Bato sa buhangin

or, stones in the sand

Last Saturday I received the results of the blood exams that will be needed by the doctor to complete his diagnosis. I was incredibly relieved to learn that my second test for Hepatitis-C came back negative. When I first took it last March, I tested negative for Hepatitis A & B and tested ‘mildly’ positive for Hepatitis-C. There was also a recommendation for me to take the test again after 3 months. Between then and last Saturday, I tried to learn what I could about the disease. When I was a nursing student, Hepatitis-C was called non-A or non-B hepatitis. I observed one of the symptoms in my body and this somehow helped me to accept the real possibility that I might really have it.

Mother had absolutely no idea what Hepatitis-C was; her immediate question after I told her I might have it was, ‘How did you get it?’ This was a question that I didn’t know how to answer. My aunt, who’s a nurse, apparently cried when Mother told her about it. 

So when the test came back negative, I didn’t know what to feel. Mother and Aunt were vry happy. As for me, it was like this weight was lifted off my chest, but at the same time, I was worried too. If my jaundice was not caused by Hepatitis-C, then it meant that my gallstones were not a simple matter.

True enough, when my doctor heard my history and saw the test results, he thought that not only do I have stones in my gall bladder but also stones might be blocking the passageways between the gall bladder and liver and small intestine. He gave me two choices: one, the invasive type of surgery that will cut me open and leave me with a tube hanging out of my abdomen for the next 4-6 weeks, or the non-invasive type which would involve 2 procedures that will cut small holes instead of a big incision to deal with the gallstones (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) and the blockage (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP). Recovery for the latter is within1 week, and cost 3 times as much as the invasive procedure.

I decided on the non-invasive type, primarily because of the faster recuperation period. I will have to postpone the purchase of a new notebook that I had saved up for. But my health trumps any gadget–that’s for sure.

Tomorrow at noon I will be admitted into the hospital, where I would undergo ultrasound and some more preparatory procedures prior to the surgeries. On Wednesday the ERCP will be done, while the laparoscopic cholecystectomy will be done on Friday. The doctor said I can go home by Sunday.

I’m not really sure how I’m feeling now. I’m just hoping everything turns out well.