Everything's fine -- until it isn't

I got an early start to my day today.  I know, rare for me, but I was picking a friend up for lunch at 11,  so I needed to get up and get going.

D and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch and she showed off pictures of her new grandson.  So cute!  After I dropped her back off at work, I returned two items to TJ Maxx and bought two new items, all while talking to my mom as I wandered around the store.

On my way home my friend J called, but I couldn't get my cell phone out of my pocket in time to answer it.  I tried to ring her back, but the call went straight to voice mail.  Odd.  Roughly half an hour later, J texted and asked if I would meet her at the ER.

Yikes!  J has a history of kidney stones, but she hadn't had a flare up in a while.  Earlier in the day she posted on facebook that she was on day 6 of a bout with the flu.  I assumed that maybe she had become dehydrated or was unable to stop vomiting.  I told J I was on my way and headed to CDH.

J (and I) have a long history with CDH.  She has been a patient there for: two bouts with kidney stones, an ER visit to determine that she had an ovarian cyst, surgery to repair a labral tear in her hip, a colonoscopy, and probably some other procedures that are unknown to me.  We joke that between us, we've probably paid for at least several pieces of artwork and half of the upholstered furniture in the outpatient surgery waiting room.

Unfortunately J will be funding a few more settees and coffee tables because tomorrow she will have her gallbladder removed.  The nausea, fever, vomiting, and aches and pains that the doctor on call in her practice attributed to flu in reality were symptoms of a badly inflamed and infected gallbladder that will have to come out.  Hopefully the surgeon will be able to use laparoscopy, rather than open surgery which would lead to a longer and more painful recovery.  The severity of of the infection and inflammation will determine which method the surgeon employs.

Once the morphine kicked in, J was feeling no pain and was much more relaxed than when I first saw her in the ER waiting area.  In her drug-induced euphoria she is ready with a capital R to get rid of this small, non-vital organ that has caused her so much pain.  I'm worried that she doesn't understand the seriousness of open surgery (which I believe she will have to have), the high probability for complications, and the lengthy recovery that she will likely have to face.  Hopefully the surgeon will explain all of that tomorrow when she meets him.

For tonight, I hope the antibiotics and pain meds are effective and J is able to get some much needed sleep.  I will see her tomorrow before she goes in to surgery and I will be waiting for her when she wakes up in recovery -- it's the least I can do for a woman who has been my friend for almost 28 years.