funnystrange.com

I really appreciate all the comments (public and private) from people who've had gallbladder removal surgery or know someone who has. It's hugely helpful to know how it has affected real people. It sounds like there isn't generally much long-term effect. Although my mom had trouble eating chocolate right after the surgery, and my aunt could never eat dark chocolate again. Today I bought a Vosges Barcelona bar -- dark chocolate, almonds, and sea salt -- and will have a square every night until my surgery. I'm not a chocoholic, but I will miss it if I have to give it up forever. Speaking of which, I wonder if there is a hereditary tendency to gallstones; it turns out that my mother, aunt and grandmother all had them.

Of course, I won't know for sure until the ultrasound that I even have gallstones. But the more I learn about them, the more convinced I am. Wikipedia has a page about gallstones and their description of a gallstone attack is exactly, exactly what's been happening to me. It also includes the helpful tip that drinking a glass of water at the onset of an attack can reduce the pain. I hadn't been eating or drinking anything during an attack, because I thought it was an ulcer and eating or drinking anything would make it worse.

On another website I read that gallstones usually happen to overweight, middle-aged women. And isn't that flattering to my self-image. I mentioned this to my friend Marc, an MD, and he said in school they were taught the mnemonic "fat, fertile and forty." Hey, I'm not 40 yet! One thing I like about Marc: he never sugar coats anything. (Actually it is one of his better qualities, because when he says something comforting I know for sure that he isn't lying to make me feel better.)

In the meantime I'm eating a fairly low-fat diet. Not extreme like the Ornish diet or anything, but much less fat than I would normally eat. I've been trying to "treat" myself with really nice foods so I won't feel deprived. Like sushi for lunch, and a low fat version of jambalaya for dinner. The jambalaya turned out really well if I do say so myself. It had chicken, turkey sausage, and shrimp. Probably a bit too much shrimp, actually. I guess the recipe went heavy on the shrimp because it has less fat than sausage. But with turkey sausage instead of pork sausage, I don't think there's any need to skimp. I would love to find a recipe for the rabbit jambalaya I had in New Orleans last year. It was outstanding.