Ok I'll try to be as succinct as possible but this is long and the relevance of the detail should be clear later.
Jan '18 am admitted to hospital with dehydration, severe D&V, pain etc.
During this stay I was given an abdo scan, I was heavily drugged but DH was present during the scan, scanning Dr says gallbladder is distended and she can see unexpected objects in gallbladder but can't get enough of a read on them to say for sure they are gallstones or what.
Pain continues through 2018, I'm prescribed meds, have the occasional brief hospital visit due to dehydration.
Summer '18 we use DH's work medical insurance to further investigate.
Am referred to a gastroenterologist.
Colonoscopy shows nothing MRI shows mass in gallbladder, described as sludge.
Final diagnosis is IBS + gallbladder problems.
Aug '18 see dietician who suggests I try FODMAP diet for IBS and gallstone prevention diet for gallbladder problems.
I try both, separately, for 6 weeks at a time and neither makes a difference to the pain or problems.
Gastroenterologist gives me the option of seeing a surgeon to talk through gallbladder removal options.
I decide, with DH agreement, to do nothing further for now re investigation and intervention.
The pain continues, it's difficult but manageable and I've become good at fending off attacks and various other ways of getting through despite pain often keeping me awake at night.
Dec '18 after a discernible increase in symptoms I telephone for a GP referral to see surgeon re gallbladder removal privately.
Feb '19 saw surgeon.
I didn't take to him but didn't discuss this with DH in case my previous bad operation experience was clouding my judgment.
Surgeon gives me the option of surgery, I say 'no for now'.
Tuesday this week.
The pain is overwhelming, I'm at work and they call an ambulance.
Only IV morphine gets to the pain.
On the way back from the hospital on Tuesday evening I leave a voicemail for the surgeon's secretary to say 'ok, this is now ridiculous, how do I go about arranging surgery?'
The secretary calls me back that evening and says she will make an appointment for me to see the surgeon.
DH and I have a conversation, it transpires that neither of us liked the surgeon.
During our initial appointment he hadn't answered any of DH's questions and had talked over anything DH said throughout.
At this point I will say that DH is usually mild mannered, unjudgemental and very precise it's his job to be.
We go to my appointment with the surgeon on Thursday.
The surgeon says there was no evidence of gallstones on the scan or MRI.
DH says he knows this isn't true, that he had been present for every consultation and the scan, that during the scan objects could be seen and the MRI showed sludge.
At first the surgeon talked over DH, then ignored him completely, then said DH was mistaken and then that DH was lying and that there was no evidence to the contrary.
As there is no evidence the surgeon says he wants another abdominal scan I'll arrange this for asap.
DH is seething, I'm in pain and unhappy though not with DH and we are agreed that this won't be the surgeon who operates on me.
I know that scans can be unreliable when looking for stones, let alone sludge, so I'm worried about the possibility that a scan won't find anything.
I'm still in considerable pain, I can't go back to the NHS Dr from the hospital to ask what she did see on my scan over a year ago but didn't record on my notes.
I can ask my GP how she knows unprompted by me that there was 'sludge' evidenced on the MRI but a GP appointment takes weeks. I've never actually seen my GP.
I could see if I can see the gastroenterologist again to ask him about the MRI but that will take time and he may well not be straight about it because he's failed to tell the surgeon the same information sludge as he previously told us and reported to the GP.
Apologies, that was long but the details are pertinent to the latest information about the surgeon, my gallbladder and the stupidity of all of it.
I also know that I'm in a privileged position as I can access private medical care so one way or another things will move quickly.
Even so, it still feels a bit shit and ridiculous at the moment as I've gone back a few steps in the process.
If you've managed to get through all this then I'm very grateful.
Any suggestions as to what to do next are welcomed 