Alaska gave me gallstones

Lately I've been seeing references to a principle known as "Occam's Razor", which in modern media is popularly interpreted as, "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one." Using this principle, and recent facts, one thing is very clear: Alaska has given me gallstones.

Here are the facts:

• In late February I had an annual physical with my doctor in Kentucky. Everything came back normal.
• In March I began my move to Alaska.
• By mid-April I had found an apartment in Wasilla, Alaska.
• By late May I began experiencing an incredible digestive system disorder that had me lose 30 pounds in less than seven weeks (living only on water, gatorade, soda crackers, and chicken broth).
• A few weeks ago a gastroenterologist said that, among other problems, I have gallstones.

According to Occam's Razor, the cause is very clear: I had no gallstones in Kentucky; a few months later I have them; therefore, the state of Alaska must have given them to me.

Another explanation

I write that jokingly. If anything, I'm disappointed that my doctor in Kentucky didn't find them less than three months before this train wreck. Between doctors and insurance companies, I don't know what the "annual physical" rules and regulations are, but these gallstones (and a few other problems) showed up on a CT scan a few weeks ago. Since my doctor in Kentucky didn't use a CT scan, or even a chest x-ray, she didn't see these problems. I don't really "blame" her, it's just that things like this make me disappointed about the quality of health care, and that we are always reactive, instead of proactive.

(I know CT scans are expensive, but having witnessed their diagnostic results, I hope that one day they are a standard part of a yearly physical.)

I'm sure the gallstones came from my historically poor diet, and possibly my DNA, as my father also had them Regardless of where they came from, I've moved on to another phase of life I now refer to as "living with gallstones."

On the bright side, it turns out that gallstones are actually a wonderful biofeedback mechanism, letting you know when you've eaten too much, or just too much of the wrong foods. I've written about this on my devdaily.com website, in an article titled My gallstones diet advice (living with gallstones).