Helpless

A Song for You

We had landed back in California a couple of days ago, and I had noticed that my stomach had been a little..off. Every now and then, I felt tightness in my upper abdomen. I wondered if my ribs had anything to do with it. I had assumed I had healed completely. But I just had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right. When I told Johnny, he of course suggested I see my doctor immediately.

That morning, Johnny and I made our way into my doctor's office. Johnny had been adamant that he would join me just to see what was going on.

"Ms. Jennifer Hernandez," the nurse called out.

Both Johnny and I followed the nurse into the room where I was to meet my doctor.

"Are you having any symptoms?" the nurse asked.

"No," I answered. "Sometimes I just feel tightness in my upper abdomen."

The nurse nodded and noted it down on my file.
"Okay, the doctor will be here shortly."

"Thank you," I smiled.

The nurse walked out, and Johnny and I were left alone in the room.

"What if you accidentally injured your ribs?" Johnny asked.

"I think so," I sighed. "I told you it was no big deal. But here we are. About to waste the doctor's time."

"You're not wasting anyone's time," Johnny frowned. "We are making sure everything is okay."

"You're such a grandma," I whined.

"And you're such a baby," he smiled.

Just then we heard a knock on the door. My doctor walked in shortly after.

"Jennifer," he smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I smiled.

"So, you're here because you feel tightness in your stomach?" he read from my file.

"Yeah," I answered.

"We think she may have reinjured her ribs," Johnny chimed in.

"It's possible," the doctor nodded. "Let's do an ultrasound to find out."

Great.

The doctor asked me to lean back into the bed while I lifted my shirt up as he placed the warm gel all over my stomach.

"Alright," he said. "Let's look. Where do you feel tightness?"

"Close to my rib cage," I answered.

The doctor nodded and moved the ultrasound wand towards the upper part of my stomach.

"Does it feel tight after you finish eating?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Makes sense," he nodded. "Jennifer, you have developed a couple of gallstones."

"Gallstones?" I asked.

"What does that mean?" Johnny asked.

"It means that eventually, we will have to remove her gallbladder," he answered. "Gallstones form in the gallbladder because of an imbalance of the bile. It's completely normal and very common."

"Great," I sighed.

"But you don't seem to be experiencing the common symptoms yet," the doctor continued. "Which means the surgery can wait. People live with gallstones for years."

"And how will I know when it's time to get it removed?" I asked.

"You'll start to feel sick," he answered. "The most common symptom is nausea. Sometimes even pain. But judging from your ultrasound, you can go on to live with them for a couple of years."