This is what I know so far...

...I know that I never imagined I would be so excited to have surgery. Ok...I'm also absolutely petrified. But having this not be a factor in my life will be really fantastic and amazing.

I met with the surgeon this morning. Actually 2. The first one was clearly a resident...but he was nice...did the oh so wonderful exam...and then got the "real" Dr. They both came back...and said that yes...of course...we'll take out your gallbladder. Awesome news! Oh...but that might not completely take away all of your symptoms. Not so awesome news. But it should take away about 75-80%. Sweet...I'll take it!

The Dr. also went into the details about the risks of the surgery, all of that fun stuff. They looked to me if I had any questions. Of course. When can I start running again? Yes, the Drs. expression really read "is that REALLY the first question you're asking?" Yes...yes it was. The answer? Well...kind of ambiguous for right now. They won't give me a pass to start running (or anything else) until after my follow up appointment a week and a half after the surgery.

All in all, I think I'm getting a pretty good deal. They're going to try to do this with one incision...instead of 4...and the likelihood that I'd need to be completely ripped open is minimal.

So, of course, my parents are coming out to take care of me. Which...you know...is awesome. I'm excited about that. Wait...maybe excited is a little over-exaggerating just a smidge. I'm very grateful they're coming. But I'm also terrified of being cooped up in my apartment for over a week with them is going to drive me bonkers. I mean...I don't know what to do with myself if I have over 3 days off in a row. So the prospect of having 2 weeks off, recovering or not, I have no idea what I'm going to do. So yes...shameless plea for help on ideas, movies, soduko, ANYTHING to keep me entertained. Or if you're REALLY nice and awesome...you could always stop by for a visit. I promise I'll try not to look too pitiful. But seriously...that would be really awesome :)

So as I mentioned a little earlier...I'm a little nervous about this whole deal. But it's not really the surgery that I'm nervous about. I kind of figure that I'll be unconscious...so I really don't have too much to worry about there. Ok...so they're probably going to intubate me during the surgery. That kinda sucks. Big time. But...ok...deep breathe...the thing I'm most nervous about right now is having to spend the night in the hospital. I've never had to do that before. NEVER. And really...I don't want to. Ever. I'm not even sure I can put my finger on one thing that makes me so nervous about it. I just really don't want to.

Also, I think my veins (arteries?) are giving up. I've had more blood drawn in the past few weeks that they've just given up. I have NEVER bruised from needles sticks like I have recently. I'm not sure what's up with that...but that, too, can go away. Blerg.

So this is what I know so far. I'm sure over the next couple of days I'll find out more info...and of course...will keep everyone posted :)