Last Tuesday, I rushed my self to the Emergency Room because of a sudden attack of discomfort in the right upper quadrant of my abdomen. During the talk with my attending ER doctor, Dr. Fedriso, he said that the internal organ in the complained area are my right kidney and gall bladder. He said my right kidney is smaller than normal size but cannot be confirmatory to be the cause of my complaint. He also explained that my gallbladder cannot be properly seen thru the ultrasound and needs reevaluation in two days. I asked why and he explained that my gallbladder is partially contracted. This might be due to my high fat diet intake that my gallbladder is working too much or maybe it has stones inside.
https://pixabay.com/en/digestion-intestine-digestive-oral-303364/
I took a researched of my own about contracted gallbladder
The gallbladder is a muscular, hollow sack, approximately two inches by one inch that attaches to the lower edge of the liver. The purpose of the gallbladder is to store and concentrate bile. After a meal the muscular gallbladder contracts, and the stored bile is secreted into the intestine where it helps digest food, particularly fats.
The term "contracted gallbladder" can refer to two different situations. The first occurs following a meal or after events that cause the muscle of the gallbladder to contract, for example, ingestion of fat or injection intravenously of the hormone that is responsible for causing the gallbladder to contract. The gallbladder empties, becomes smaller, and is said to be contracted. This is the normal situation.
The second situation is when the gallbladder is diseased, specifically when there has been inflammation, for example, due to gallstones, that has resulted in scarring of the gallbladder. Scarring causes the gallbladder to become smaller, or contracted, and the gallbladder no longer functions normally. The "contraction" in the latter situation is clearly different from the "contraction" in the first.
The gallbladder is most frequently evaluated by ultrasonography since fluid-filled sacks like the gallbladder are easily identified by ultrasound waves. If the gallbladder is contracted, no fluid-filled sack, or only a very small one, is seen where the gallbladder should be.
This implies that the gallbladder is contracted (rarely is the gallbladder missing from birth); however, as per the previous discussion, it may be contracted because it is diseased (scarred) or because the person having the ultrasonogram has just eaten.
That is why ultrasonograms of the gallbladder usually are done fasting, for example, so that an absence of the gallbladder (indicating a contracted gallbladder) means a diseased gallbladder and not a contracted one that is due to eating
Source:https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/mobileart.asp?articlekey=204719
To be honest I am sad that I have to go to the doctor because of this. I always tried not to seek a doctor and try to lessen fat consumption. Though I know I am not giving enough effort with this, I still believe that I can overcome this. I am thinking positively that there will be no serious problem. I am on sick leave for two days at work to fully rest.
To prepare for the followup ultrasound I am on a strict no fat diet for two days. Doctor said no fried food, no eggs, even the boiled one, no sauted food, or dairy products. What I should be talking must be boiled, steamed or fresh food like fruits.
So for two days my diet consist of banana, oatmeal and honey, root crops like carrot, potatoe and onion. Green chillies to add up taste. And rice to make my stomach full. This afternoon since I am so hungry I researched for no to less fat seafoods and found out sardines, and salmon are high in fats, while tuna and shrimp, are low in fat. I asked my mother about shrimp and said just do not sip the head of the shrimp just eat the meat because the head holds the fat.
My sister cooked Sinigang na Hipon sa Sampalok. It is a yummy sour tasting, tamarind base soup with the shrimp. Onion, garlic and tomatoes where boiled together with the green chillies and gabi, a rootcrop same with potatoes, in other country they called it taro root, it gives the sticky texture to the soup. There are also eggplant, okra or lady finger and talbos ng kamote or sweet potatoe tops. None is sauted or oiled in this recipe. This happened to be my lunch and my dinner last tonight.
For midnight snack. Since I am awake most times of the night, I am munching on bananas and drinks lots of water.
This afternoon for lunch, I totally forgot about the fasting requirement needed before the ultrasound.lol. My father cooked this very wonderful oil less Paksiw na Ayungin. This is fresh water fish cooked in vinegar, ginger, garlic and green chillies. We usually put generous amount of oil in our paksiw but because of my diet, their diet also needs to adjust just for the moment. Lol
I am hoping for a good result in my ultrasound later. Whatever it will be, I know I can overcome this.
Hope this post help you in a way to a healthier life. Always eat healthy, lessen your consumption of fats as much as possible.
first photo from Pixabay
all other photos used are mine