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Doctor's Call I had a blood test done last week as I've been having abdominal pain on-and-off for some time. I had previously justified it as too much stress, but the discomfort was getting to me and I finally decided to stop being a chicken about it and have it examined. The doc called last night and said most everything looked good but that my bilirubin levels were a bit high, nothing to be too concerned about, but higher than normal. Bilirubin? What the hell is that? I thought perhaps he was just funnin' me with some made-up words. Um, no. It is a real term. Apparently it has something to do with my liver and it may be swollen or inflamed. Well, something definitely hurts in that area and it isn't my appendix. He said I should get another blood test and a colonoscopy just to make sure. Sounds fine by me. I'd rather be sure, I guess, than have it be something serious and not know about treatment options. Today I just happened to mention it to my younger sister and she said, "Bilirubin? There's something you should know..." I hate it when these sorts of things are said -- you know something is coming that perhaps you don't want to know. I guess my sister and my biological father both have the same situation and it's from a condition called "Gilbert's Syndrome." It is a liver condition where your organ isn't working quite right and your body can't fully re-absorb spent red blood cells. Your skin and eyes can, but not always will, get jaundiced looking as well. I always just thought I had a natural slight olive complexion! There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information out there about this, but it is believed to be benign and something you can just live with. I feel nervous and stressed about the fact that I potentially have a disfunctional liver, but I'll get more information from the doctor next time I see him. I asked the doc if there was anything I should or should not be doing in the meantime (this was yesterday, remember) and he said, "Well, you probably shouldn't be drinking alcohol." Not a tough deal for me as I rarely drink (just the occasional Becherovka), but today I got to thinking and it kind of got to me that I've spent the past 33 years being very careful about things I put into my body (no smoking, very rare drinking, no red meat, no drugs, etc) and now I've maybe come to a point where that just didn't matter -- genetics had me pegged all along. posted by jeremy at 10:31 PM
hey, don't let it get to you, if you let it start running your life then you have no life. if both your sister and father have it, you can ask how it has effected their lives..and your taking care of yourself has probably helped keep it from being worse then it is. posted by: bill on January 24, 2003 11:48 AMGlad you went to the doctor and had it checked out. Make sure they take all of the tests to know for sure what it is. My nephew was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. It made him radically change his diet and prevented him from getting disability insurance. Turns out, he actually had a bad gall bladder and once it was taken out, he could go back to eating normal food again without the pain and diarhea. Now he's trying to get that Crohn's label taken out of his records so he can get insurance. His brother went through the same thing. They are trying to get their other brother to have his gall bladder checked but apparently his pain isn't enough to get his ass in to the doctor's. Ah, Becherovka. I was introduced to that on a trip to eastern europe, Prague, I think. I brought back a bottle way back when but have never opened it. I'm not a big drinker either and without the setting it just doesn't have the same appeal. Hope you feel better soon! posted by: Lauri on January 26, 2003 4:02 PMCould it be a gall bladder problem? I seem to remember a couple people who have had similar symptoms and had to have their gall bladders removed. What ever it is I hope you get to feeing better. Andy posted by: Andy on January 31, 2003 2:24 PM |