sorry to hear the bad news les kind reguards to your mother i hope she pulls though this one if she is any thing like my dad(my dad is a real fighter, dos’nt give up) the chances are high, but as i just said my dad has been in hospital before and i know what it is like les hope every thing turns out. sorry that this has happened to you and your family

just be strong for your mother she’ll probly need it, all the best les

Les, I’m so sorry to hear about your mother. If it is of any consolation, my best friend (31 y/o female) was hospitalized with gall bladder problems not long ago.  The symptoms were very worrisome for her and her family, but after they diagnosed the problem, the treatment was no big deal. They removed the stones, then eventually removed her gallbladder altogether, both with minimum invasion...less than an appendectomy.

She’s no longer suffering from gall bladder problems. Says her myriad of maladies relating to it all but evaporated. She’s pretty pleased about the whole thing.

If it turns out to be her gall bladder that’s the problem, then I can personally attest that having one’s gall bladder removed is not a terrible ordeal. I had mine taken out over a year ago (after some extreme stomach pain revealed gallstones as big as marbles in there) and except for some discomfort that lasted a week or so post-surgery, it was a quick process, and I don’t miss it at all. The doctor told me that he’s performed thousands of these surgeries, and they’re more common than people believe.

So hang in there, my friend, and best to your Mom.

I had my gall bladder out last year, August 30. The pain leading up to it had me literally crawling on the emergency room floor.

Once the surgery was over and I had healed I was one happy camper.

Good luck to your mom...if she needs the GB removed she should have 4 tiny little scars to show for it.

My own mother had her gall bladder out recently after living with gall stones for years.  The stones were the most painful but she was afraid of surgery so she put it off and put it off.  When that stupid gall bladder is out your mom will be back kicking ass in no time. 

Still, it’s scary to have to sit by and not be able to do anything.  I feel for ya, man, I honestly do.

Best of luck to your Ma, Les!  We’ll keep in our thoughts tonight.

Nothing to add, except best of luck to your mother, and perhaps (as a inter-post tie-in), if they remove her gall bladder, it could make a better Governor of California than Schwarzenegger.

Best of luck to your mother Les, as useless as it may seem to you, I’ll pray for her.
Les, you said when you were younger you would go to church and what not, so are your parents christians? just wondering.
DB

Do you know the meaning of “inappropriate”? Just wondering.

My mother is in the hospital, too, Les, and is having surgery in the morning (too long of a story to relate here), so I know some of what you are feeling.  My best to your Mom; she will be in my thoughts.

I honestly wasn’t trying to be inappropriate, I was just asking, my wishes are only the best for her.

I will be holding a good thought for your mom Les.
Anyone with as much wit as she (I read her blog regularly) must indeed be “a tough old broad” and will kick this in the arse I am sure.

And Leigh good luck to your mom too.

Brandi, you can relax a little. I’m used to folks offering to pray for me and my Mom in situations like this and I take it in the good intentions it’s meant. I’m not offended by stuff like that as I realize they don’t really mean any harm. Thank you for stepping in, though. I appreciate you sticking up for me.

DB, neither of my parents are what you would call “good” Christians in that I’ve never known either of them to attend church outside of going to funerals and weddings. My mother is probably closer to being a Deist. She believes in God and she believes things happen for a reason and that’s about the extent of her religion. She’s not fond of organized religion. My dad has never specifically said what his views are and the few discussions I’ve had with him about it gives me the impression he’s an agnostic who’s leaning more toward the idea that God exists.

Neither parent was responsible for my becoming a Baptist. That was due to the neighborhood kids I grew up with. Some of them attended church and they got me into going and my mother thought a little religious background wouldn’t be a bad thing. There was a time when I was way more religious than my parents.

And thanks for the good wishes, DB, they are appreciated.

I’m double dipping for a moment:

Leigh, sorry to hear you’re in similar straits. You know you have all my best hopes for a good outcome.

Hope your mother gets better, Les.

Take care.

Les, I hope she will be ok. These surgeries usually go off well without any glitches. She will be fine and in my thoughts today. Take care **hugs**

Sorry, Les. I wasn’t trying to police your board. I never thought you needed anyone sticking up for you.

For the record, I consider myself a Deist/Freethinker. Only because I’ve never found a better definition.

Interesting on the neighborhood kids. I was dragged off a handful of times by neighborhood Baptist kids on their church “kidnapping” trips. Yes, they really called it kidnapping, it was supposed to be all in good fun. They’d scour the neighborhoods with their Mom driving the van, trying to collect their friends to come to “a thing at church tonight”. I got caught up in the apparent fun of it and went.

It was a gigantic rally to “be saved”. Of course I was too young to know what was really going on until I was knee deep in it. Like most kids, I wanted to be with/like my friends.

I didn’t realize when the preacher asked us newcomers afterward for our parent’s names and address, it was because he was going to come to the house in a few days, tell my parents what a “great time” I had at church, and they really ought to think about joining up, for “my” sake.

I didn’t have a good time. I was caught up in peer pressure. And to this day, I still find that particular tactic manipulative and appalling. And so did my parents, and they told him so.

Rachel-G, thank you very much.  You’re very thoughtful.

Les, yes I know that, and I thank you for it.  Likewise, my friend.

Sorry to hear about your mother Les. Hope everything turns out okay.