The gall, I tell you

Summertime - it's our vacation, right? Not so fast. It's hard to have a fun vacation when you don't feel well. It's also hard for the kids when their parent doesn't feel well. None of this makes for a fun or even active summer break.

The day before school let out, I ended up in the ER with severe stomach pains. I thought it might be my gallbladder, but the doctor said it was kidney stones. Fine, then - off to the urologist. He said that kidney stones were an issue, but he thought that, given where the pain was, my gallbladder might be the problem. Back to square one. An ultrasound showed sludge and the urologist sent me off to the surgeon. The surgeon helpfully described it as a "sludgeball" (BUMD said that it sounded like something the kids would call each other) and said he'd remove the gallbladder. The first available surgery date was two weeks later. In the meantime, I was told to just eat a bland diet. Easy - for those not doing it.

One definition of gall is "something bitter to endure." That pretty much accurately describes living with a malfunctioning gallbladder. Eating hurts. Not eating makes me feel unwell too (although it's great for weight loss). We were supposed to meet friends for a BBQ in Canada. We'd made fun plans to tour parts of Montreal, Quebec, Massachusetts, and Vermont. All of those plans were cancelled.

Needless to say, it hasn't been a fun summer so far. However, surgery was Tuesday and I've been feeling better since. The kidney stones still need to be dealt with, but that will wait for now while I recover from round one.

Things are looking up in the kids' lives as well. C starts two weeks of summer camp next week. He should have a blast. During the second week, K is going with her grandfather to visit family friends in Colorado. She'll get to be an only child and do some hiking. She's very excited. A is excited too - during the days on the second week, she'll be an only child too. She's having fun dreaming up all of the activities she and I will get to do alone, together.

Maybe, just maybe, our real summer has just begun.