Cholecystitis may occur. The word is from Greek, "cholecyst-" meaning "gallbladder" and "-itis" meaning "inflammation". Most people with gallstones do not have symptoms. When a gallstone lodges in the cystic duct, they experience biliary colic. Biliary colic is abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant or epigastric region. It is episodic, occurs after eating greasy or fatty foods, and leads to nausea and/or vomiting. People who suffer from cholecystitis most commonly have symptoms of biliary colic before developing cholecystitis. The pain becomes more severe and constant in cholecystitis. Nausea is common and vomiting occurs in 75% of people with cholecystitis. In
Time is the Simplest Thing body and explore the universe. They are accompanied by a small machine that can record experiences and gather physical samples. Some explorers have returned with minds affected by what they encountered. Those explorers have disappeared and never been heard from again. Blaine returns from one expedition having encountered an intelligence that looks like a large pink blob sitting immobile in a room open to the sky. The blob greets him telepathically with the message "Hi pal! I trade with you my mind." Blaine immediately feels the alien mind alongside his own. Returning to his body, he knows he must get