Hello, everyone. I’m still alive.
Thank you to everyone who emailed Mod R to check on me. I’ve written a long detailed post of woe about my gallbladder ordeal, but I just trashed it, because it was depressing, and who wants that?
I don’t give medical advice, because I’m not a medical professional, so here is a datapoint. If you have unexplained severe pain in the upper abdomen, especially after you eat fatty meals, have your gallbladder checked. Especially if you recently lost weight, as weight loss can accelerate formation of gallstones.
When they put me on Ozempic for blood sugar control, I expected to lose some weight as a consequence. And I did. I came off Ozempic just before the attacks started. I’ve lost 31 lbs. to date. 18 of it was Ozempic. The rest was gallbladder. The pain is excruciating, and it gets worse, not better. I got to the point where I was afraid to eat. If the surgeon had told me, “We’ll have to cut off one of your feet for the pain to stop,” I would’ve told him to pick one.
I’m recovering. I saw my primary yesterday, and the incisions are healing well. They gave me oxycodone in the hospital, which I took for two days. I haven’t taken any painkillers since last Saturday. I walked 3 times a day for 15 minutes, even if it was just around the house or back yard, since the day of surgery, so my gas pain was tolerable.
I won’t lie, there were a couple of days there where I wasn’t myself because I irrationally worried about my pain coming back. But I climbed out of that hole. I still get pain twinges, but it’s nothing like it was. It pinches and lets go. I do have other weird pains here and there. Like something is hurting in my right side just above the hip. Feels like a pulled muscle or something, hurts when I inhale deeply, but right now I’m hypersensitive to every twitch. The main thing is, it’s been 8 days. I am not bent over crying.
Things I have tried to eat: a few bites of lean steak, a few bites of pot roast, a small serving of mushroom ravioli with a little marinara sauce and ground chicken breast. Mostly I eat saltines and chicken broth. Also pears and apples. Oatmeal.
But yesterday, after visiting the primary and giving blood – my liver enzymes were again sky high during the hospital stay, so she wants to recheck – Gordon took me out for sushi. It was a beautiful day. We sat outside. I ordered $15 worth of sushi making sure there was zero mayo or sauce on it. I ate 6 pieces and almost fell asleep at the table. I ate the rest for dinner and still have some left.
I get tired very easily now. I am back to work but only able to work in short bursts. I have a lot of brain fog and the concentration is just not there. It’s frustrating, but there is no cure except time. I’m deliriously happy with the pain being gone, and the hospital took good care of me. I sent the ER and OBS thank you baskets. Apparently, not a lot of people do this, because I received a puzzled call from the hospital today, making sure that I meant to send the baskets to the staff.
And now onto much funner news. Sanctuary is available for preorder in ebook. Behold the Black Volhv.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews comes a novella featuring Roman, our favorite Volhv wizard in the always intriguing, colorful, volatile Kate Daniels world.
It’s not easy serving Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death… especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.
Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now, elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it’s a fight to the death, but for him, it’s just another day in the neighborhood.
Preorder:
Remember, today is your last day to read the serial for free, and then it is going to come off the site for edits. Front page is updated, and the countdown timer is up.
I too had problems inhaling deeply and was told I had a bruised diaphragm from the gallstones.
Wishing you a speedy recovery. Ordered yesterday, thank you!
Please take your recuperation seriously and take all the time you need.
I am happy to hear you’re on the mend 👍🏻👍🏻
That Sanctuary cover is so beautiful. His story has been such a bright spot in a relentless winter. Thank you 🌼🌼🌼
Please look after yourself and give yourself grace to recover!
And pat yourself on the back for the decision to hire Mod R- she’s amazing and has kept us laughing all the way.
+1! Mod R is the best mod! Three cheers for her! Hip, Hip, Horay! 🥳🥳🥳
Definitely! HA’s HR department rocks.
Interesting about weight loss accelerating gall stone formation. No one ever mentioned that. I had my gall bladder out about 6 years ago after I spent a year slowly losing weight through diet and exercise. I lost 13 lbs, felt better than I had in years, and then Boom! gallbladder issues resulting in surgery.
I recovered pretty quickly, but still have bathroom issues if I eat a really high fat meal.
Oh, I want! Will it be available on audiobook?
Yes 🙂 ! The preorder for print and audio versions will go live closer to publication date.
When I ordered Sanctuary on Amazon, it didn’t offer a dead tree version?? I prefer to purchase both kindle and print. Did I misunderstand what types of formats are available??
PS: Glad to read you’re feeling better.
You didn’t misunderstand 🙂 !
The print and audio formats preorder will be available closer to release day, once edits are complete. That’s because the systems need to know exact number of pages and hours of recording before they allow the preorders 🙂
I had my gallbladder out in 2017 they HURT…The sucky thing for me was the pain wasn’t abdominal. Gallbladder pain can refer to your left shoulder blade. I thought I was having a heart attack.
So glad you are feeling better!
Sanctuary ordered. Love Roman and can’t wait to read it. I’ve been staying away from the serial on purpose because I was sure it would end up published.
I love the cover and can’t wait to read the epilogue. Hope you continue to feel better and happy to hear your doctor is still monitoring. I had my gallbladder removed in college and I had one last gallstone a couple weeks later after eating greasy pizza but thankfully none since.
So glad you are coming along. Take your time especially with food intakes.
I too sent flowers and cookies to my OBGYN office after surgery. After suffering from and dealing with endometriosis for almost 24 years, they were the first place to listen and take me seriously. I never once fwlt condescension or ridicule from them. The surgery should have been 1 day robotic, but I ended up with a basic c sec because it was so bad. And a 4 day stay at the hospital. The nurses came in checked on me at the hospital and even called once I finally got home. My surgeon/OB gave me the grossest pics so I could show my doubters 😂
As another with endo, the feeling of being heard is definitely a relief. I imagine there’s lots of people with many conditions that would emphasize as well, but I understand what you mean. 🤗
Pre- order done!! Download date on the calendar with alerts! Thank you!!
Good to hear you are improving and out of major pain. I expect as your appetite also recovers and you can eat more, you will have more energy. Hang in there! We’re all pulling for you.
That cover looks awesome by the way.
I’m glad you’re feeling better! Take it slowly and rest when you need to. My pre-order is in. Thanks for the heads up.
This is a bit odd…. I do not want to use Amazon, I do not have Apple, so I try Barnes and Nobles. I must be the xxxxth BDH-member that stumbles on the fact that they only want to sell to USA-credit card holders, even for e-books!!
What is their problem with somebody from Europe who wants to pay with Paypal, which they say to support as well???
Hi Judith, the links on the blog are not all the retailers where the book is available- it would be impossible for us to link them all 🙂
Please try to search the catalogue of your preferred retailer. Here is Sanctuary on Kobo, for example https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sanctuary-373
Hi Judith, try your preferred ebook retailer. As Mod R said, we just can’t list all of them, so we chuck the 3 largest out there.
Was a bit of a hassle, but I got through. Tnx for your rapid reactions, both of you, and Good recovery to you, Ilona!
I’m guessing that B&N don’t want to hassle with paying international taxes or what have you and that’s why they don’t accept international payment.
it sucks, but a valid excuse IMO. also recommend Kobo as a good option and they are international.
Oof, I had gallstones, undiagnosed for about 18 months. I had attacks more and more frequently, until it was every other day, 8-14 hours of that pain. Eventually I went to the ER, got diagnosed after an ultrasound, and scheduled for surgery.
The recovery was more difficult than my appendix removal or even hysterectomy, and all three were laparoscopic. I ended up with PTSD that would pop up sometimes as I ate a rich meal, just suddenly seized with the terror that another attack would happen as a result. That faded over time, though the internal scar tissue adhesions took a while to work out (more than a year).
Take it easy, and give yourself time, is my best advice. Surgery takes more out of you than you think, as does being in pain with a gallstone attack.
” I ended up with PTSD that would pop up sometimes as I ate a rich meal, just suddenly seized with the terror that another attack would happen as a result.”
::hug::
I know exactly how you felt.
It’s beautiful 😍! Thank you, pre-ordered of course!! So glad you’re feeling better.
Speedy recovery too, pre-ordered
pre-order done! So excited.
best wishes for a complete & gentle recovery. it does takes time and rest.
I haven’t had gallstones but I’ve had kidney stones twice and the pain is traumatic. Those twinges in the back send me straight for the lemon water.
I think being physically miserable over time really takes a mental/emotional toll that definitely scars. For me, it was months of nausea from morning sickness over multiple pregnancies. Now when I get it from a virus there’s a some panic where as before pregnancy it was just like this sucks.
I hope you find good health & joy moving forward.
Please take care of yourself. Glad to read that you’re doing better.
Sanctuary is pre-ordered. Love the cover for the book. Very Roman. 😊
Thanks for the preorder link.
I hope you continue to heal and have no further issues.
So glad you are feeling better! And pre-ordered, but will reread shortly.
I made gifts for my OB care team. Some of them also seemed a bit confused, but appreciative. Kiddo came a little bit early and I hadn’t gotten them done yet (had the stuff, just not completed), so I made my sister help me finish them while I was in labor so I could take them to the hospital with me 😄.
Love the cover and glad you’re on the mend!
I remember someone telling me that it takes about a month to recover per hour spent under general anesthetic. It’s hard and frustrating and as you say the only thing that will help is time.
So yay for pain free, yay for Roman, and wishing you a smooth and speedy recovery.
Glad to hear you’re recovering from the surgery. I’ll give the medical advice I’m qualified to — take care of yourself.
I’ve pre-ordered.
There’s a quote from one of Anne McCaffrey’s books (one of the Pern books) where the MasterHarper of Pern says in the midst of a heart attack, “no one ever really appreciates the absence of pain.” I discovered how true that is. Take care of yourself and get better.
Yay we have a date! I’m not a preorder kind of person, but will mark it on my calendar to look forward to 🙂
So very glad you are feeling better and have found some safe foods -especially sushi! (My boss is a no mayo sushi eater too)
Also, WOW! That cover! Is GORGEOUS! And has so many elements (the rune even!) plus brooding vibe🥰 And Klyuv looks so handsome & elegant-much better than pic in my head. Ms. Wheeler did a fabulous job!!
OMG I’m sorry you’ve had to fight the terrors of gallstones. Been there, threw the shirt away.
I was so happy to have defeated them (my surgical knight did a superb job) that I just launched myself back into life and
forgot about/ignored/threw a hex at
anything that might interfere with my recovery. So nothing did 👍
I now pay honour to the power of the Hex!
I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well after surgery. Gallbladder attacks are one of the most painful things you can experience. I had to laugh about cutting off a foot to stop the pain because after 22 years of attacks and failure to see the gallstones via imaging (x-ray and ultrasound) I told someone that if they had to cut from one end to the other to remove it I would have told them “do whatever you have to do-just get this thing out of me.”
I re-read the story last night and can’t wait for July! It gives us time to save up for the store merchandise.
It’s a beautiful day in the Horde neighborhood.
Glad you’re healing and feeling better. Gallbladder is no fun at all.
Dear Ilona
Please get well soon. All best wishes and thank you for Roman – just pre ordered
Kind regards
Claudia
So glad that you are feeling better. Few months time and you will definitely be feeling Fabulous!!
Also V V V Happy about the preorder of Sanctuary. Summer is coming and take some time to enjoy your life without gallbladder pain.
glad you’re on the mend. pre order done and count down widget on phone
Love the cover. That is so Roman.
Great! You and Gordon should take a few days and stay in a fancy hotel, and eat sushi. Glad you are recovering.
I’m glad that you are doing better. I hope the weather is beautiful, so that you can sit outside, sip some tea and rest and relax while watching the dogs play.
FYI, anyone who loves the graphic audiobooks, Chirp is having a flash sale. They are from $3.99 to $4.99 Rubby Fever is $5.99.
https://www.chirpbooks.com/authors/ilona-andrews-audiobooks
Thanks for the heads-up about the Chirp sale! I have all the Kate and Innkeeper GA productions, except for the Hidden Legacy series, so I may have to splurge 😉
So glad you’ve moved past the pain but hope that the traumatic memory stage moves along quickly.
I loved the cover of Sanctuary – it looks beautiful and I was so happy to have a visual of Klyuv now so thanks for that!
Will you please let us know when it’s available to request in Libby? I haven’t managed to find it yet, but there are so many with the same or adjacent titles that I haven’t figured out how to narrow the responses enough to allow a deep search.
The preorder flow is ->recommend to your library -> author/publishing area (I’m fuzzy here) -> Libby.
My library sends me notes when I try to recommend Ilona Andrews books with default statement “popular authors new books are automatically ordered.” As in, stop asking, it’s done already, sheesh.
preordered 🙂 Over here in Australia it is already showing as #1 Best Seller in Contemporary Fantasy.
Look after yourself Ilona I am glad things are getting better 🙂
I’m so glad you’re on the mend!
Placed my pre-order even before replying here, amd very excited to read the epilogue 🙂
Omigod, I LOVE that cover!
+ 1000!
I am really looking forward to the release! Words–yummy, yummy words to devour!
And I had an odd thought: Does Chernobog ‘get’ human cultural references? Like, Roman’s Eeyore slippers. Does he think “ha! fits!” or does he think “my priest has donkeys on his feet for no apparent reason, but I am filled with my terrible love for him anyhow’? Because, really. I would think that would be worth a Cherny-chuckle at least.
Hope your pups and cats are helping Gordon take good care of you! Sleep is your best friend right now, along with those saltine crackers, broth and tea!!
Love the art work for the Roman cover! Natanya Wheeler does gorgeous work!! July will be here before we know it!!
📚📚📚
Preorder done. :::squee::: I cannot wait, Roman is one of my favorites.
Glad you are doing better, it will take time to completely recover. After I had my gall bladder removed 20 years ago, I then found out I had “elevated liver enzymes”. I really hate you are going through this also. After MANY tests and two liver biopsies, the diagnosis was ruled to be fatty liver. I get my enzymes tested every 6 moths, they are all normal now but I have to keep checking as you never get rid of fatty liver (according to my doctor). My weight is the main driver on my enzymes, just a small weight gain will cause them to go up.
Good luck on your continuing recovery and staying healthy.
Dang, I’ve preordered about five hours ago but forgot to mention it here plus mention how lovely that you’re on the mend.
Everyone have a good and safe weekend. No dragging a tree without Roman to assist 🤓
yay going to put the order in now.
thanks
Tig Notaro’s new special talks about pain causing a panic attack and that resonates. So glad it’s in the rear view for you!
I would think there would be fan-girling hospital staff taking super extra good care of the famous author, no? Like, they bring YOU flowers and baskets! Heee!
Glad you’re on the mend, so sorry for you having to go through that!
Whenever our son is in ICU (he’s handicap so this has happened more than once) I take the nurses baked goods from our local bakery, which is fabulous. I can’t afford to pay them what they’re worth but they’re worth their weight and gold. Glad to hear you’re getting back to your old self. I’m insanely jealous. Everybody has lost weight on a Zimic, but me I have gained.
Loved every installment. Ordering the book now. I’m so sorry about your pain, sending you warmest Aloha.
My day has been made in two way! 1) Ilona is mending. 2) That cover! It could not be more perfect!
I can hear Kate complaining about guys in hooded cloaks.