#Spoonies: To Use Or Not To Use A Cane

Mentally check off if any of these questions apply to you:

Does it hurt to walk or put weight on the leg?

Have you tried everything to still have issues with walking?

Do you use furniture or walls to stay upright?

Did you recently injure your leg and everything just hurts?

Do you struggle up and down stairs or even struggle to step up on a sidewalk?

Congratulations! If you're able to check off any of these – you may need to use a cane.

I understand the concern of getting one because your doctor hasn't suggested it. If you've repeatedly told them that you struggle with walking due to pain or balance and they haven't advised it then what other things are they ignoring that you've told them?

When I started struggling with walking I thought it was a stupid idea to try to use a cane. My doctor didn't say I needed one, so why even think about it? At the time of this thought the whole my doctor doing a half-ass job didn't come into this thought process.

My journey toward using a cane started in my early twenties. Mobility issues IN MY HOUSE? You wouldn't believe it. Honestly, I didn't accept that I needed it no matter what symptoms blossomed in front of me

It didn't make sense for me, a young healthy woman to develop these issues. When trouble started to brew I had a common problem: shitty doctor after shitty doctor. Also, I still thought I was a healthy person with minor problems that would go away if I ignored it (Or over time).

It took almost falls, falls, and brain on fire causing falls for me to accept it. Whether my doctor told me I needed one or not.

 

Shitty doctors prevent better care that you deserve. Doubt that you're not sick enough to use assistance prevents better care that you deserve. Combined, you, me and others live a quarter of the quality of life we deserve or need.

If movement is blemished by balance issues, falls or pain a cane may help alleviate these issues.


Donate | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads Disclaimer: Not a doctor. This is not meant to dictate what you and your doctor has agreed on for your condition. Always consult your doctor or other medical professions you talk with about your health concerns. 

#Spoonie: Symptoms of Gallbladder Problems

 Other medical topic posts I've written can be found at this tag: Spoonie. 
Link to my youcaring account to help pay my surgery costs is here. 

I am linking to Mayo Clinic for info on everything I'm mentioning in this post. I am not a medical expert this is just lists from Mayo Clinic and my experiences with gallbladder problems. Listen to your doctor with everything overall. Et cetera... y'know the legal spill to not take my blog post as medical expertise/advice. 

Hi!

I wanted to write this blog post about the way gallbladder pain can seem like other things. It's meant for anyone who is thinking something else is going on...but you are saying, "Eh it's probably just ________ ". Because that's what I did and my doctors before my newest doctor did.

It's not always the usual problems you have. It is sometimes something new and wrong and needs to be fixed.

Don't ignore new stuff because of the old stuff. 

So, I'm going to write about my pain problems and how I stupidly thought this was RA, Fibro, IBS, or being lactose intolerant.

Gallbladder problems are common and so is having to have a Cholecystectomy based on quick Google search. That and everyone I've know seems to have had to have it removed or needs it removed.

Overlaps in medical problems and gallbladder problems:

Symptoms of Gallbladder Problems:

1. Pain  - mid to upper right section of your abdomen. 
2. Nausea or vomiting 
3. Fever / Chills
4. Chronic Diarrhea
5. Jaundice
6. Lighter colored stool and dark urine may be signs
7. Loss of appetite 
8. Bloating
9. Gas
10. Diarrhea or constipation

Symptoms of lactose intolerance:

1. Diarrhea
2. Nausea, sometimes vomiting
3. Abdominal cramps
4. Bloating
5. Gas

Symptoms of Fibromyalgia:

1. Pain
2. Fatigue
3. Sleep problems
4. Anxiety/depression
5. Fibro fog
6. Headaches
7. problems with peeing
8. painful menstrual cramps
9. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis:

1. Joint pain, tenderness, swelling -- in multiple joints
2. Pain - joints, back or muscles -- all over pain
3. fatigue
4. Poor appetite 
5. Malaise
6. Fever
7. Sleep problems

Symptoms of IBS:

1. Abdominal pain
2. Cramping
3. Bloating
4. Excess gas
5. Diarrhea or constipation

Symptoms of painful periods (for those who experience periods):

1. Lower back pain
2. Leg pain
3. Nausea
4. Vomiting
5. Diarrhea
6. Irritability
7. Weakness
8. Cramps lower abdomen
9. Stomach pain 

Foods that can cause Gallbladder pain:

If you are like me and your food consist of : Sweets, spicy and occasionally greasy...the pain may be your gallbladder. These foods can produce pain in your gallbladder. It's not just greasy foods that can trigger the pain. 

My junk food list may look different from others & why I added "sweets" to this. 

Junk foods / Sweets:

Most things you buy in this category are high in fat. So no..

1. Cookies, even if they are homemade.. oops. I eat A LOT of homemade cookies but wow did I hurt afterwards. I just assumed it was the milk in them, lol. 
2. Chips
3. Cakes
4. other boxed sugary/fatty foods down the snack aisle!
5. Ice cream -- duh! fatty! look for low-fat/no fat alternatives
6. CHEESE  -- high fat  -- I LOVE CHEESE.
7. Nuts -- yep -- I eat a lot of almonds/sunflower seeds. Oops. 
8. Dark chocolate .. I had to stop eating them cos they caused problems. 
9. Fried food 

TBH, if you notice pain from junk food just cut it out because it's not even healthy to begin with. I'm not saying this just because I had to and I want everyone to suffer, I promise. 

Peppers!!!: 

1. Any spicy pepper can cause gallbladder pain. 

It's recommended if you're going to involve peppers in your dish bland ones are the way to go. So, green peppers.

Meats:

1. fatty meats - beef and pork. 
2. Fried meats
3. Go for leaner meats like turkey and chicken -- at least that's what my doctor suggested. 

Condiments: 

Adding this because well, if you're eating a fatty burger... the condiments are going to do you in, too.

1. Mayo is murderous fat
2. Spicy mustard  EVERYTHING SPICY IS A NO IT'S AWFUL.
3. TBH probably ketchup but I don't use ketchup / don't like it ..so this may be slanted against the stuff. 

Foods to eat and avoid pain:

1. Fresh fruits and veggies
2. Whole grain
3. Lean meats, poutry, fish
4. Low-fat dairy products

Now everyone will not have the same food problems. Some of the things that I listed you may be able to eat while others cause you pain.  If you have gallbladder problems and the food that causes you pain isn't listed feel free to comment on this post. I'll add it to the list. 

If it's increase pain and more frequent.. go see a doctor. 

Make sure they check your abdomen for physical signs and get blood tests done. I know for those of us who are living the chronic illness life pain is just part of this adventure. But don't just throw it into the "already diagnosed problem" bin because there is a chance it's something else.

Is the pain intermittent? Chronic?

If you're experiencing either new pain that is intermittent or always there. It can still be your gallbladder. I experienced pain that came and went so I didn't think of it as NEW or something that I should even pay attention to.

The symptoms were intermittent for awhile, too. I have went to the ER several times over a span of years recently. But due to Fibro and RA it was quickly written off as easy to fix problem -- stomach bug,etc.

But I have a lot of symptom overlapping so I can't accurately pin-point when it started getting worse. 

I just had to stop eating  ____ food so I'm good no reason to see the doctor.

Thought this, too. Many of my pain symptoms overlap with the various health problems I have. So, when I would see my doctor it was written off to be apart of my other problems.

A lot of times I would change my diet because I assumed it was an IBS issue or lactose intolerant issue. 

Chronic pain problem are the norm for me. It's obvious I'll have to deal with pain.

My advice: Question every new pain that surfaces. Don't convince yourself that it's part of your other medical problems. Talk to your doctor even if they are the kind who'll try to add it into symptoms of your other health issues.

If it's a new pain problem and the symptoms are similar to what is in the gallbladder pain .. get a physical exam of your abdomen and blood tests done. Your doctor should be able to figure out where the pain was happening in your abdomen.

My pain "spreads out" so my doctor checked all across my abdomen -- lower, middle and upper. Even my lower back to make sure it wasn't my kidneys. 

It's just your gallbladder chill out.

Yes, I thought this, too, until I started experiencing intense and frequent pain than before. I was informed that there was a possibility of it rupturing like the appendix does. Again, I didn't take this issue that serious because I just modified my food intake and everything.

From my understanding there is no way to fix the problems. But I have a feeling that if you get it checked sooner than mine they can probably slow down the problem.

Change your diet if it's mostly fatty foods. Even if you're not experiencing gallbladder problem it will help to avoid having this problem. It's a common thing to happen to someone because of the way they eat or if they're overweight. So, avoid even having to worry about this from the start.

Pain experience can be tolerable to curling up crying because it's all over pain stretched across my abdomen, back and chest. It sucks completely so I'm writing this to help encourage someone to get the new problem checked out to cross out what it could possibly be.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone. If you have chronic health issues and are experiencing something new... and suspect it's gallbladder/not sure. This is a blog post that is talking about this and see that you're not alone with this kind of experience. 

Thanks for reading!

You Don't Have to if You Don't Want To - Chronic Life

My boyfriend said these words as I struggled to stand up to get dressed. It was Easter morning. His side of the family were all gathered in the front of the house. I was surging through the pain scale where a pain level 10 was no longer accurate.

"You don't have to if you don't want to" was a knife to every part of me that was hurting that morning. Overall, that was every part of me except, weirdly, my elbows.

When I went for the HIDA scan was my last day of manageable pain. After that it was a major flare up where it felt as if my flare up was having a flare up. Yesterday my pain level was down to a 7-8 which was relief.

I sat next to my boyfriend and was "I'm no longer at a suicidal level of pain." he goes, "What? Don't make me have to remove all the guns and knives from this house." I explained that it felt as if death would the best pain reliever because that is how high my pain levels were the past week.

It wasn't that I didn't want to do any of the social things for the holidays. I could not. I could barely hold a thin plastic plate and the fork to eat the food. He put small amounts of food on the plate and it physically felt too heavy.

I ate what I could but I struggled to even walk to the bathroom and back. He's been with me for the most of my pain adventure. So, this sentence stung and it's still bouncing around in my head I can't get it to stop.

By the end of Sunday I told him, "Well, I'm not going to be able to go up to my sisters tomorrow." He seemed surprised about all of this as if he's new to this.

Sometimes I forget that those in my life who don't experience pain every day forget that it does remove the fun things I can do. I worked two days last week and did my exercises like I normally do and my body is not happy.

I am on medication for my RA, muscle spasms and to manage my pain levels. I don't have health insurance so I haven't been able to sit down and talk with my RA doctor to switch my medications. 

I feel very stuck in my health situation at the moment. I don't want to not be able to do the things that I enjoy such as family get together's, holiday celebrations and just doing normal every day things. 

In conclusion, just please pick better word choices when you're frustrated with someone in your life that has physical ailments and it can't be helped.