How can something so small hurt so much?

One night in July, I woke up with a terrible pain in my stomach. No matter how I moved around, the pain would not subside. It went on for an hour or two and was like nothing I'd experienced. The next day I told my family, and we all just assumed it may have happened because of the food I'd eaten. I didn't think much of it after that because it didn't happen again...until one evening at the end of August. This time, the pain was in both my chest and stomach area. I hurt enough that part of me wondered if I was having a heart attack. Yet, once it went away, I managed to convince myself that I was fine, and I didn't have it checked.

This happened a few more times, and again and again I would end up blowing it off after the fact. But this week I finally realized it was something that I needed to deal with, even though I think part of me was terrified of what the results might be. What if I had something really wrong with me? Well, after it started to happen last night, for the 3rd night in a row, I decided that Jeff and I would be taking a trip to the ER.

A sweet friend came over and watched the kids, and Jeff and I made our way to the hospital. Thankfully, there was no one in the waiting room, and I saw a doctor within half an hour of arriving. They ran several tests on me, and we found out I have gall stones. The doctor was quick to tell me, "Not just 1 or 2, but a LOT of gall stones." Basically, what Jeff saw as they did an ultrasound showed a gall bladder full of black. The doctor went on to say that with as many stones as I have, having surgery and removing my gall bladder is the only option. It is day surgery, and the recovery period is relatively short (a few days).

I left the hospital so relieved--relieved to know that there really was something going on to cause the pain, and relieved to know that it was something that could be solved without too much trouble.

I will talk to my doctor this week and will then talk to a surgeon and set up the surgery. I have a feeling I will grow more nervous as the time nears. I have never had surgery, and the idea isn't overly exciting. However, I am trying to remember my "relieved" feeling and not focus too much on the nervous feeling.

I would appreciate your prayers as the time nears--for my pain level between now and then, for the surgery itself, and then for my recovery afterwards. I'll keep you posted.