Current location:	home
Current mood:	tired
Current music:	Pink Floyd - "Run Like Hell"

Feel the Bile Rising From Your Guilty Past
So, I finally saved up enough N.H.S. loyalty points to earn some time in Stirling Royal Infirmary.

Anyone who has seen me recently will know I have lost over two stone and two dress sizes in the past year through being very ill.

This came to a real head this week with pain and vomiting a LOT. On Saturday we headed to the new shopping centre in Livingston to do some Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, not long after arriving and parking I was suffering pretty badly with chest pains which I put down to trapped wind. We got on the motorway back to Stirling with the intention on going home if I improved en route. Unfortunately, as we reached Stirling Services I was in agony and very concerned. Given my history of blood clots, angina or heart attack are very real possibilities so Mike took me to A&E.

An E.C.G. proved normal but my tested blood showed an abnormality which could suggest cardiac issues so I was required to stay in for a further tracing and more accurate test.

On Sunday I was informed that the tests were back negative and that my issue was not cardiac. However, my liver function test had caused some concern so would have to be repeated.

The repeated L.F.T. showed an abnormality so I was booked in for an abdominal ultrasound on Monday. This showed evidence of gallstones so I was to stay in for a more detailed C.T. scan today to determine the extent of the problem. I had this test and now know that I am riddled with gallstones but that they are not in a dangerous position,i.e., blocking the bile ducts, so I was discharged this afternoon and will be seeing the surgeon as an out-patient to see about having my gall bladder removed.

I do not feel too anxious at the prospect of surgery, even given the awful complications suffered by my mother during the same procedure. I am really relieved that I now know what is wrong with me and that it can, and will, be fixed.