Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...

Sorry for the details and the delay. More test have been going down this past month to see how my little ol' gallbladder was doing.

These are the labs that I had drawn: liver enzymes, pancreatic function (metabolic panel), and white blood cell count.

They were all normal. So normal, and yet my doctor (well, someone who works in my main doctor's office) made everything sound like I might die. It was a very confusing conversation. She is very soft-spoken and reminded me a little of the boss from Office Space:

"Hi, this is Nicky."

"Nicky? Hi, this is Dr. So-and-so. We got your lab results back...yeah...and, uh...they all look...fine."

"Oh! So...?"

"Well, your numbers were all...uh...within range."

"Does that mean that some of them were borderline out-of-range?"

"Um...no. The enzymes and metabolic panel all look good. And your, uh, white blood cell count..."

She pauses and I died a little inside from frustration.

"...oh, your white cell count looks great too, not elevated at all."

"Okay."

Silence.

"If you want, we can keep an eye on everything and check again just to make sure."

"Um, what makes you say that? Just to be certain? Or is something worrying you?"

"Oh, no, I just wanted you to know that we could, for your peace of mind."

Nothing like a few bajillion pauses to introduce anxiety and doubt in my mind.

In addition to blood work, the other day I went to have my gallbladder ultra-sounded.

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/abdominal-ultrasound-showing-the-gallbladder

The woman who did my ultrasound was very forthcoming and flat-out told me she couldn't see anything wrong. I know she's not the official Radiologist/Voice-Of-God, but I was comforted by her opinion. She also let me know that my liver is gigantic. Not enlarged or anything bad, just...big. My secret deformity? Giant Liver. *Hangs head in shame.*

Ultrasound Tech Lady was very kind and concerned that I hadn't eaten breakfast. As someone who is most likely used to shoving aside mounds of adipose tissue (my husband's doctor-speak :) to find what she was looking for, I was absolutely svelte to her. After my appointment, she shoved a half-gallon cup of apple juice into my hand and looked tearful when I handed it to my son first. Moms are nothing if not sacrificial. Plus he was crying.

The good news is that the ultrasound officially came back fine! Dr. Office Space sounded absolutely baffled by my perfect results and, to be honest, I was too. The bad news is that I ultimately wasn't given a solid reason for the random pains I had been having. More on that in the future.