4 year update!

Wow, so I completely forgot that I used to write in this blog about my health issues!
I found this by accident today, and to my surprise saw that I had TONS comments and filtered Facebook messages from readers who found my blog about gallbladder problems and sphincter of oddi and had questions.
I wanted to write this blog post today to provide a 4 year update!!

I am 10000000000% better now.
What happened?

Well, as you saw from my posts below, I went through months and months of random bouts of GI pain after my gallbladder was removed. I had test after test after test with no answer and was eventually prescribed a low dose or Nortryptiline to treat sphincter of oddi dysfunction. And it did help me for almost a year! I'm grateful for that. It brought a lot of normalcy back to my life.

One thing that I neglected to ever write about was the fact that I had also been suffering from chronic pain in my feet ever since I was in my early 20s. I could write a book about my feet issues over the years. Over a course of 9 years, I saw 2 different podiatrists and 2 neurologists and was eventually diagnosed with tarsal tunnel syndrome via a nerve conduction study. In early 2014, I decided I wanted to have surgery to correct the tarsal tunnel syndrome in both of my feet. My podiatrist (Dr. Scott Smith in Monterey, CA) was very reluctant to do the surgery because I did not fit the profile of a typical tarsal tunnel patient - I was a skinny, healthy, under-30 (at the time) woman. He sent me to see ONE more neurologist for a final opinion. This third neurologist conducted yet ANOTHER nerve conduction study in both of my feet. This guy's opinion was that I actually didn't have tarsal tunnel at all - it was chronic bilateral peripheral polyneuropathy. In simple terms, the nerves in both of my feet were showing signs of decreased functionality and damage. That's not tarsal tunnel at ALL, and could actually be much worse depending on what could be causing it. Dr. Smith wanted my results to be reviewed by yet a FOURTH neurologist. I met Dr. Laura Banks in Monterey and she agreed with the diagnosis of neuropathy - and NOT tarsal tunnel.
One just doesn't "get" neuropathy - something has to be causing it. There are a lot of really bad things that can cause it (like lupus or another auto-immune disease). What Dr. Banks decided to do was to send me out to get a crap-ton of blood work done to test for all of the most common things that cause it.
All of the really awful things that cause neuropathy came back negative - and the only thing that popped up in my blood work as abnormal were my Vitamin B12 levels.
I was B12 deficient! B12 deficiency is one of the most common things that can result in neuropathy. B12 is crucial for a healthy nervous system. Seriously?? 9 years of agony all because of a vitamin deficiency???
I have been taking a Centrum multivitamin daily for years - which has B12 in it - but Dr. Banks said that for some reason, some people just require more than the average person. And that's not a bad thing! She told me to take a 5000 macrogram B12 supplement with my vitamin for 3 months, and she was confident I would see a difference. I started crying in her office from happiness and relief (I am such a drama queen). I did not need surgery and I am FOREVER grateful for Dr. Smith's cautious approach to my situation!!!

After ~3-4 months of B12 supplements, I did notice a giant difference in my feet. But to my surprise, I ALSO NOTICED THAT MY STOMACH PAIN WAS GONE.
Yes - B12 supplements for 4 months CURED all of my GI pains.
At a follow up appointment with Dr. Banks, I told her about this and she said she felt it was very likely that I have been chronically B12 deficient for a really really long time, and it could have had a huge impact on the healing of the nerves around the area that was operated on during my gallbladder surgery. She encouraged me to stop taking the Nortryptiline and see how I felt - so I did and the pain still hasn't come back - it is 2017!

I would encourage anyone reading this to get your B12 levels checked. I would also encourage you to add a B12 supplement to your diet. Just give it a shot for 3 months and see how your chronic pain feels. It changed my life.

Nortriptyline. Sphincter of Oddi. IT WORKS.

I'm writing this blog for the purpose of it showing up in google searches and hoping I can help someone out there find some relief.

I had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago.
I found relief after the surgery, but still had some pain. And it was getting worse.
Sharp, squeezing-like pain in the area where my gallbladder used to be with slightly increased pancreas levels (specifically lipase).
Went through every test possible. Everything inside of me is fine. I just had chronic pain.
I most likely have sphincter of oddi. I never went through the tests that properly diagnose it (as the test that diagnose is risky), but my GI doctor ruled out everything else and determined this is most likely what I have.

He prescribed me 10mb of NORTRIPTYLINE a day. It took about 2-3 weeks after I started taking it before I felt relief.

4 months later, I am symptom free!!!!

No pain!! I can eat anything I want and my anxiety is basically non-existent.

Please... there are a lot of awful experiences on the internetz. Please consider my success story and ask your doctor about Nortriptyline (or another TCA type of anti-depressant) to treat your chronic stomach pain.

AT&T Next is a scam!

If you know me, then you know I am an advocate of numbers. One thing that not many people know about me is that I have a Bachelors degree in Math. I was crazy enough to double major when I was an undergraduate.

Which brings me to my point: numbers can be used to prove points. NUMBERS DO NOT LIE. They CAN'T lie. Numbers are numbers and you can't interpret them beyond what they really are. 2 is 2, no matter what you do or say. It's black or white. This is why I love math. If you're a fan of the movie Mean Girls, then you know Cady Herron loves math because "it's the same in every country." Preach, girl!

Hence, the story of why I took it upon myself to find out if the new AT&T Next plan is worth the money, or if it's just a giant scam to make their customers FEEL like they are getting something for their money. My husband sent me this link on Twitter last night and asked me to read it and see what I thought. At first glance, it seems like a great idea. It also sounds like this is a concept that many of the other cell phone providers are jumping on board with. The first thing that jumped out to me was "monthly payments". RED FLAG. Sorry, but anytime I read anything about making monthly payments, I immediately question it's value....

In my analysis, I picked the Apple iPhone, since this is what I use. This method can be applied to any other equivalent smartphone (Samsung Galaxy, etc).

Using this Wikipedia page for the iPhone, the earliest release dates for all past iPhones were the following:

• iPhone 1st Gen: June 29, 2007
• iPhone 3G: July 11, 2008 = 13 months between release dates
• iPhone 3GS: June 19, 2009 = 11 months between release dates
• iPhone 4: June 24, 2010 = 12 months between release dates
• iPhone 4S: October 14, 2011 = 16 months between release dates
• iPhone 5: September 21, 2012 = 11 months between release dates

It takes Apple anywhere from 11 to 16 months to release a new version of the iPhone from the previous release date. The average time it takes for Apple to release a new iPhone from the previous release date is ~12.6 months. So we'll say 13 months is good number to represent the average cycle of Apple iPhones. (Does this mean we can expect a new iPhone this Octoberish? An iPhone 5S perhaps? I have no idea - just a thinking out loud.)

If you are currently with AT&T, then you have to wait for your contract to end in order to buy the iPhone at it's discounted price of $199 + taxes and fees (assuming you buy the cheapest one - I would). Looking at my past transactions, I paid $252.54 after taxes and fees. You then have to make your monthly payments to AT&T for 2 years (~$85/month rate plan that includes voice, texting, and data plans) before you are eligible for an upgrade to the next version of the iPhone. After 24 months, we can say we're 100% sure there will be a new iPhone version out based on history. In fact, there maybe have been 2 upgrades since your initial purchase.

What people don't realize is that you are actually still paying for your iPhone during those 2 years where you are locked in. The reason it is so much cheaper to buy the iPhone when you sign a 2 year contract is because you are actually subsidizing the rest of the iPhone retail price through your monthly rate charges through AT&T. You actually are paying the full retail price of the iPhone, but most of it is over time through your monthly rate plan bill. This is why there are such hefty termination fees for breaking your contract - they are trying to "recoup" the amount of the retail priced iPhone that they lost because you cancelled. The full retail price of an iPhone 5 16GB contract free is $649. Since you paid $199 up front, that means you're paying $450 over 2 years, which equates to about $19/month. This is only my estimate, though. I am unable to find any information specifically HOW MUCH of your AT&T monthly rate plan is actually the iPhone subsidy. Are you they putting in more than $19/month? Does anyone know? If anyone can find this information for me, that would be great.

Let's say you buy the iPhone for $252 and then faithfully pay your monthly AT&T bills on time for 24 months. Technically, your iPhone is paid in full. Why doesn't your bill go down? The amount of your monthly rate plan that accounted for the iPhone subsidy should go away since you made those payments for 2 years. WRONG. According to this CNET article:

"AT&T doesn't adjust the price of your monthly service based on whether or not your phone is fully paid for or not. This means that the price of your service when you buy a new phone with a subsidy is the same at the beginning of your new contract as it is 24 months later when the contract expires and you have finished paying off the phone. Carriers force customers to pay a hefty early termination fee to cover the cost of the device if they leave the service early. Of course, it would be better for consumers if AT&T and other carriers had a policy so that when you finished paying off the subsidy your monthly service cost would be reduced, but most do not. Why? The simple answer is because AT&T and the other carriers who have set up their plans in the same fashion want to wring as much revenue out of you as possible. And the truth is you are an ideal customer for them right now. You paid off of your phone subsidy many moons ago and now you're still paying for the service."

Bottom line: AT&T is a bunch of crooks. Think of like this. In November 2012, I went in and made a $199 downpayment towards a new iPhone 5. After 24 months (November 2014), I will be done making the payments on the rest of the retail price of the phone through my monthly rate plan payments. But they will continue to make me pay for the iPhone subsidy even after 24 months because they are assholes and think we are too stupid to know the difference.

People were catching on to this horseshit, and because of that, other providers were starting to do away with their subsidies altogether.

Enter: AT&T Next.

With this, you can choose to pay an extra $32/month for your new Samsung Galaxy. I am going to assume the iPhone will be about the same monthly installment.
If you do this for 1 year, and a new iPhone comes out (which we know based on history, there probably will be), then you can have the option of trading in your old device and receiving the new device at no charge. OR, if you like your old device and don't want to trade it in, then you can make the $32 payment for 20 months and then you don't have to make that payment anymore.

This press release says nothing about if the current $85/month rate plan will decrease. In theory, it should, since you are no longer subsidizing your phone for 2 years but instead making $32/month payments. But I have a feeling it won't....

You'll be paying $32/month for 12 months = $384. And then you must give up your old device. Since the retail price of the iPhone is $649, then they are forcing you to give up your old phone to pay for the remaining balance = $265. Keep in mind that now AT&T has your old iPhone, which they already got $384 from you for it, and they will turn around and resell it to some other poor soul. On the AT&T website, they are selling refurbished iPhones for a retail price of $599.99. So they are essentially going to get ~$1000 from one used iPhone. About ~1.5 times more than what it's worth.

So let's break it down:


Current AT&T Plan:
Initial payment: $199
Upgrade fee: $35
24 months x $85 rate plan (includes subsidy for iPhone) = $2040
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $2274
~$94.75/month
You could elect to sell your used iPhone on eBay or whatever, and possibly reduce this amount.

AT&T Next:
Initial payment: $0
Upgrade fee: $0
24 months x $85 rate plan = $2040
24 months x $32 AT&T Next Fee = $768 assuming you traded in your old phone for a new one sometime within that 2 year period
You no longer have your old device to sell.
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $2808
~$117/month

Say it with me now: LOL. NICE TRY AT&T.

Here is my recommendation.
Virgin Mobile offers pre-paid, no contract plans for iPhones. Seriously Look here.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and plethora of other providers also have pre-paid, no contract options, but I haven't been able to find any that extend that option to iPhones. The only one I can find is Virgin Mobile, which runs their network off of Sprint. If I'm wrong, please tell me.

With Virgin Mobile, you are required to purchase your iPhone at retail price. When you receive it in the mail, then you can activate your pre-paid plan online.

No Contract, Pre-Paid Plans at Virgin Mobile
Initial payment: $549.99 (retail price of iPhone 5 on Virgin Mobile's website)
Activation Fee: $0
24 months x $35 rate plan (300 minutes, unlimited data and texting) = $840
There is no contract - I just picked 24 months as a comparison to the AT&T plans above.
TOTAL amount over 2 years: $1600 (I estimated taxes and fees and factored it in)
~$66/month


If you are concerned with making the best bang for your buck, the AT&T Next plan is NOT the way to go. But if you're like most Americans, and only care about the up front cost rather than what you're paying for, then sure... go for it.

Since when did we stop asking "How much does this cost?" and start asking "What are the monthly payments?" Really, the only bad thing about getting a pre-paid Virgin Mobile plan is that you have to pay for the iPhone up front. But the rewards over time outweigh that.

Assume you buy the iPhone at retail price from Virgin Mobile. You are now only paying $35/month + taxes to use it. (Assume $45/month after taxes). With AT&T Next, you're paying $117. That is a difference of $72/month. Assuming that the newest iPhone will come out in 13 months from the time you buy it, you only need to stash away ~$45/month over those 13 months into a savings account in order to be able to pay for the next one. That frees up about $30 a month! You could even elect to put that $30 into your next iPhone savings account, and after 13 months you'll have $975 in there. That's enough to buy your iPhone, and you're already half way to saving up for the NEXT iPhone after that!

See - isn't math amazing?

My Celebrity Prediction

Kanye West will try to "change" Kim Kardashian to be more private. She'll try to avoid the paparazzi and the tabloids, which will annoy Kris Jenner and the E! network to no end. Kim will realize her entire "career" is based on the paparazzi following her and tabloids. This will lead to the upcoming and unavoidable Kim and Kanye split. Kanye will go nuts and then write songs for his daughter (North) and insult Kim forever. Insert the 500 magazine covers about the Kim vs. Kanye battle for the next decade. YOU HEARD IT FROM ME FIRST.

Everything will be okay, right?

There has been a lot of good going on in this life of mine. I have a lot of general anxiety, and sometimes writing it all out will help me realize that YES, everything is going to be okay. 1. My dad had a very scary thing happen to his heart recently. He has a condition called atrial fibrillation (aka "a-fib"). He has had it for many many years, but recently he has been having dizzy spells, fatigue, shortness of breath, and even had a fainting spell that resulted in him bumping his head. His cardiologist was at a loss, because it seemed that every single test he had on heart showed that it was perfectly fine (besides the a-fib). He went in for a routine cardioversion procedure to attempt to get his heart out of a-fib, and it didn't work. While he was there at the hospital, he very suddenly went into flash pulmonary edema, which is a very scary and life threatening heart condition that results in fluid leaking into your lungs. Luckily, the medical doctors rushed him into the ICU and were able to stop the edema and reverse the effects from it. He was then transferred via ambulance to a heart failure specialist in Pittsburgh.
I am only 28 years old. I realize that my mom and dad were older when they had me (my mom was 41 when she had me! Yeah!) but I was not prepared for something so sudden and life threatening to occur to my father. It didn't help that I was over 2,000 miles away from anyone in my family, and on the day that this happened, Chad was scheduled to leave for work related reasons for 2 days. I was completely and 100% alone, scared, and emotionally unstable. I did my very best to go to work and keep my mind off of it, but all I could think about was my poor dad sitting in that ambulance because his heart was failing and the doctors did not know why. I am very greatly for my sister Sarah, who was constantly texting and calling me and letting me act crazy on the phone.
After spending a few days in Pittsburgh, he had a team of cardiologists who put their heads together and did several more tests. They found that he has a condition called mitral regurgitation, which is where the hear valve does not function properly and can result in some of the blood regurgitating backwards into the heart everytime it pumps. What's even more interesting is that he could have had this condition for decades, and that there is a chance that it caused his a-fib. The doctors determined that the regurgitation fraction, while noticeable, was not severe enough to justify open-heart surgery so he will be treated with medication. He was sent home! He will be okay. I am so thankful for medicine and cardiology. Yes, Megan, dad will be OKAY.

2. My GI doctor put me on a medication called Nortriptyline in order to help take the edge off of the pain caused from my Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. It has HELPED SO MUCH. It took about 2 weeks to fully kick in. I seriously do not remember the last time I have felt this good. I even ate FRIED CHEESE STICKS and DEEP FRIED ARTICHOKE HEARTS and had no pain! YUM!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. I do still have some acid-related issues, probably a minor recurring ulcer or stomach erosion, but it comes and goes and doesn't really cause much of a disturbance on my life. Yes, Megan, you will be OKAY.

3. Chad and I started mandatory 1-day-a-week furloughs from our job because of the government-wide sequestration. No one in Congress seems to care, Chuck Hagel doesn't seem to care, and not even President Obama seems to care. It's almost as if they using DoD employees as pawn to further their own political careers. The House wants to say "OMG look how much of a terrible President he is! Everyone must vote Republican in 2016!". The Senate and Obama want to say "The Republicans are to blame because they block everything and refused to compromise!". The average American doesn't seem to believe that sequestration has done anything negative but that is because it is not in their face. They also hate federal employees and believe we are overpaid and lazy. Our household income has depleted 20%. However, because of the Dave Ramsey budgeting style, we know exactly how to handle this problem. We have eliminated all credit card debt, we have nothing financed, and we have paid off 5 of the 6 private student loans I took out. All we have left are student loans. We are so far ahead on the remaining student loans that the minimum payments are either extremely low or non-existant. We have entered into what Dave Ramsey calls "storm cloud mode" and we plan to live this way until the furlough is over. I look around at co-workers who do not know how they are going to make their car payments, mortgage payments, or how they are even going to have food on the table to support their families. Religious or not, the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace systems WORKS and because of that, we will be 100% okay during the furlough. The worst part about the entire furlough situation is that our student loans will now be paid 26 years and 3 months early, and not 26 years and 6 months early. HA! Yes, Megan, you will be OKAY.

4. I am going to my beloved Stone Harbor, New Jersey in 25 days. It is the only other place in this entire world I can go to and feel at home. My family and I went to this beach every summer for my whole life and we have so many wonderful memories. After my dad's health problems, I am so excited to go and spend time with him, my mom, my siblings, all of my nieces, my new nephew!, my cousins, and of course my husband. It is a much needed vacation and frankly, it will be the ONLY vacation Chad and I will get to have for the rest of the year. (see #3 - storm cloud mode means no travel at our own expense!) Chad's parents are coming to California to spend Christmas with us, so if I go anywhere else this year it might be for Thanksgiving or shortly after Christmas. And it won't be at my own expense. I am so excited and ready to go!!!

I WILL BE OKAY!!!!!!

Complications: Sphincter of oddi

SOOOOOOOOOO!

I had my EGD (upper GI endoscopy) with EUS (endoscopic ultrasound). As usual, I was scared shitless beforehand. And it didn't help that my doctor was running 4.5 hours behind schedule. Luckily, my nurse gave me a Valium and it actually HELPED calm my ass down. Thank you, nurse! My procedure only last about 45 minutes. The last thing I remember is my anaesthesiologist putting a mask over my face and saying "I'm going to give you some nice oxygen now..." and the next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. I had no pain, but did have some bloating and gas pains in my lower stomach from the air they had to blow around inside of me to take pictures. It wasn't bad, though. It resolved itself quickly. The worst part: my throat!!! YIKES! A mixture between the scope and breathing tube really tore up the back of my throat. I had some trouble swallowing solid food for about two days. It was relieved with Tylenol.

The results: My bile ducts are fine. Yay! No blockages, stones, tumors, nothing. No ERCP and therefore no pancreatitis!

They did find some very minor stomach erosion, possibly the onset of ulcers. They did a biopsy, but nothing came of it. Plus, they were not located anywhere near where I am feeling pain. It was so mild, that they didn't feel the need to prescribe anything for it. They will probably just go away.

The diagnosis is officially sphincter of oddi. There was no test to confirm that this is my problem, but based on my clean EGD, EUS, and blood work, this is what my GI doctor believes is the most logical solution.

The only known way to "cure" sphincter of oddi is to do something called a sphincterotomy, which is where they go in with a scope and literally remove the entire sphincter of oddi. However, there is actually MORE of a chance of suffering complications from the procedure than actually finding relief. Plus, there is a very big chance of the symptoms returning after a few months due to the scar tissue from the procedure. The best way to manage this is to find ways to manage the pain and learn what triggers it.

My first step in my road to relief of sphincter of oddi is 10mg of a day of nortriptyline. It is technically an anti-depressant, but only when it is given in quantities of 75mg or more. Anything less than 75mg is used for patients with chronic pain. It will help "block" my nerves from the pain signal. I started it yesterday, and surprisingly I think I have found some relief already. Not 100%, but I'm hopeful I will find some relief after using it for several weeks. I am supposed to try this for 1 month, and then I'll go back and see my GI doctor for a follow up. I do NOT want to undergo a sphincterotomy. Ever. I would much rather move on with my life knowing I have this condition and find ways to just manage the symptoms.

Some fun facts about Sphincter of Oddi that I have stolen from the interwebz:
-A sphincter is a muscle (usually round) that can open and close. When it’s working properly, the sphincter of Oddi opens to allow bile and pancreatic juice to flow through and then closes again. However, in a condition called sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, the sphincter muscle does not open when it should. This prevents the bile and pancreatic juice from flowing through and causes a backup of digestive juices. The backup can cause bouts of severe pain in the abdomen. This is probably why I had a very very mild case of elevated lipase levels.
-People who have had their gall bladders removed are most likely to develop sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Middle-aged women also appear to be at increased risk for the condition, although doctors aren’t sure why. That's me!
-According to "DISEASES OF THE BILLIARY TRACT, SERIES #2", a study published in 2010 in PRACTICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY, SOD has been diagnosed in 1.5% of our general population. It has been diagnosed in 14-23% of people who has their gallbladders removed, mostly women. (That's a lot!).
-Treatment of SOD is difficult because of the complexity of the disease.
-When you google Sphincter of Oddi, you find nothing but terrible horror stories of people whose lives have been ruined by this disease. I need to remind myself to STOP GOOGLING IT!!! I refuse to become one of those people. First, my pain is not debilitating. On most days, it's about a 2-3. On bad days, it's like a 6-7. I WILL be okay and I CAN manage this!!!

I encourage anyone else with this diagnosis to comment and tell me your experience. Thanks!

Complications

So, I have been feeling great and than I had something happen. The area where my gallbladder used to be started hurting. Very suddenly one morning on my way to work. Unlike on a normal day, I couldn't find a correlation between this pain and food. And it kept getting worse. Therefore, I kept getting anxious. I was scheduled to fly to West Virginia for Memorial Day, so I went to Urgent Care to get to opinion of a doctor and find out if this was something ER worthy. I HATE going to the ER and will do anything to avoid it. The doctor didn't believe it was anything, told me it was probably a stomach bug. I asked her to please test my pancreatic and liver enzymes. In my head, I was thinking that if they came back fine then I would know it was probably unrelated to my gallbladder removal. They took my blood, told me to have a safe trip, and said they would call me when they had the results. Two days later, I get a call and my liver enzymes were perfect. However, my pancreatic enzymes were elevated. Granted, they weren't SUPER high (lipase = 416, amalyse = 140), but it was enough to where she suggested I get an ultrasound of my bile ducts when I got home to make sure I didn't have a gallstone or some other blockage that was pissing my pancreas off. When I got home from my trip to West Virginia, I called my primary physician and he agreed to have me come in and talk to him that afternoon. He called my increased pancreatic enzymes "pancreatitis" (that sounds so scary!!!) and referred me to a GI doctor with the recommendation of getting an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy). He was glad that I had this mild episode of pancreatitis documented. I also had a repeat blood test, which showed that my lipase was back to normal (200) and that my amalyse was at 136 (only 6 above normal - practically normal). So whatever was going on with pancreas went away almost as fast as it showed up. Jeez, man. I went to visit a GI PA and talked to her for a while. She then relayed all of my information to my GI doctor, who suggested that I might have 1 of 2 things: 1) A gallstone. I don't believe this. When Dr. Vierra removed my gallbladder in 2011, he told me that I had absolutely no gallstones. However, just because I didn't have them then doesn't mean I might not have one now. When you no longer has a gallbladder, and your liver develops a gallstone, it will just sit in your bile ducts, therefore causing a blockage of pancreatic enzymes and pain. For doctors, this is the most probable cause of post-cholecystectomy pain. They see very often so I don't blame them for thinking this is the cause. They are just going by statistics. It's just hard for me to believe. 2) Sphincter of oddi dysfunction. In my crazy mind, this is what I have convinced myself that I have. I have read a lot of about it on the internet (because obviously the internet is the best scholarly resource ever... ha!) and I feel like this fits my symptoms better than a gallstone. This is where your bile ducts "spasm" and can cause pain and the slow down of bile, sometimes resulting in pancreatitis or liver problems. It can come and go. I'm not really sure how this is treated. I have read a lot of inconsistent blogs about how people had their SOD dysfunction treated. Bottom line: on Thursday, I am going to the hospital as an outpatient to had an EGD performed. This is where I will be placed under general anaesthesia and my doctor will stick a tube down my throat into my stomach and take pictures of my insides. By looking around, he will be able to determine if I have a blockage in my bile ducts. If I do, then he will then perform something called an ERCP (Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). This is when he will be able to insert dye into my bile ducts and take an ultrasound. He then will be able look at whatever is in there and treat it right there on the spot. If he initially looks around and finds nothing in my bile ducts, then it's probably a safe bet that I have SOD. I have no idea what happens after that, but hopefully they can come up with a treatment plan if it does turn out to be SOD! As always, I have a million things I am anxious about. Here is a list: 1. When googling other people's ERCPs experiences, I read nothing but horror stories about how people ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks with severe pancreatitis as a result of the procedure. This freaks me out. It is said that ERCPs are always the most successful when you have them done by someone who is specially trained in the procedure. My doctor (Dr. Michael Mendoza) is apparently an expert in these procedures. According to his LinkedIn (yes, I am a stalker), he actually trained other people who do to ERCPs at UCLA. Maybe this means I won't get pancreatitis again (but much worse this time) and I can just go home after I wake up from the procedure. Before my gallbladder surgery, I googled it constantly and read a bunch of horror stories but I turned out fine. I hope I have the same experience this time. 2. I have to be put under general anaesthesia. I already had this done when I had my gallbladder removed, but I am scared of throwing up. The first time, I was only a little nauseas and then was okay and ate the evening after the procedure. But then the next night, I threw up all night... and again for almost 3 days until my surgeon called me in a prescription for nausea medication. I don't know if this happened because my entire digestive system was like "WHERE IS THE GALLBLADDER? I DONT KNOW HOW TO WORK ANYMORE AHHHH" and just threw up or if was residual from the anaesthesia. Either way, I don't want to throw up again for 3 days. 3. What if they look inside me and find a scary tumor and I have cancer and I am going to DIE AHHHHHHHHH. I know, this is very very unlikely. But seriously??? What if they do?? I just want to know I am healthy. :( In the meantime, ever since my visit to the GI doctor, I have restricted my diet to less than 10g of at per meal. Most days I don't even eat 20g of a fat a day. After about 2 days of this, I feel 98% better. Despite the results of this test, I have decided that this is my life now and I am going to have to eat this way for a while. In a few months, maybe I'll try to reintroduce more fatty foods in my diet and see what happens. I will update this blog after my test and hopefully my experience can help someone else who might be having the same problems as me. Thanks! :-) --Megan

Update from the my last post

Hello! So, my weird pain was resolved after taking a 14 day course of over-the-counter Prilosec. It was most likely some sort of ulcer or acid issue. During the holidays, I experienced a lot of pain but soon discovered that there was a clear correlation between my pain and food with trans fats. You know, food like cookies, brownies, cake, cupcakes, anything with icing and Crisco. All the good holiday food!! Once I stopped eating them, I have never felt better. 100% pain free!!! I imagine as I get older, I'll be able to tolerate trans fats better. But really, you shouldn't eat a lot of trans fats anyway. So it's actually turned out very well!

Here I Go Again

Exactly 11 months after my gallbladder removal, I was doing wonderful. I had no pain. Ever. I felt like a normal human being. I had forgotten what it felt like to be pain free. PURE BLISS! I developed a head cold and stayed home from work. I was laying on the couch and then BAM!! Pain in my right side. Then I started to get nauseous and totally lost my appetite. The pain is around my rib cage and goes down to my groin and abdomen. I went to urgent care to see a doctor, fearing that my appendix was about to explode or something. There was blood in my pee, so she unofficially diagnosed me with a kidney stone and prescribed me some pain medication and some medicine to suppress the nausea. I am scheduled for a CT scan this afternoon to see what the hell is going on. This is so reminiscent of my life almost 3 years ago. I was laying on the couch only to be bombarded with this pain in my right side that no doctor was ever able to diagnose for over 2 years. I had a CT scan, 2 ultrasounds, and several blood and urine tests only for everything to be normal. I am scared to death that I will go in for this CT scan, have nothing show up, and be told "just ride it out, it will go away" or "it's all in your head, take some Xanax". I think it's pretty obvious that I have developed some sort of mental trauma and anxiety over that entire experience, because I am so depressed and pissed off beyond belief and SCARED that I will have to go through it again now. I sound crazy. Please send positive thoughts my way today, that my CT scan will give me some answers. I haven't been able to eat much for 4-5 days (yesterday I did eat some pizza! that was awesome) and I just want to go back to feeling healthy like I was a week ago.

Gallbladder Posts

I've noticed that in the past few weeks my blog traffic has increased, specifically to my posts about my gallbladder surgery.

Here are some examples of the Google searches people are conducting:

21 year old with dysfunctional gallbladder
foods you shouldnt eat with a dysfunctional gallbladder
phantom gallbladder pains
dysfunctional gallbladder why do i need it removed?
dysfunctional gallbladders
gallbladder surgery blogs
gallbladder was chest pain everyday

I just want to encourage people who come across this to please feel free to leave comments! I will answer ANYTHING about my gallbladder surgery. I was SCARED. TO. DEATH. of mine because of the fact that I conducted so many Google searches beforehand and read so many horror stories. They were not realistic.

Today is 3 months + 4 days post surgery and I feel 99% better. I only experience pain in my surgery site when I eat foods that are VERY greasy, and it only lasts for a few minutes. This is the only reason I am not saying I am 100% better. I also ate 4 ounces of french fries last week with no consequences.
I am also back to running regularly and lifting weights with no pain. I feel absolutely amazing. If you have a dysfunctional gallbladder like I did, don't sweat it. Just get the sucker removed and you won't regret it.

Grateful

In 2 days, it will be three months post gallbladder removal. I FEEL AWESOME.

No more sharp pain. No more gnawing, constant pain. No more random bouts of nausea and/or vomiting. I can exercise. I can eat anything I want with no consequences (besides fried food, but I'm confident I'll even be able to eat that in a few weeks).

Sometimes when I am working at my desk in my office, it suddenly strikes me that I haven't felt ANY pain in several hours. I am so thankful to have a pain-free life. I will never take it for granted ever again.

Almost 100%

Today is exactly 11 weeks from my gallbladder removal!

The last two weeks have been wonderful. I am now able to eat cheese (yay!) and regular portion sizes of food. I haven't been feeling nauseous for a few weeks and I haven't been feeling the "roller coaster" in my stomach as much, if at all.
Two weeks ago I also began exercising again. I can run and lift weights comfortably with NO discomfort in my surgery area. HOORAY!!!!!! :)

Yesterday, I was feeling slightly ambitious. Chad and I stopped at In-N-Out burger our way to Bill Maher's show in San Jose and we got an order of animal style fries. I had a few bites and then I felt very sick. The full on nausea and stomach "roller coaster" feeling returned.

So.... at this time I am still unable to handle fried food. But everything else is wonderful. I AM PAIN FREE AND I FEEL AMAZING EVERYDAY!! TAKE THAT, YOU STUPID WORTHLESS GALLBLADDER!

Gallbladder Surgery: Phantom Sharp Pain pt 2

An update to my previous blog.

I started to take 2 extra strength Tylenol in the morning. It reduced the sharp pain A LOT. I feel so much better. Today in particular, I haven't really felt anything at all except for some intermittent pain just to the right of my belly button (where they actually pulled the gallbladder out of my body).

Everyday I remember how I went almost 2 years with constant gnawing pain and I had completely forgot what it was like to feel no pain at all. It feels amazing and I hope that I never take it for granted.

Gallbladder Removal: Phantom Sharp Pain

Update on my progress from my gallbladder removal....

I've noticed in the last week or so that I've been experiencing intermittent sharp pain in the area around my surgery site throughout the day. Today, I called my surgeon's office and spoke with his medical assistant about it.

She explained that during the surgery, they actually snip off the nerve endings. About 6-8 weeks after the surgery, people can experience intermittent sharp pains as these nerve endings repair themselves and grow back. I was told to ride it out for another month or two and if I notice that it gets worse or more frequent, then to call back.

I also have noticed that I get sick after spicy food. I start to feel all kinds of weird pains around my right side (back and front) and after 4-5 hours of eating said spicy food, it subsides.

I also get sick after fried food or food with a lot of cheese.

I'm making note of this so that if anyone stumbles to my blog while searching for information about gallbladder surgery, then maybe this can help.

Adventures of a Dysfunctional Gallbladder

Update: This post is somewhat old, but continues to bring a large amount of traffic to my blog. That's great!! After reading my experience, please take a look at my update to my gallbladder situation:
Complications

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I had my gallbladder removed 2 weeks and 4 days ago. Up until this much anticipated event, I spent a good amount of time googling other people's experiences and found that most people are idiots. The reason I'm writing this blog is so that maybe someone else out there who is scared to death of gallbladder removal (like I was) might come across my blog and get a straight forward account of my experience instead of the same old "OMG GALLBLADDER SURGERY IS AWFUL!!!111!!!11 I CAN'T EAT ANYTHING!!! I SHIT MY PANTS EVERYDAY!!!!11!".

Before I move forward, let me start off with my pre-surgery statistics.
Gender: Female
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Age: 26

Pre-surgery, I was an avid weight lifter in my work gym and watched what I ate everyday. I had gained a few pounds since August 2011 due to the fact that I was developing muscle. My point of mentioning this is that *most* gallbladder problems occur when people are either 1) overweight or obese, 2) have horrible diets and 3) have no daily exercise regimen. I did not fit any of the classic criteria. It just goes to show that the gallbladder can screw up for ANYONE.

In January 2010 (I was 24), I was hospitalized for chest pain. My grandmother had just passed away on Christmas day in 2009, and immediately after attending her funeral I was driven to the airport and flown back to California to go back to work. I never allowed myself to grieve and it played a massive toll on my body and my mind. I started developing chest pain and shortness of breath and my boyfriend (at the time.. he now my husband) took me to the ER. An EKG showed abnormalities with my heart so I was admitted. I went through a series of tests and it was determined that my heart was fine. What is considered "abnormal" for normal people is actually normal for me. They did determine that my potassium levels were low and that the chest pain was most likely related to that or it was from anxiety. My K levels were low most likely because I was just not eating enough due to my extreme dieting at the time. I was given K supplements and a pamphlet about foods with K in them.

I'm talking about this experience because I'm not sure if this chest pain was the beginning of my gallbladder problems or not. Some people I have talked to have described their gallbladder pain as being located in their chests and easily mistaking them for heart problems.

About ~1.5 weeks after this, I was sitting on the couch watching an episode of Ghost Hunters. I was waiting for Chad to get home because we were supposed to go eat Outback Steakhouse that evening. (Yes, I remember these details vividly!) Very suddenly, I feel very pain in my right side, just under my rib cage. I tried to move around a little bit but nothing would make it go away. I sat on the toilet and nothing happened. It sort of subsided after about 20 minutes but it never really went away. The first thing I kept thinking was "Is my appendix going to explode?" However, I didn't have any other symptoms that come with appendicitis. I went to Outback Steakhouse and the pain came and went that night... and every day for the next 2 years.
The only way I know how to describe this pain is that it was gnawing. It was everywhere on the right side. It would radiate to my back, down to my groin, and up to my shoulder blade.

3 days after this, Chad and I were supposed to drive down to L.A. to attend a taping of They Jay Leno Show (RIP). I was scared that my appendix would burst or something, so I went to our local Urgent Care. The doctor there told me that it was definitely NOT my appendix, but suspected it could be a problem with my right ovary. I called my gyno that afternoon and scheduled an appointment. I went to L.A. and enjoyed our weekend (experiencing intermittent pain in my right side constantly... but whatever).

When I went to see my gyno, she scheduled me to get an ultrasound of my entire abdominal region. The results said I had no kidney stones, gall stones, or ovarian cysts and that everything looks perfectly fine. Frustrated, I thought maybe it wasn't gyno-related so I made an appointment with my general practitioner (GP) to see if he could give me some insight into what could be causing my almost constant right side pain. I went over all of my symptoms with him and he scheduled me for yet another ultrasound and blood work. Again, everything came back completely normal. No gallstones, no kidney stones, and nothing abnormal to be seen. He tried to say that it was all in my head and that I should consider taking Zofolt or Xanax. UGH. No, thanks. I was on Zoloft when I was 21 years old, and served its purpose. I knew I wasn't crazy, but what was I supposed to think? Every single test was showing that everything was fine. What the hell was my pain being caused by?

I went almost a year with this pain after that. I really believed that it was in my head. Everyone was making me feel like I was crazy.

Almost anytime I went out to eat during the two years of my pain, or after I ate a meal at home that contained more "substance" than normal (like homemade burritos, fajitas, spicy food...) I would wake up in the middle of the night with nausea and (sometimes) dry-heaving. I took a lot of Pepto Bismol and Gas-Ex. Like I mentioned in the beginning of my post, I rarely ate fried foods or foods with a lot of grease so I never saw the correlation between my pain and symptoms until much later on.

In early 2011 (I was engaged to be married in March 2011), I had a particularly bad episode of pain while I was sitting at my desk at work. It was that moment where I decided that I was going to find another GP who would listen to me and get another opinion without trying to force me on anti-depressants. I looked up another doctor that my insurance covered and made an appointment for after my wedding.

I was married on March 19, 2011 *YAY*! I went to see this doctor as soon as we got back from our honeymoon and he scheduled me to get a CAT Scan of my entire stomach. I went in on April 5 (my birthday) and had a CAT Scan. Once again, everything came back normal. The doctor said to give it a few more weeks and call him if the problem doesn't go away.

I waited... all summer... I traveled a lot. It got to the point where my pain became second nature. I basically got used to it.

Finally, in September 2011, I called him again and pleaded with him to help me. His reaction was to test my gallbladder function. He did this as a method of elimination, as he didn't believe it was my gallbladder. He didn't believe it was because of my lack of gallstones, and also because I didn't see an obvious correlation between my symptoms and fatty foods (which is what is typically seen).

I was scheduled for a HIDA scan. I starved myself all day and then sat on this table where they injected with my nuclear dye and watched it was it moved through my liver into my gallbladder and then into my intestines. There is a part of this exam where they inject you with a chemical that "tricks" your gallbladder into thinking you just ate a massively fatty meal. Man, that hurt! It recreated my symptoms 100x worth.

After the test, I decided to give myself a test. I was STARVING (the exam requires you to fast beforehand), so I stopped at Wendy's on my way home. I got a fried spicy chicken sandwich with mayo, and an order of spicy chicken nuggets. Man, those were SO GOOD! But afterwards, I experienced the worst pain in my right side yet. On a scale of 1-10, it was a 9.5. That's when I realized that maybe I DO have a correlation with my symptoms and with fatty food!

The next day, my doctor called me and said that the exam showed my gallbladder was "sluggish". A normal bile ejection fraction is 35%. Mine was 28%, meaning that my gallbladder was not functioning at it's full potential. He was surprised, but was pretty positive that maybe my pain was from my gallbladder. He referred me to a gallbladder surgeon to see what could be done (if anything).

I met with the surgeon whose attitude was "Your are young, healthy, skinny, fit, and you have no gallstones. I don't know if I want to remove your gallbladder." Instead, he sent me to a GI doctor to get an upper endoscopy done and to also get a third opinion from him.

I met this THIRD doctor, and I sat down with him and described everything that I was experiencing. His exact words were "That sounds like biliary disease to me..." but said he would perform the endoscopy on me anyway. I was so effing scared before the endoscopy because I had never been put to sleep before. I was given an IV and wheeled into this room where a nurse said "OK Megan! I'm going to sedate you now!" Almost immediately I felt like she had given me 300 Benedryls at once. The next thing I know I opened my eyes and there was Chad ready to take me home. The sedation made me sleep until 5pm that evening. That was pretty sweet, I'm not going to lie. Hehe!
That doctor said my endoscopy was completely clean and that he was going to send me back to the gallbladder surgeon with the recommendation of getting my gallbladder removed.

I went to visit the surgeon one last time where he finally said he was basically convinced that my problems were from a dysfunctional gallbladder and that he would remove it laproscopically.

My surgery was scheduled for December 2, 2011 (I was able to set the appointment after Thanksgiving). My parents flew into Monterey for 4 days to take care of me so Chad would be able to go to school and focus and not have to worry about me.

I was a fucking basketcase before the surgery. I was SO SCARED!! I had no idea what to expect. They gave me some Valium beforehand but it didn't work. I started crying. They wheeled me into the surgery room and BOOM! The next thing I know I was back in my recovery room. The first thing I noticed was "My throat hurts!" I guess it was from the breathing tube they insert in your throat while you are under general anesthesia. Then I started feeling pain in my stomach. I lifted up my hospital gown and that's when I saw my incisions. I had 4 tiny incisions. 1 on through my belly button, 1 above my belly button, and 2 on the side where my gallbladder was.
They gave me 2 Vicodin and some shots of morphine through my IV but I still had this AWFUL pain in this spot in my stomach. They explained that they have to blow CO2 gas into my stomach during the procedure in order to make room for the surgical instruments and that it can cause gas pains. They had me stand up and walk around and that helped alleviate the pain. So if any of you out there are getting your gallbladder removed, my advice to you is to WALK after the surgery. That will have your gas bubbles move around and help the gas pains.
My surgery was at 9am and I was discharged at 1pm. Not too bad!

I started to get some horrible nausea, most likely from the anesthesia. I dry heaved when I got home and then went to sleep. I had no appetite at all. I didn't even feel hungry. I was uncomfortable at my incision sites.

The next morning (Day 2), I woke up and tried to eat some tomato soup. I slept on and off that day. That evening, I started getting REALLY nauseous and ended up throwing up all evening and through the night. The act of throwing up made my incisions hurt even more. It was horrible. HORRIBLE I TELL YOU.

The next day (Day 3) was no different. All day vomiting and I couldn't eat or drink anything without throwing up or shitting almost immediately (sorry for the TMI, but it's true.) I had a break down that night because I was scared that I made a horrible mistake by having the surgery. I also discontinued to use of Vicodin and switched to 2 Tylenol every 4 hours. It helped just the same. If you have bad reactions to Vicodin, try using normal over the counter Tylenol.

Day 4, I called the surgeon's office and asked if constantly throwing up was normal. His medical assistant said YES. She told me to eat jello, saltine crackers, and tea. She also sent me a prescription for Zofran, an anti-nausea medication. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. That medicine saved my sanity. It cured my nausea completely and I was finally, after 5 days, able to eat food!!!!! I took 3 Zofran that day (every 6 hours).

Day 5, I managed to eat through an entire sleeve of Saltine crackers throughout the day. That day I took 4mg of Zofran 2 times.

Day 6, I ate 2 bowls of jello, a pop cycle, more crackers, and Gatorade. I only needed 1 Zofran that day (in the morning).

Day 7, a week after my surgery, I was eating soup with noodles, bread with jelly, and turkey sandwiches from Subway. I also returned to work that day. My pain level was low and I didn't need to take the Zofran anymore to function.

After surgery, I weighed 105lbs. I lost about 10 pounds. But now that I'm eating enough calories, it's gone back to about 107lbs and has stayed there for about a week.

Everyday since then has gotten easier and easier. My constant right side pain I struggled with everyday for 2 years is gone (expect for occasional pings of pain related to my recovery and healing).
Everyday I find I can eat more and more things and I feel better and better.

As of today, I find I can't tolerate the following: oily foods, food with a lot of grease, candy, cookies, and cheese. If I eat any of these things, I almost immediately get queasy and it lasts for a few hours.

No, I don't have constant diarrhea like people claim they do. Honestly, if you try to eat a bunch of shitty food then YES you probably will shit your pants!

So here I am, 2 weeks and 4 days later, and I am great. AND I'm pain free. The gallbladder is a piece of shit organ. If ANYONE out there finds this blog, and is going to get their gallbladder out, then you should not worry. Don't be scared. You will be okay. If I can do it, you can do it!!!

Jillian overload pt. 3

Last night, I made Chicken Stuffed with Artichoke, Feta, and Black Olives. Of all of the recipes I've tried from Jillian's book so far, this was my least favorite.
Her recipe actually calls for pork instead of chicken. I'm not a huge fan of pork so I figured I would just use chicken breast. Maybe I should have just used pork, or stuck with something else that I think I would have liked better. It just didn't go that well together and I don't think I'll be making this again.

I ate the rest of the No Cream "Creamed" Spinach last night (about 2 servings worth). Since I hardly ate any chicken because I didn't like it, I ate 16 pieces of Ghiraradelli 60% cocoa chips (16 chips = 1 serving = 80 calories). hehe!

Tonight, my last night of my Jillian overload, is going to be Almond Crusted Chicken. I'll also be using the half a pint of cherry tomatoes that I forgot to use the other night and a cucumber mixed with red wine vinegar and a touch of olive oil as a side "salad".

Jillian overload pt. 2

Food updates!

The Whole Wheat Pasta with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Lemon Yogurt Sauce was divine. It also made excellent leftovers that I ate for lunch yesterday (and I plan on eating the rest today). I've never cooked with greek yogurt before, but a lot of these recipes called nonfat plain greek yogurt so I ended up buying a large tub of it. The yogurt mixed with fresh lemon zest, parmesan cheese, whole wheat pasta, zucchini and tomatoes was very very tasty.

The No-Cream "Creamed" Spinach was also delightful, but not how you quite expect "creamed" spinach to be. Maybe that's because most of the creamed spinach I've ever had also had a very salty and vinegar-y type of flavor added to it, but this recipe only uses fresh lemon juice for that extra tang. When it's warm, it's delicious.

I sort of burned the Banana Blueberry muffins, but regardless they make an excellent addition to my already made Oatmeal Chocolate chip muffins. I wish they had more of a banana taste to them. The next time I make them, maybe I'll throw in an extra banana. Chad loves the Oatmeal Chocolate chips muffins and he actually finished off the whole batch last night. I'll definitely make another batch this weekend.

Last night for dinner, I made:
Roasted Chicken with Spinach Pesto: Also another hit with the husband! He had an intense hockey game last night, and ate a big bowl of this afterwards and loved it. It uses whole pasta (I used penne), and the pesto is made of fresh spinach, fresh parsley, walnuts, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, a touch of cinnamon, and other spices. I roasted a big chicken breast (about 1 lb) in the oven, and then sliced it up into thin slices. Then I tossed the chicken, penne pasta, and the pesto together is a large bowl. YUM!
One thing that I forgot to do was mix in a half a pint of cherry tomatoes. You were supposed to toss those in with the rest of the pasta, but I forgot and they are still sitting in my fridge. Oops. Regardless, we agreed that the tomatoes would have made a nice addition but were definitely not needed. I'll remember next time, though.

Tonight, my dinner will be Chicken Stuffed with Artichokes, Feta, and Black Olives. Jillian's recipes actually says to use pork tenderloins, but I'm substituting chicken breast because I'm not a big fan of pork. I'll probably have leftover No-Cream Creamed Spinach with it, and/or steam some frozen vegetables to eat on the side. We'll see how hungry I am.


So far, since I've been eating nothing but whole unprocessed foods this week, I can tell that I don't feel as "empty" as fast. Before, I was eating two granola bars for breakfast and would get that empty stomach feeling in less than two hours. Now that I'm substituted the granola bars with the muffins and fresh fruit, I can tell that I don't feel as drained and empty as fast in the morning. I'm going to contribute it to the fact that the muffins are much more nutritional and aren't packed with weird chemicals.
I also haven't experienced the "sugar crash". Around 2:30 or 3:00pm, I would always feel like I was going to fall asleep on my desk. I don't feel that as much now.

I have some other thoughts too, but I'll wait until I'm done with my "diet" on Friday morning. Chad and I plan on eating somewhere Friday night, where I'll probably indulge in a good bit of processed food for the first time in a week. That will be the real test to see if I feel any different afterward.

Jillian overload!

Let me start this post by saying that I (or my husband) certainly don't have any problems when it comes to eating healthy. But I've decided to take it a step further and try to eat a whole food diet for the next four days.

My goals are:
1) Eat nothing but whole foods starting today until Friday morning
2) See if I feel any different during the course of this experiment
3) Take this experience to learn how to incorporate an organic and whole-food diet into my current diet to give myself an even cleaner diet

I've been using Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism cookbook as a guide (thanks Eliz!). I absolutely love Jillian so much. She has taught me so much about living a healthy lifestyle, both physically and mentally. All from either watching her shows, reading her books, or using her workout DVDs.

Last night, here is what I made:
- Grilled Lemon Chicken: From Jillian's cookbook. DELICIOUS! The marinade contains fresh lemon juice and zest (I got my lemons from an organic produce market down the road), olive oil, dijon mustard, honey, basil, and a few spices. I marinated a few pieces of chicken breasts and then had Chad grill them on our George Foreman. Then you top them off with extra marinade and kalamata olives. Even Chad thought this was a delicious meal.
- Russet Potato Salad with Arugula and Lemon: Her book suggested to make this as a side dish with the Grilled Lemon chicken. Yeah, I'm basically obsessed with this dish. I used 2 russet potatoes, arugula leaves, and celery, all organic and locally grown. The potato salad dressing consists of fresh lemon juice and zest, red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, and some spices. Very delicious.

For lunch yesterday, I made:
- Mediterranean Tuna Wraps: Also from Jillian's book. Unsalted tuna fish, mixed with some olive oil, a hard boiled egg, and spices. Folded into a whole wheat flour tortilla and topped with organic alfalfa leaves. Very good! but it wasn't very filling... so I made:
- Guacamole: I'm very particular about guacamole, and was very surprised that Jillian's very simple recipe turned out to be so flavorful. I got two avocados, 1 fresh tomato, 1 red onion, cilantro, and some spices and lime. I bought some pita chips to eat it with. I can't wait to eat some more of this tonight!

For breakfast this morning, I ate:
- Chocolate Oat Muffins: From Jillian's breakfast chapter. These muffins are amazing. Contains honey instead of sugar, whole wheat flour instead of white, dark chocolate chips (60% cocoa), rolled oats, chopped walnuts, orange zest, and other spices. One muffin = 170 calories and they are so flavorful and delicious. They are much better than eating a granola bar.


Tonight, I'll be making Pasta with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes in a lemon-yogurt sauce, and No-Cream "Creamed" Spinach, both from her book. I'll also be making Banana Blueberry muffins, to compliment to Chocolate Oat ones I already made.

I'll update tomorrow with my reviews.

Our Wedding :)

Well, after a year of planning, stress, and anxiety, OUR WEDDING HAPPENED! And it truly was the best day of my life.

I'm proud to say that I successfully planned a wedding from 2500 miles away. PHEW!

On Wednesday, March 16, Chad and I boarded a plane from the Monterey airport to LAX. From LAX, we flew to Chicago. From Chicago, we went straight to the Asheville airport! We checked into our hotel (the Doubletree Biltmore) that night, where they gave us chocolate chip cookies upon our arrival.
This was the first time I ever had alcohol on a plane. I've always been either too tired, sick to my stomach, or drugged up on Dramamine. But since flying has become a major part of my life now, I'm becoming better at it and no longer require drugs.
We ordered two of the Sunrise Sunset cocktails, which was basically a Tequila Sunrise, but with vodka instead of tequila. When I said this to Chad, he replied with "So what's in a Tequila Sunrise then? Rum?" I had to explain that a Tequila Sunrise has TEQUILA in it. :P Sorry Chad, that was way too funny and I had to share it!

Thursday, March 17th
Chad and I woke up, took showers, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and drove straight to the Register of Deeds to get our marriage license. That took about a half hour. When we were done, Eliz was already in town so we met up with her at Wild Wings! Not long after, Jacob and Robbie met up with us and I watched WVU win (yay!). After a few drinks and food, Eliz and I went to Packs Tavern for the UNCA alumni viewing party of UNCA vs. Pitt. Being that I hate Pitt more than anything in the world, I enjoyed watching my little alma mater play against my biggest rival. UNCA held themselves very well, especially in the first half. So proud of my little school!
After this, Eliz and I drove to her hotel so she could check in, and Lindsay met us there to give us a ride to El Chaps, which was our restaurant of choice in college. Paulina met us there, too. After this, Lindsay drove us to Bier Garden where I resumed drinking. Lindsay had to leave because she had to work in the morning, but Joe Phillips, his friend (I don't remember his name), Heather, and her friend (I don't remember his name either) all eventually met us out and I got pretty wasted. I hadn't drank this much in a long long time, but it was bacherlotte party so why not??

After this, we were informed that Asheville now has a bar that has NINTENDO. Yes, you can sit at this bar and play Nintendo. It was a dream come true. I cannot believe that this bar did not exist while Eliz and I were still students.

Here is a picture of me at the bar posing under a picture of Goomba:


I was still in my UNCA shirt from the game earlier, and I have no idea what it was that I spilled all over my shirt. Ha!

Eliz and I took a taxi back to my hotel to hang out with my sister Sarah and my brother Kevin at the TGIFriday's bar. At this point, it was about 2:30am (way past my bedtime, even for Pacific time), and I was really pretty drunk at this point. I went back up to my room and settled down in bed. I did not puke!! yay for me!

I knew Chad was out with his friends, but I decided to send him a quick text (the best I could considering how drunk I was) telling him that I love him and goodnite. I quickly got a text back from one of my friends who was using his phone to let me know that he was beyond gone and that they would be bringing him back to our hotel soon. About 45 minutes later, he was "delivered" back to our room in one piece. :) It was about 4:00am when I finally passed out.


Friday, March 18th, the day before!
This was a rough morning, complete with lack of sleep and hangovers. We checked out of our room at 11am (since we both had separate rooms the night before the wedding). I ate TGIFridays with my mom, dad, Jon, Natalie, and little Caitlyn. Then me, all of my sisters, and Eliz went to get our nails done. It was really a lot of fun. I am definitely going to be doing it on a regular basis because it feels good, I like having kept nails, and it's just fun.
After I got my nails done, I met my parents who then took me to the Bohemian to check into my bridal suite. It was a pretty amazing room! I got cleaned up and dressed for the rehearsal. There was a wedding going on at 7pm that night, and I started to freak out (probably due to overall stress, lack of sleep, and still hungover). There were people from this wedding hanging out on the terrace where we were supposed to be rehearsing. Luckily, the event coordinators kicked them out for me, and we got to do our rehearsal without any problems.
After that, we had what I thought was a fantastic rehearsal dinner at Province 620. I had spaghetti and it was very very good. Chad's parents picked a fantastic place and planned a great dinner.
Chad and I were so effing exhausted at this point. We said our goodnights and he retired to his friends for the night. My bridal suite was really big- too big to be by myself. So my mom and Aunt Jo spent the night with me. It was great to have company. :) Despite being SO FREAKING TIRED from hangovers, no sleep, and jet lag, I didn't sleep that much.


Saturday, March 19- the BIG DAY!
I woke up, took a long shower, and went back to the Doubletree right at 10:00am and met with my hair and make up stylists from Lola's Salon. They were so much fun and they did a GREAT job with everyone's hair. The make up artist was very very careful with my skin sensitivities and I had no problems. It was so much fun to sit around and watch all of my sisters and their kids get their hair done.

After this, we went to the Bohemian to all get ready in my bridal suite. Everyone got dressed, and all the kids put on their flower girl dresses. They were all SO CUTE!

When I put on my dress, and was sitting there waiting, I was seriously so nervous i felt like I could throw up. When my dad came in and said it was time, I wanted to throw up then and there. Not because I was afraid of getting married or anything, but I get anxiety when I am the center of attention.

After all of the stress and nervousness, the ceremony was perfect. It was exactly what I imagined it would be. Short, simple, too the point, yet still very meaningful. David did a fantastic job being our officiant. Since all of the little flower girls walked down the aisle with their mommies, they ALL did a fantastic job with no meltdowns! I couldn't believe it. I was fully expecting atleast 1 niece to completely breakdown (which would have been completely fine! They are kids!) but they DIDN'T! They all walked down, dropped the little petals on the ground, and stood up there with their mom's like little angels.

And the weather-- OH MY GOD. I couldn't have asked for better weather. Sunny, around 75 degrees, and a slight breeze. They even got to remove the plastic tarps from around the terrace and we got to say our vows in the beautiful weather.

Our first dance was hilarious, because Chad and I had no idea how to dance! And we were like "Uhh, so what do we do? Everyone is watching..."

Eliz and Jacob gave their speeches which was very special to me. Standing in that room, with my Chad, and all of our best friends, and our families, was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. I think it was the one moment in my life where I felt truly happy.

From there until the end consisted of great food, great cake, and lots of dancing. It was great to see old professors, friends, family, and to all just have fun and dance.

Something to note is that when Miley Cyrus "Party in the USA" came on, the dance floor got a little insane. As a result, someone jumped on my toe. My sister and her husband, who are doctors, diagnosed my toe as broken. I have pictures on my phone that show the black and blue bruising.

Afterwards, Chad and I didn't get the have the relaxing wedding night that you see in movies, mostly because we had to clean up my bridal suite (since it was used for all of us to get dressed), and then we had to walk to the Doubletree (with my broke toe) and clean up his suite. Luckily, Terry, Robbie, and Jacob came up and offered to finish. Thanks guys!

We went straight to bed. It was a VERY VERY exhausting week. The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, returned all lost items that were left in our room to my family members, ate lunch at Jersey Mikes with Eliz, and then went back to the airport to check in for our flight to San Diego to begin our short honeymoon. While our wedding night was exhausting and uneventful, we definitely had a GREAT TIME in San Diego, which I will detail in my next blog which I will write later. :)

Food for Thought

There are two active nuclear power plants in the state of California.

1. The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is located outside of San Luis Obispo, and is said to be able to withstand a 7.5 magnitude earthquake from the nearby San Andreas, Hosgri, and Shoreline fault lines. The Hosgri fault is located 2.5 miles away from the nuclear reactor. The November 4, 1927 Lompoc earthquake (magnitude 7.1) is thought to have occurred on this fault. There has been much controversy over this plant.


2.The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is located in San Diego county. It is said to "built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake directly under the plant", and also has a 25 foot tsunami wall for extra protection. It is located very close to the Cristianitos fault, which is believed to be inactive at this time.