cancer but a biopsy will be done nonetheless.

I'm in pain right now from all the gas they pump into you but that too shall pass. They almost kept me because my blood pressure went down to 40.

Having a gallbladder removed with keyhole surgery is the fastest way to do it and has the shortest recovery. Unfortunately the can't see or get the stones in the bile duct. I don't know what the odds are but with my luck, well we all know how that is.

I am happy, I dodged a bullet but I was one terrified person. Now I'm going back to sleep.


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When Things Work Too Well

I get nervous... especially with the health care system here in Canada. Everyone here expects to wait at least three months minimum to see any kind of specialist and some waits are much longer such as the one for the foot surgeon. That wait was three years.

My gallbladder was removed just before Christmas in 2007 and ever since I have had occasional ongoing pain just as if the gallbladder where still there. I probably had three or so attacks a year and they lasted about ten excruciating minutes. Now in fairness to my GP, he did an ultra sound that showed a slightly enlarged bile duct and told me that if I had another attack I'd need a CT scan.  Life got in the way, and I pretty much ignored the pains blaming it on diet, stress etc. Then came the big one. This last attack that happened back in July scared the bejeesus out of me because it lasted nine hours. Steve of course wanted to call an ambulance a number of times and I refused. I could no longer avoid the inevitable. I saw the surgeon just before we left for Greece and she ordered the MRI for when I came home.

 That MRI was two weeks ago and surgeon that removed my gallbladder informed me that she had arranged an appointment with a gastroenterologist just about immediately, I was floored. Seems my bile duct is 5 times larger than normal. The cause, that is the question mark but it needs to be dealt with.


I saw the gastro doc and she will do an  ERCP next Wednesday and that boys and girls is fast. This test involves sending a flexible camera through my mouth into the small bowel. They will then send a catheter through the bile duct and or the pancreatic duct. Then they throw a little dye down there and x-ray the whole mess. So what are they looking for? A errant gall stone would be the absolute best outcome. Next best would be something call sphincter of odi which is a little teeny weeny muscle that doesn't open and close properly allowing the bile to flow freely.  If it's the muscle then they will cut it (sphincterotomy) The really bad one would be a tumor. All three have been discussed.


I have signed the release acknowledging the possible complication of pancreatitis. The test is next Wednesday...keep your fingers crossed, I'm due for a break.