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.
will the print be available through ingrams? As a indi bookstore owner I really don’t like to Order through A*****.
Yes, we will share an Ingram number closer to the date 🙂
Sanctuary is #1 in Contemporary Fantasy on Amazon UK – not quite sure where they get “contemporary” from, but Yay” all the same.
Healing can be very frustrating, and especially so when your brain doesn’t work as it should and you can’t even enjoy a book. Lots of sympathy, and I hope the brain fog goes, and the concentration returns lickety-split. Also of course that the odd pains go, they can be so frightening.
Beautiful cover. Am looking forward to re-reading and getting the promised epilogue at the end of July.
My sympathy for your dietary limits this week; had oral surgery on Tues., and am so tired of “soft foods”. I am a grown-up and know that it will get better rapidly, but am really sick of applesauce, soup, cottage cheese, etc. I want something that goes “crunch”!
Yay for feeling better! I know that terror of pain coming back. It’s horrible. Hopefully the brain fog clears up quickly, and your energy levels return too!
Wishing you a speedy recovery from your surgery! All the healings to you! So excited for the new novella!
Happy to hear you are making progress! Baby steps is still moving forward. off to preorder.
Beautiful cover! Take care of yourself 🙂
glad you’re doing better, and I hope your recovery continues with minimal drama!
So glad to hear that you are feeling better, Ilona! May your progress continue!
Somehow I thought that Sanctuary was going to come out in paper form, however, I am happy to read it in electronic form! So many questions about what happens next! Can’t wait to read the final version!
1) preordered, yay!
2) brain fog is the worst. Mine was from chemo, and it took a while to clear. Hang in there, you are still you.
3) I found it helpful to think of being in a “recovery period”. Even as I improved and went back to work and daily things, I knew I wasn’t fully back to normal for quite a while. I kept working at it doggedly, determined to get back to previous capability. PT, exercise, scar massage. I’m pretty happy with where I am now, a year after end of treatment. I wish you a good and full recovery.
I just had my gallbladder out too – I’m sorry Ilona – the pain is awful. After the first couple of weeks things drastically improved for me (other than not being able to lift more than 5 lbs for mult pile weeks which none of my kids approved of). And I don’t seem to have any intolerance with any types of foods. Wishing you a relaxing and easy recovery, filled with tea, fun activities, and no stress!
I’m so pleased for you that you’re feeling much better🙏🏻. I had kidney stones a few years ago & my doctor told me that’s it’s worse than child birth😤. Never having given birth I can’t compare but it WAS extremely painful & like you I would have voluntarily have offered any limb he wanted to chop off!!!
I have found though that at times of serious illness – clots on the lungs / breast cancer- brain fog & lack of concentration seem to ‘tag on’ if you like. I think it’s the brains defence mechanism as if it can’t take any more pressure. I found during those times I revisited all my favourite reads☺️😉& films.
All I have left to say is ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️THE COVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve done both. Your doctor was right.
Yes! I just found Sanctuary on Google Play Books. It wasn’t there yesterday.
With Google I can transfer a purchase to my PocketBook e-reader because it supports Adobe DRM.
Added to wishlist.
I know pre-order works better for you, because publishers love it.
But somehow pre-ordering never works for me, on any platform. I either don’t get rewards, or it just doesn’t happen, so I need to cancel the pre-order and buy anyway.
Ordering as soon as available works better and safer.
Best wishes on your recovery.
Two friends of mine had their gallbladder removed. The recovery wasn’t easy but both of them said it was still way better than before. The pain they had before removal was the worst either one of them had experienced.
Goody goody goody! Preordered!
Not medical advice! had my gallbladder removed last year, best thing I ever did. surgeon said it was inflamed and had probably been releasing toxins over a few years that my body was constantly fighting. Take care, wishing you a speedy recovery, looking forward to any and all releases!
Glad to know you are getting better! Wishing you a speedy recovery. Take care.
This has been a long haul for you. I am glad the surgery is done and you are taking care of yourself during recovery. Having watched my mom not take care of herself after a surgery, the road is much harder that way.
Walking helps, having good people around you helps more. <3
Hi! OR staff member here.
Even having your gallbladder removed with a scope, it takes 5-6 weeks to feel normal.
The twinging lower muscle on the right side is fairly normal as two of the ports put in go through those muscle groups. That will get better with time and movement too.
My mom lost 25 pounds after having her gb removed. Not everyone does, but you might still have some weight loss as you heal. Introducing higher fat foods should be a slow process as your body gets use to processing things in a different way.
Sounds like you are making great progress! Yay!! You got this!
Sending well wishes for your recovery, Ilona! 💜
The cover is beautiful. I’ve already pre- ordered. ☺️
First time I had a gallbladder attack, I thought it was a heart attack. Went to the ER and it was my gallbladder. Got that sucker out.
Turns out, this is a common presentation with gallbladder. The pain was the seventh level of hell.
Hugs to you, Ilona. I had surgery for this after I lost weight via gastric bypass. It hasn’t given me any trouble since, and it’s been a decade and change.
You’re a heroine to me, and I know you’ll be back and feeding your insatiable horde in no time. 🙂
Also, that cover rocks. Off to preorder.
Hope you get well soon. I just have one small question. In the list of the future editions of the books, you did not mention when Marie’s book will be published. Is there a release date?
Hi Yamit, if you mean Maggie, then there are no official updates we can discuss atm.
happy to hear your health is improving. From personal experience I think we all notice every ache and yes it does take time. Good luck and thanks for the preorder looking forward to more Roman.
Illona et-al (Gordon is assisting so he gets High Fives TOO), glad you’re recovering. My friend had hers taken out long time ago, and she is fine, no fatty foods. Take milk thistle for the liver thing, it will help. We have for years, levels excellent. We exercise too so that helps, you will get back to what is your normal, takes time, we aint kids any longer.
Love your books all of them.
I have a Kate Daniels question.
Was rereading the Wilmington series, so Curran has stopped aging because Kate and Conlan love him.
What about Kate’s friends in that case? Andrea, Raphael, Ghastek, Barabas etc., are they also still young or look their age?
Glad you’re getting rest, getting better, and taking care of yourself! And able to eat some sushi. Wishing you a safe and speedy recovery!
Glad to know your surgery is over and that you are recovering. Also, looking forward the July 30th release of Sanctuary. Brain fog and pain meds kind of go together, sadly. Take the time you need to feel better.
Sorry to hear that you’ve been through the gallbladder gauntlet . Not a fun experience. I hope you feel better than “back to normal” soon.
I ran across a funny tote bag gift set online this morning and I wish I could attach a photo. I thought it would be something that would make you laugh… picture a simple white canvas tote with a black drawing of a ball of yarn with a crochet hook. The caption is “ I’m a knotty, knotty hooker”.
😊wishing you a speedy recovery as you are v. important to the Horde.
That’s funny. At least when I crochet I don’t lose stitches. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yippee! So glad you are recovering. Surgery. Just ugh times a million. (Though I am quite grateful for it.) May your small smiles every day turn into big grins soon.
I had my gallblader out in late ’22. As well as multiple other surgeries over the last several years.
Brain fog is normal, as is the extreme tiredness and fear of every little pain. I found that even the most minor of surgeries required AT LEAST two weeks to work my way out of the brain fog. They fixed my nose so I could breathe, the doc’s like you can be back to work in a week! Yah no, solid 18 days before I was up to it. And not because I heal slow either, every surgeon is delighted with my healing. It just takes me that long to get everything out of my system.
Love the cover! Can’t wait!
Ilona your body went through a traumatic ordeal…it will take time to recover. It takes a bit to recover from the Anesthesia, too. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
You’re doing great. Walk, mandatory. Not far, just regular. Took me about 2 weeks to feel better. But 5 weeks in hospital with strict food and walk instructions… you feel better until you get home and realize it’s not the same.
Protein and water and whatever didn’t upset my stomachwere my instructions. I was on strong (every 6hr IV antibiotics and my drain after having my insides washed) so was never far from the bathroom. I lasted 3 days on the pain medication, and they had to give me something from palliative care to keep them down. After that Tylenol and ignored the pain.
Did they give you the gas pills??
Keyhole or not it’s major surgery. Slow and steady. FWIW, kidney stones are worse…. been there done that, too.
I’m so glad got through it and you’re recovering! I had gall bladder surgery too and I completely understand the extreme paranoia that something will hurt. That was way worse than childbirth. But I’m happy to say I never had any more issues after recovery and I’m sure it will be the same for you once the post-surgery haze clears, and it will! Be patient with yourself and I wish you a speedy, full recovery!
Returning to “normal” isn’t easy after surgery and anesthesia and pain seem to screw with your mind and energy longer than you like. My preorder is in and now I wait for the audiobook as well. I do both! As a mature (old) woman I still get disoriented when an individual is referred to as “they.” 🥴
Ouch, sorry that you had to go through that. Just keep walking and be kind to yourself. It is usually trial and error with what foods will send you rushing to the bathroom and what makes your body happy. Thank you for Roman, my preorder is in.
Glad you are feeling better. Best wishes for a speedy full revovery.
Best wishes for a complete recovery. I am a hospital pharmacist of 40+ yrs, post GB surgery of 30+yrs and type 2 diabetic. Many of the posts have great advice. You do get brain fog from general anesthesia because the drugs used are longer acting than the ones used for short procedures. You will have to watch your fat intake or your colon will protest, but after recovery from the surgery you should be able to eat what you like with some moderation. liver enzymes respond to red wine so watch that and abstain for a few days prior to lab tests. Thanks for another entertaining book.
I am so sorry to hear about your gallbladder ordeal but happy that you are now on the mend. Like you said, time is what you need now to feel completely better. Take care and rest before you jump back in to writing. Thank you for the preorder which I immediately clicked on. Hopefully that will keep the horde happy while you recover. I’ll send some prayers your way that you feel 100% soon!
So sorry you had to go through that! Wishing you a speedy and easy recovery! ❤️
Ugh, brain fog is the worst! But I’m glad your troublesome gallbladder is gone and that the pain has eased up. I hope you feel back to normal soon!
Preordering done.
So glad you are feeling and doing better Ilona.
My father’s gallbladder decided to pack it in too. February 2020 – right before lockdown. It was pretty scary. He was 84 at the time and he had also had a blood infection too boot. But, he had it removed (didn’t get that surgery until July 2020 when they had a bit of a handle on procedures) and he is doing fine today. He still has the odd digestive issue here and there, but thanks to bile supplements, most of the digestive hiccups are gone and he still gets to have his fatty foods. Go figure.
YAY for the pre-order. So far it’s only the e-book version here in Canada but I will be watching for the paperback pre-order to show up, hopefully soon.
Again, so glad you are feeling better.
May you feel better each day. It’s great the pain stopped and surgery just takes time to recover—from the incisions and the shock to your system.
As for the hip pain, I had a friend who moved in with me after she and her husband broke up. On New Year’s Eve she started crying because of the pain in her stomach and of course, no doctors were in the office that day. I just looked at her and said, “get in the car.” I took her to the ER and she had emergency surgery for a gall bladder filled with gall stones and other nasty stuff. After the surgery she would complain about hip pain, which was nowhere near her incisions. Hers went away over time. Of course, in her sleep she rationalized the pain by dreaming the hip pain was from a broken leg she got in a plane crash. We laughed over her broken leg for years.
Ilona, prayers for your continued healing! I’m glad the surgery went well.
Hubby had to get his gb out years ago – it went well too except that he had to stay an extra day because he kept throwing up after he woke up. Some kind of anaesthesia hangover. That was not fun.
BTW I have heard that ox bile is helpful to some after gallbladder removal. Just something to keep in mind.
Your healing (including the surgery) is enhanced by this being Mercury Retrograde for this particular planet … Merc Retro is all about unfinished business and fixing things that are broken or need repair. Your timing is exquisite. It’s to be expected that you have a mild PTSD from this pain/surrender/surgery/incapacity/recovery experience … so, no pressure on yourself, you’ve finished Sanctuary, so no pressure there, you’re free to relax for a bit (Merc Retro ends on the 25th of April) and just let your body, your emotions, and your mind heal up. Read, relax, dream, plot dastardly events. You have so much love and affection coming to you from the BDH … just rest up, take care of yourself, eat sushi, drink tea, and know that you are healing up perfectly, it just takes a bit of time … just a few more days in the Nav, and you’ll be good as new.
I understand the gallbladder pain. I am wishing you a speedy recovery. I had min removed several years ago. Similar story. I lost weight to prepare for a gastric sleeve surgery. right before the scheduled surgery, my gallbladder went bad. since I was already scheduled for lapriscopic surgery, I got a twofer. my gastric surgeon did both at same time. recovery went well. I do have trouble with dairy now. so I avoid it when eating out or traveling. Embrace the downtime and enjoy some luxury.
Glad to hear you are feeling better! Yay for the pre-order!
Sorry you’ve been hurting. I’m relieved to hear you’re not in as much pain. Best wishes for a speeding recovery.
(And yes, I’m delighted to pre-order)
30 odd years ago my daughter described it thus,
“One minute mom was on the couch sitting next to me eating a hot pocket,
next thing you know, she’s on the floor screaming in pain.
Hasn’t been a hot pocket in the house since.”
looking forward to Sanctuary.
I preordered on Amazon. Ilona Andrews is the only author that I preorder! I noticed that Sanctuary lists text-to-speech as enabled… what does that mean?
So glad you’re healing! Please ask your doctor (or you can do it) to alert the FDA that you were on ozempic and then had to have your gall bladder removed https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/index.cfm?action=reporting.home. It’s a known potential complication, but they’re only starting to grasp the real-world numbers. It could be a consequence of the drug causing significant weight loss or the drug itself,so they are parsing this out. I hope you continue to heal well and get your brain back soon. I’ve had Long COVID for 4 years so I understand how debilitating the brain fog and fatigue can be.
What an ordeal – wishing you a speedy recovery!