Gall-y

Today began with an ultrasound of my gall bladder. After telling the technician that the only other time I'd had an ultrasound was when I was pregnant, she said, "It will be just like that...only not fun." (I think she might have missed her calling in marketing.)

How did we get here? Well, it seems that upper abdominal pain + deep middle back pain + right shoulder pain = gall bladder trouble. I was actually thrilled to learn that all three pains might actually be coming from the same culprit...plus, it's an organ that I don't really need anyway. 

Ok, but backing up, I should note here that my doctor visit yesterday turned out not to be a physical because apparently a woman's annual visit to the OB/GYN is considered a "physical" and therefore another physical -- one with a family practice doctor -- is not covered under insurance. Guess I should have thought to ask my OB/GYN about my shoulder...can't imagine why I didn't. 

Back to the ultrasound...as I said, I'm encouraged by the prospect of locating the source of this pain and maybe actually making it stop for good, so I was in pretty good spirits as I entered the radiology department. However, once I was laying on the exam table with jelly on my gut, it occurred to me that whenever they look inside you, there's always a chance they might find something unexpected. Something worse than a faulty gall bladder. 

As these thoughts filled my mind, I tried to read the technician's face...Why is she squinting? Why is she staring so long at that particular gray blob? Does she always make people turn on their side or is my ailment stretching unusually far down the side of my torso?

It would appear, however, that they either train the ultrasound technicians to give nothing away or they stop just short of teaching them to actually interpret the images so they can't actually tell what's going on. Either way, I am left without any information for another few days.

Here's hoping it's just my useless old gall bladder.