I'm sure I'd be in a lot more pain if that's what I actually did but it still hurts like a motherfucker. It's been hurting for like a week. I suppose I just tore some cartilage or something.

Get some xrays - I separated a rib head/rib socket on my back a couple years ago and it was a bummer. Couple trips to the chiro took care of it.

I had 5 broken and a punctured lung. It sucked.

"We'll need to see you twice a week for... many years."

See, stuff like this bothers me. They told me after 4 visits I was all set.
And when I fucked up my neck/shoulder in early '05 a chiro was who got me back in shape without drugs. Helps that my guy's not a quack.

If you busted it, you would be able to feel an inflated bicycle inner tube surrounding it. Mine swelled up real good.

With all the things happened to me over the past 40 year, not once did a bone break.

Which is nearly Hurleyan in its remarkitude.

I bruised one a few months back, Jon, and that shit hurt BAD for almost a month. I was riding my bike on a trail on slick tires (can't find my knobbies), slipped, and hit a tree with my ribcage. There were no visible bruises, no swelling, but I couldn't laugh or sleep in anything but one position for weeks.

It just went away. Though without any insurance, that's the only choice it had.

Heh heh, wait until he has to cough or puke.

Me laughing during that period:

"Heh heh OW FUCK heh heh SHIT JESUS heh heh!"

Yeah...laughing or coughing in that situation blows.

shiv - are you getting a stabbing pain in there when you breathe in too deeply? If so, it's probably torn cartilidge like you're thinking.

I ripped mine up via intense, projectile vomitting during a gallbladder attack. That was fun. And yeah, you pretty much just have to wait for it to go away. Mine took weeks.

It's not that bad when I breathe and or cough. It only really hurts if I apply pressure to it. I'm going to the doctor in a few minutes though.

Same here, P'Shaw...even more remarkable in my case, given my Hurleyesque physique. Of course, I did fuck up my left knee pretty bad the other night...BOWLING. See, when you get injured doing something so innocuous, that proves it's all because of DAT FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.

A limping FT is not a pretty sight, let me tell you.

ahh, the voice of reason is alive within you my son.

Gallbladder attack was the first thing I thought of when I read the initial post. Before I had mine removed, I thought I'd pulled a muscle in/on/near my ribs and it was just gallstones.

but usually the pain will be most symptomatic after meals -- especially fatty ones. So there is a temporal pattern associated with gallbladder pain as opposed to the positional/musculoskeletal that he's describing.

Thanks, doc.

I was having the usual cramping I'd get occasionally from eating poorly, but instead of subsiding it just.kept.fucking.going. And it was waaaaay more painful that normal. I've got an EXTREMELY high pain threshold, but that nite in the ER I was threatening people if they did dope my ass up toot sweet.

Turns out my gallbladder was, for all intents & purposes, dead.

That week didn't exactly make my "Best of 2006" highlight reel.

Haha... I thought mine was heartburn, so I drank a ton of Mylanta and milk. When I got to the ER, the doctor was like, "I hope you didn't drink any milk." Then I threw up. It was awesome. Went into Northwestern the next day and before performing the cholecystectomy, they did an ERCP to take a look at the ducts before surgery. On the way out, they nicked my pancreas, so I went from having gallbladder pain to having a very angry pancreas which kept me hospitalized for two weeks. Finally got the goddamned gallbladder out two weeks after the first stay.

Besides selling my condo and separating from my husband, that made my "best of 2004" reel a little bleaker.

But it's great to know that I'll never, ever have that gallbladder pain again.

Sweet fancy Moses...I think I'll stop complaining about my episode now.

I didn't start hurling immediately - it felt like I had to for hours before I actually did. But once I started I made up for lost time. It was like that resteraunt scene in "Life Of Brian". Geh.

They gave me some hardcore stuff that nite in the ER that made the pain go away, & then over the next few days all I ate was tomato & chicken noodle soup. During that week I saw a couple of docs & scheduled my surgery.

They didn't get all the stones outta me during my procedure, so I had to go back 3 days later for an ERCP. They got the ones that were stuck in the bile duct then, & it was ( finally ) all over except for the healing.

And thank Gawd I had insurance...the whole schmere ended up costing over $40,000 - of which I had to pony up about $1800.

One interesting thing - did you find afterwards that you could eat/drink things you couldn't before? I can have OJ every AM now, & not even get heartburn. Coffee, too. Previous to my surgery, either one of those woulda put me in the proverbial world of hurt.

After the ERCP, the doctors thought I was fine, so they sent an anesthesiologist in to talk to me about what he does during surgery. I was just about to sign the consent forms and I threw up all over the place.

Yeah, I can eat anything now. I used to get heartburn quite frequently, but now I only get it if I drink too much liquor.

Did you have phantom gallbladder pain after the surgery? I went so far as to call my doctor and say, "I'm pretty sure you didn't get all the gallbladder out. I'm in pain." Luckily, she has a sense of humor.

No...the only odd, new thing I had afterward is more in the middle of my gut. And it usually appears after I eat something "bad" for me. It's not really painful...it just feels like someone's pushing in on my belly with their fist. It's quite dramatic, & hard to describe. It's happened maybe 10 times in the 7 months after I had my surgery. I'm gonna have my annual physical here in a month or so...I'll mention it to Dr. Steve then.

Did they do the laproscopic surgery on you, red? That's the route they took with me. I've just got the 3 scars on my torso.

Yes, they did. I had four incisions with that one. Had another lap surgery about a month ago, so now I have four more scars on me! Thank God they're small. I can't imagine what people go through when they're actually cut open, like C-Sections and stuff like that. I'm a whiny baby with two stitches. Can't imagine what 20 would feel like.

The stomach pain sounds icky. Maybe it's just gas.

Maybe...it's a sensation I didn't feel prior to the surgery, though. That's for sure. And it doesn't even hurt per se'...it just feels like an invisible person has come up & gently but sternly pushed in on my belly. I know that sounds nuts...it's very difficult to describe.

That was my first surgery, though - made it to 40 without ever being put under before, so I shouldn't bitch.

BTW - sorry about the tangent, shiv. lol.