The Hope Diamond?

...and so begins my frustration with conventional medical care.

The results of my endoscopic exam were no ulcer. So why am I taking medication for an ulcer? I thought this was a good question. So when I called my diagnosing physician on Wednesday to discuss the endoscopy results, schedule something to take another look at my gall bladder (which had previously been dismissed as a cause), and ask if I should continue the ulcer medications I was told, "The endoscopy did not rule out an ulcer lower in your system so continue the drugs." This instruction came from the clinic nurse as Dr. Darey was a little too busy to come to the phone. But they did in fact schedule a sonogram of the gall bladder for Thursday morning.

The technician who performed the procedure did not offer any information as to what she might have seen, the results must be interpreted by a radiologist and then forwarded to my doctor. Fortunately the referring physician's clinic is located there at the hospital where the ultra-sound exam was performed so I didn't think there would be too much lag time. I was not disappointed, he called shortly after I left to tell me I had a stone of large proportions in my gall bladder and probably several smaller ones keeping it company. He continued to explain that the hospital had a surgeon that could perform a removal of the offending organ this coming Monday. Excuse me? Do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to surgery?

I don't think so. I'd already researched gall bladder disorders and knew that there were at least two less invasive (and also less successful) treatment options that could be taken prior to surgery. He was not even willing to discuss them saying, "In my experience, surgery is the most successful way to deal with this condition." You're all of 28 years old you little whipper-snapper. I'm old enough to be your mother so don't you dare use the phrase "my experience" in a sentence with me!

The before-you-go-to-surgery methods are drugs to dissolve the stones (slow going), a procedure that injects a flammable anesthesia into the bladder to dissolve the stones (very dangerous), and a sound wave therapy that pulverizes the stones into a size where they can pass naturally from the bladder. Since my stones are likely cholesterol stones that are a direct result of my excessive chocolate and donut consumption of the past three months, I see no reason why I can't do the following:

1. Quit stuffing my face with donuts.
2. Quit stuffing my face with chocolate.
3. Take the stone dissolving drugs.

Since my attending physician is unwilling to discuss alternate methods with me, I have an appointment to meet with the nurse that I normally see at his clinic. I trust her and I know that she'll give me the straight line on whether or not this is an option for me. I also plan to make an appointment with the physician I've seen the most (which is not much as I'm ridiculously healthy most of the time) since I moved to Kansas.