My Gallbladder Story

Summary

Webpage: https://www.gallbladderdiet.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gallbladder.nutritionist

In the inaugural episode of the Gallbladder Diet Podcast, host Olivia Haas shares her personal journey with gallbladder health, detailing her struggles, diagnoses, and the importance of education and support for those facing similar challenges. She emphasizes the significance of understanding gallbladder function and health, and her mission to empower others through knowledge and community support.

Transcript

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Welcome to the gallbladder diet podcast. I'm your host, Olivia Haas, a fellow gallbladder warrior and an integrative nutritionist specializing in gallbladder health. I know firsthand how challenging it can be to deal with gallbladder issues or the aftermath of gallbladder surgery because I've been there myself. Over the past decade, I've navigated my own journey through gallbladder attacks, gallbladder sludge, dysfunction, polyps, and chronic digestive issues. What once felt like a burden has transformed into a blessing. allowing me to better support and educate others on their gallbladder health journey. On this podcast, I'll help you identify the root causes of your gallbladder diagnosis, explore ways to improve gallbladder and liver health, and address digestive issues or fatty liver concerns after gallbladder removal. My goal is to provide you the tools and education to help you become an advocate on your gallbladder journey or journey post-gallbladder surgery. Through simple, integrative strategies, we'll work together to help you achieve health and confidence every step of the way. If you're ready to turn your struggles into a source of strength and become an advocate for your own health, you've come to the right place. Welcome to the gallbladder diet podcast. Welcome again to the gallbladder diet podcast. This is Olivia Haas and this is actually my first episode of this podcast and it's a big deal. I just am so grateful and I'm glad that you are here. To kickstart this podcast, I wanted to share a little bit about my journey and why I am so passionate about helping others on their gallbladder health journey. So on this podcast, you will find actual tips and tools to help you on your journey to either save your gallbladder, transition well through surgery, or improve health post-gallbladder surgery. So really my mission with this podcast and the content that I share on Instagram is really to help other gallbladder warriors feel supported every step of their gallbladder journey. So whether they are working to save their gallbladder, need to do removal and want a good plan to transition while through surgery, or maybe they're struggling with chronic issues, menstrual post-gallbladder surgery and don't know what to do to support their body. My goal is with every content I put out there and all the podcast episodes to support you every step of your gallbladder journey. So if you are anything like me, When I first started, I felt so overwhelmed and confused, one, what was going on with my body in the first place and what I should or shouldn't be doing. There really was a lack of education regarding gallbladder health and post-gallbladder surgery care when my gallbladder journey started. Fortunately, we are learning more and more that the gallbladder is a vital organ and it does play an important role in the body. And with that, I do think there's a lot more education out there, which is really, really awesome. And that has been a mission behind the gall butter diet and my Instagram channel, gallbutter.nutritionist, since I started the page. And really, the lack of education became my mission to provide other gall butter warriors more education so they can feel confident and hopeful and feel like an advocate. on their journey to save their gall butter or improve their health post gall butter surgery because I know on my journey, I certainly did not feel that way until I had a support team set up. So to give you a little context into why I'm so passionate about helping others with gall butter issues, I wanna give you a little bit of background about my story. So my gall butter journey, actually started in my 20s. I did not realize it at the time. I was living life to the fullest, let me tell you, in Chicago. My health values were not the way they were at all. I have a history of partying and binge eating and my gosh, I did that to the extreme. I still remember I was supposed to be headed home to California to celebrate Christmas with my family. Instead, the night before flying out, I was up all night vomiting with no explained reason. The next day, I was heading to the airport and ended up with intense pain in my upper right abdomen. I could barely drive, but I did head to the hospital and this was actually my first ER visit. I ended up at the hospital, it felt like for 11 hours with two of my best friends. They, you know, blessed them. They stayed in the room with me the whole time. They ran so many different tests and they thought for sure it was my appendix, but everything was coming back clear. So everything was a mystery for this upper right quadrant pain. So of course I was sent home with no explanation of what just happened to my body, but in complete shock. So I came home and I literally stayed on the couch for about five days. I did not realize at the time that this was what we call a gallbladder attack. So gallbladder attack, if you are familiar with having them, they are so intense and they can be shocking to your system, especially if it's your first one. And gallbladder attacks typically start with vomiting, possibly intense sense of urgency, reflux, feeling extremely nauseous. And then most individuals will start with intense pain in their upper sternum, sometimes in the upper right quadrant, the upper back. For some females, it feels like a heart attack almost, and it can be really, really shocking your first time. After this episode, never really pursued it again. I really didn't value my health at that time. So I let it go and I continued to live my life to the fullest in Chicago. Fast forward to my 30s, I moved home. I was working almost two jobs. I was working a nine to five and then would come home and I actually was doing meal prepping for families in the area to make extra money to save up for our wedding. Around this time, I suffered from major adrenal burnout. I started to notice issues with my thyroid. I've had a history of hypothyroidism. So it was very familiar to me a lot of symptoms I started to experience. So I sought out a chiropractor that also had education and functional nutrition and she ended up putting me on anti-candida diet. So I went on the anti-candida diet was advised to eat a little bit higher fat. And so I was doing kind of higher fat, more ancestral based diet. So I was doing a lot of raw dairy, a lot of higher fat, wild game meats. And initially I felt great, but then I started struggling with bloating and chronic constipation, but I did not address it at this time. It was during the summertime and we had back-to-back trips planned. I had a trip to Hawaii for my brother's wedding and then came home. and had a trip to Canada and that's when everything just hit the fan. I started to get these episodes again of where it almost felt like terrible, terrible stomach flu. I'd go through episodes of where I would feel extremely nauseous, then I would have extreme sense of urgency, some vomiting and this intense upright quadrant pain. So I was very confused what was going on with my body. I was at the point where I didn't know what to eat. Everything was setting it off, even sometimes vegetables. I couldn't eat animal protein, so I ended up sticking to a bone broth diet with bananas and lentils for several days. It felt like a couple months of where I was really struggling with this. I lost significant amount of weight, about 20 pounds, within a short timeframe. So during this time, I was very, very overwhelmed what was going on with my health. I was extremely fatigued, felt extremely sick at this time. And fortunately, I was working with my naturopath. So my naturopath was actually running testing for parasites. Based off of me traveling to these different states and countries, she started with parasite testing to see what was going on. Nothing lagged back on the stool test except for my fecal fat. During that time, I was also trying to do consultations with a gastroenterologist, but between the different testings, it was kind of taking a bit of time to get some help and some answers. So I did go through the process of doing different testings. At the time, I only did an ultrasound and endoscopy. And through the testing, they found that I had gallbladder polyps and a little bit of sludge. But at this time, I was diagnosed with IBS because they did not feel that these symptoms of the gallbladder polyps and the sludge should be triggering pain. I was diagnosed with IBS, prescribed Nexium and pain medication. So I... was still feeling at a loss because I still was not able to tolerate food. I felt so incredibly sick and I had one more episode of intense pain that ended me up in the ER. Went to the ER and because of all of the vomiting and the diarrhea, I was dehydrated. So when they pulled a ton of blood, I ended up passing out and ended up in the hospital bed and was put on a couple IVs. And again, they didn't run any testing when I did go into the urgent care because I was going to be following up with my gastroenterologist again the following week. So they didn't run any testing and diagnosed me with dehydration. And unfortunately, my husband took me to a hospital that was out of network. So I ended up with a hospital bill of $5,000 for dehydration. It was a huge, huge bill to stomach. Let me tell you that. with no answers still what was going wrong with my body. So at this point again, I was depleted. I thought I was gonna have to take a short term leave because I was getting no answers of what was going on with my body. I went back to my naturopath's office after having an eight hour attack. I was in my pajamas still because I was so depleted. I had throw up on my clothes. I looked like a mess and I was like, I felt like I was dying. I had no idea what was going on with my body. And I was like, there's no way that this is IBS. My naturopath said to me, this is your gall butter. You do not wanna remove your gall butter, so we are going to work to save it. And ever since that moment, she gave me the confidence to pick myself back up and to embark on this journey to help save my gall butter. And it really was a pivotal moment. So she helped me get to the point of where I was able to tolerate food again. I really, really struggled with a lot of food fears you can imagine and many of you can relate to for several months. Avocados and almonds, my gosh, they were the death of me. I was afraid of animal protein. I really didn't do much fat for many months, probably about six months before I started to reintroduce these things. I continued on with all the recommendations that she gave me and I was starting to feel great. I really was, but then I started noticing that I would get these random bouts of attacks again. When I was under high periods of stress, if I ate, overate like fats, especially if I overate nuts, avocados, it seemed to be an issue. Red meat was a big problem for a long time. And I would have these random bouts of pain. And I was like, this is my gall butter again, and I don't understand what's going on. During this time, I was still doing follow-up ultrasounds to check on the polyps. The sludge had reversed. There was no signs of sludge, but I was still monitoring the polyps. Nothing was coming up on ultrasounds. So what's going on with my body? Because I know this is not just IBS, this is something else. I decided to pursue a gastroenterologist that specialized in biliary diseases and he ordered me the HIDAScan with the ejection fraction to see if it was a function issue with my gallbladder. And that's when I was diagnosed with biliary dyskinesia or poor gallbladder function. And honestly, I always knew it was my gallbladder. but it kind of gave me that sense of peace to know that I was right because I felt like I was crazy. A lot of times going to several of these doctors, even though I knew kind of what was going on with my body, I felt like I wasn't getting the support that I needed outside of my naturopath really guiding me. So I worked with this gastroenterologist and knowing that there was a function issue, I started the journey to kind of work on the function. At this... I still have my gall butter. I'm still working to save my gall butter. I don't know what my future holds, but I'm okay with that. I know that everything that I am doing to save my gall butter and really to improve my liver health has helped tremendously to improve my health over the years. I am a totally different person from when I was in my 20s and 30s. I feel amazing. most of the time, obviously I'm a mom now, so sleep deprivation comes into play, but I feel really, really great. And I think a large piece of that is because my gallbladder journey really became a huge health blessing. It made me wake up and start prioritizing my health in a way that was intentional. I was always into health, but in ways that were not very positive for myself, you know, with a... I had a history of eating disorder. I did a lot of bodybuilding. I did a lot of macro counting, but I really didn't, really didn't support my body and learn the meaning of health until I started struggling with gallbladder issues. And the benefit of dealing with gallbladder issues is that it's really focused in on your liver health. And your liver is amazing organ that controls over 500 plus functions in your body. So as I worked to improve my gallbladder, I was also improving my liver health. So you can imagine that I started to see many benefits with energy, my sleep, my hormones, my weight, everything started to improve because I was really focusing on my gallbladder and liver health. I really do look at my gallbladder health journey as the greatest health blessing that I've ever dealt with. know, initially I didn't feel that way, but now I do. And I really do value this organ in my body. But like I said, I know dealing with gallbladder issues, it can be very hard and it can be very challenging. And so I don't know what the health of my gallbladder will be as I age, go through perimenopause, menopause, but right now my mission is to support my health the best way possible, to support my gallbladder, really work on improving my liver health today and into the next couple years. So. Through my Gallbiter journey, I really leaned on my naturopath and I really had that amazing support system and I'm really fortunate for her to have guided me on my Gallbiter health journey. But I know firsthand that dealing with Gallbiter issues is hard and it can feel very lonely and the lack of education out there can really... hold you back on knowing what to do. And that is why I developed the gall butter diet and why I started my Instagram page, thegallbutter.nutritionist, about four to five years ago now, to really help others on their gall butter journey feel more supported and educated and provide them the hope on their gall butter health journey. Whether they do save their gall butter or they need help going through surgery or they need to feel understood. and hope that they can restore their health post-Galbetter surgery, that is my mission. And that is my mission with this podcast as well, to be able to provide that support for Galbetter Warriors every step of their Galbetter journey. So thank you so much for being here. I hope that my story resonates with you. You can always connect with me on Instagram at Galbetter.nutritionist. I am an open book. I would love to hear from you. You can always reach out to me and ask questions. And I just asked as a fellow gallbladder warrior, as I start this podcast, you also share any podcasts that resonate with you. So if there's a podcast that you think will really help another fellow gallbladder warrior, I just ask that you share the podcast on your Instagram, Facebook, whatever social media channel that you typically use, because all of this information not only can help you, but it's going to help all future gallbladder warriors. So as a mission, as Galbetter Warriors, I just hope that you spread this word as well. So thank you again for being here. It means so much to me and I am looking forward to serving you in the Galbetter Diet podcast. Thank you for tuning in to the Galbetter Diet podcast. As a reminder, the information shared here is for educational purposes only. So please consult with your medical provider prior to executing any supplement and dietary recommendations. If you're looking for additional support on your gallbladder journey, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can connect with me on Instagram at gallbladder.nutritionist or visit my website at www.gallbladderdiet.com. Be sure to check the show notes for more details on free master classes and other support options. Thanks again for listening and I hope you enjoyed this podcast.