Jenny Loomans

The story starts long before we knew there was one, of course. But we became aware in January. Grace took me out to lunch at Steak and Shake, and I couldn't eat, even though I hadn't eaten since the day before. I felt full to my chin. It took days to feel I could eat again. My gall bladder hurt, but I didn't know that was gall bladder stuff. I stopped eating, for the most part, but being obese, that didn't hurt me for a long time.


In February, I started to regain my sense of smell,which had been lost since a bad cold in September.  But all the odors I could detect were distorted, and all were repulsive. In March I was finally feeling the long fast, and Gary finally got me to go to the walk in hours at the doctor's. The nurse practitioner sent me for an ultrasound, rightly diagnosing gallbladder trouble. 


I met with a surgeon, Dr Jennings, on Wednesday April 5th, and went into surgery on Friday. Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery typically has three incisions; the scope goes in first, and Dr Jennings saw masses immediately. He biopsied the mass,drained a lot of fluid from the abdominal cavity, and closed, and we waited all weekend for a report.


On Monday, he called to refer us to Dr Leuenberger, and we got an appointment early Wednesday. By then I was badly dehydrated and very weak. After a brief interview, Dr Leuenberger admitted me directly into hospital. Wednesday was spent trying to raise a vein that didn't collapse for an IV so I could get hydrated enough for a port. The port went in Thursday, and I also had fluid drained from around my left lung. This made eating possible. So that's how I got here. Thank you for visiting.