We weren’t able to get ahold of the doctor today. I guess this doctor has three different offices in three different locations and no one was working in the one he called. He left a message before I got up, so hopefully they’ll call him back. It’s really gonna piss me off if they tell him he’s not in network. I just want to get the show on the road and get this gallbladder out of me. I’m not in pain, per se, but it definitely makes me uncomfortable at times. I still get intermittent cramping, acid reflux, and mild nausea.

I asked some people on my Facebook profile and the park group if they’ve had their gallbladder removed and what it was like afterward, and most people said it’s no big deal, as expected. What did surprise me was that Becky said she continued to eat the same things after surgery. I thought I would have to cut a lot of different foods out, but maybe only in the beginning.

Irma wished me luck and said, “Your neighbor is here!”

Yeah, we saw. They have a new vehicle too. I like the color better than the other one. We also saw the water company turn their water on.

Made salmon patties for the first time, and they came out okay. Perhaps a little bland, so I think I’ll probably add a little more mayonnaise to the mixture that I have leftover, as well as some garlic salt. All it contains right now besides the salmon and a touch of mayo is flour, cornmeal, green onions, and an egg.

I was supposed to have some of these ingredients yesterday, but Walmart fucked up yet again. They brought us everything but our refrigerated stuff. When he called to get our money back, they promised him it would never happen again and he told them, wow, that’s pretty funny since it’s already happened three or four times.

Of course it will happen again!

For now, I only stuck one of the fake nails on the split nail to hold it together and prevent me from snagging it because it’s so long that it makes functioning hard. I’d hate to have them on every single finger! I’ll put stickers on the other fingers. It might be better to put several layers of nail polish on the torn nail.

I’m a little tired today but not as bad as yesterday. I napped for a little while in the evening. I wonder how much of the fatigue could be connected to my gallbladder, but I don’t dare dream and tell myself that maybe the anxiety is connected to that since I read it can cause anxiety and depression and that I won’t have these spells afterward. Besides, just like Tom and Helen pointed out, it’s likely multiple things causing it. The more I eliminate, the better, though. I’ve done well for a couple of weeks, so hopefully I’ll go longer.

When I was woken up by acid reflux a couple of nights ago, I swear I was in some very real but different world. I don’t remember a damn thing but just the feeling it gave me. It was as if I literally went somewhere that I can only go when I’m asleep. Where I normally remember most of a dream if I wake up during it, this one fizzled out of my memory in seconds, as if I wasn’t meant to remember this place that I can only go to when my mind is asleep. It was the weirdest thing, but kind of cool. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe but distinct from waking up from the average dream. I’m learning to read my dreams and differentiate between meaningless dreams, dreams that could be a reflection of my life and thoughts, dreams that could be a sign of something, and dreams that could be me slipping into another universe.

Later...

I’m sure there’s a plausible explanation for this, but something really weird happened after I finished Aly’s goodbye letter yesterday that Helen wanted me to write. After ending the letter by saying I hoped we would meet up if there was an afterlife, I turned away from the screen for a split second with speech-to-text still running. When I turned back, the word “OK” was at the end of the letter. No joke. Again, there’s probably a plausible explanation like if I sniffled or coughed or something. In the past, if I’ve hiccuped or burped it’s printed the word “them” or “him.” Not sure how you would get a two-syllable word that doesn’t sound like any noise I would make, though, so let’s just say it was a rather interesting experience that makes me wonder.

I feel like I’ve literally lost half of my hair or more over the years. I know hair loss is common with age and especially menopause, but it seems like a single braid is thinner than what one of two braids used to be way back when.

Trying to get ahold of a GI doctor in a rural area is pretty ridiculous. Tom tried another number today, but he got the same voice message. Tomorrow, he’s going to contact our insurance and find out who the hell we can call that will actually answer us. I’d really like to get the show on the road! I know it’s going to take more than one appointment to get the gallbladder removed. After seeing whatever gut doctor will see me, I will probably have to have a consultation with a surgeon. Upon a quick check of this gut doctor, he doesn’t do that kind of surgery. He shoves cameras up people’s asses and down their throats but doesn’t seem to remove body parts.

The way I felt sick after Red Lobster could probably be blamed on the gallbladder. Now that I think of it, yes, I ate a lot but I’ve pigged out before and didn’t get that feeling. I’ve had big meals at restaurants before and it shouldn’t leave me with such acid reflux and nearly puking.

I’m back down a couple of pounds, so I didn’t go up because of my thyroid but because I was eating too much junk. Based on my calculations, I’m guessing taking five 88s a week and two 75s is going to put my TSH at 6. Not dangerous but not low enough to lose more weight. Hopefully, it will keep the anxiety away, especially if I keep the dose consistent. I think knowing I have Helen also helps. Once I get to the 18th where I have six weeks until lab time, I’m going to increase my waiting time from 30 to 45 minutes. I don’t know if this will affect anything, though it may give me more energy.

He was able to bump my ENT appointment up to February 3rd. My ear definitely needs to be cleaned.

Not sure why it took a year but my old ENT finally turned my records over to Galileo.

I planted a mixture of seeds in the planter that has the single Petra leaf that survived. But then I noticed these tiny, little bugs so I put it outside. Didn’t really want that planter anyway because it’s not self-watering.

The dill is doing great and starting to get that feathery look the ends have.