TIFU by not knowing what a gallbladder attack was and thinking it was back pain for 10 years, and my not managing my care better.

A number of years ago, I was at a red light and a woman texting and driving broke by neck and back in four places when she rear ended me. I'm only alive because I was in my SUV and not on the Harley. (I also can't ride anymore as a result, but whatever.)

Since then, I've had horrible back pain. It comes and goes, and is managed with regular massage, a TENS unit and some medication. Sometimes the pain would hit me right in my lower to mid back, but it felt deeper than that. I'd be unable to sit, stand or lie down - everything hurt. I'd be reduced to tears most of the time. I had one at work and had to be taken home in a wheelchair. This happened 3-6 times a year, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night.

I'm not sure I can describe how bad these attacks were - it felt like someone beat my lower to mid back with a baseball bat. They were literally debilitating and I would often fall asleep sobbing from the pain. Even the heavy duty opiods the VA had me on like Morphine barely touched the pain.

Along with all that, the 13 different drugs the VA used to have me on really messed up my stomach, and I had a bunch of issues with loose stool alternating with constipation and cramps. I always had diarrhea around these attacks but never put two and two together, because I didn't really understand what a gallbladder does. That was the first part of my fuck up - not knowing that.

If you don't know, it stores bile so you can digest fat. Without it, the fat just goes right through you, giving you loose stool or worse. Just like in your kidney, you can get gallstones. Those stones can block the duct, causing a buildup of bile. This entire time, I was experiencing a gallbladder attack, where it was having trouble doing its job because of the gallstones, so it was becoming severely inflammed, triggering the back pain.

Why wasn't this discovered sooner? My GP at the VA was treating my pain, and the specialist was treating my stomach issues. Guess who didn't talk to each other often enough? The revolving door of doctors at the VA kept me from having docs who talk to each other. That was the second part of my fuck up - I should have been on the different newly hired GP who I saw twice a year to read back through my notes and get caught up. Instead it was take vitals, renew meds, referral to specialist, out the door until six months later to meet a new GP when I came back for my bi-annual check up.

They removed the galbladder several years ago. When I woke up in recovery and the doc came to check on me, he told me that mine was the worst gallbladder he had seen in years. He described it as "riddled" with gallstones and said he was amazed I wasn't having more attacks.

I can't even tell you what a relief it is to not have the attacks anymore. It was well worth the change in diet and having to give up some foods. It also causes you to need the bathroom more than before but again, to hell with back pain.

TL;DR: Thought my back pain was just back pain - it was gallbladder attacks caused by fatty foods and I didn't put two and two together or manage my revolving door of doctors correctly to diagnose this.