Doubts about removing gallbladder

Hi Linda, Thank you for your reply. What you say makes good sense I know. It is easy to let fear creep up on us and there are all these stories of folk who regret their op, but like you say, if they had kept their gb, likely they would have still been unwell, possibly worse. In the USA I think gb surgery gets a worse press as there is money involved, where here in the UK there is not that factor, which is great, the downside being the long wait for treatment which again instils fear as if you put off surgery, you may go to the back of the list again. I read from someone who did this and now another 18 months of still having attacks. Then you have the other campus, where they try to convince us we can save our Gb with this or that cure or diet but in reality they may work for some but if like me eating most things is difficult, diet is not the answer, I've always eaten healthily anyway. It has just got me confused, I think with the surgeon saying it was up to me! I'd rather he had been more definite to give me confidence. The GI consultant was more definite but even so, no-one really seemed bothered that I was struggling to eat, once they saw my weight was stable - but living on complan, potato and crackers is hardly normal life! Anyway I will let you know how things go, thanks for hearing me out, friends and family are caring, but they don't get the dilemma, they just say follow the Drs advice, but its not easy for me as I worked in health research adn NHS hospitals and I cannot help questioning. Glad you are managing your after symptoms, I guess it takes time to adjust to a missing organ, take care x

Hi, Cynthia, I agree it's difficult when the doctors don't consider all of your symptoms.  Before I got my gallbladder out I was existing on bread, rice, apple sauce and bananas.  Drinking gatorade, water and tea.  I could have lean beef, chicken and eggs, if I only ate a small amount. If not, I spent lots of time in the bathroom. I lost 40 pounds! Please do let me know how you do, and take heart!  I am in the US, but I was sick for a long time before I found a surgeon willing to take my gallbladder out!  I wasn't in sufficient pain, you see, and they wanted me to be in agony before they'd consider it. So---I lied.  When my gallbladder was removed it was full of sludge and stones, but if I'd waited till I was as sick as they wanted me to be, I'd have been very ill indeed.  Best of luck to you!   

OMG goodness... I am havin a really hard time trying to justify these doctors that u and Cynthia have described. Not to mention the horrible pain issues

i have a similar story.I was only 19 when my severe symptoms began. At 26 the gb was finally found to have a stone imbedded in the bile duct. Had gb surgery and the horrible debilitating pain was gone. It does take time to adjust to eating foods after surgery. I was down to 100# before surgery. That was 40 years ago. I guess some things never change. I was told by Drs everything from the pain is all in my head to go read a self help book. I have enjoyed living without the pain and it has not ever been a problem for me not having a gb. My gastrointerologist told me once the body starts to make stones it's recurrent and can cause issues with other areas of the digestive trac .

Cinthia I hope you can resolve this issue with ur gb soon. It will be something to look foreward to & live & move on w/o all the pain and disruption that this illness creates. Take care and hope u see a doc you can find comfort & trust. 

Take care.

 

Thanks hope, it is good your outcome is positive and at the same time awful to have had gb troubles at such a young age.

I think it must be that still little is really known of gastro conditions, they can deal with the obvs technical side that can be seen, but symptoms that can only be felt by the patient tend to be common to lots of things so they are working on a process of elimination mainly. This is what the consultant said basically, with no other evidence, we can  only assume it is Gb.

I do agree a gb full of stones and maybe scarred is not good sitting there in our body and I know stones may be a forerunner of very rare gb cancers and similar or other complications in the future. No-one seems to know for sure what would happen if just left. However my symptoms are limiting my life a lot so I guess I may have to accept the gamble as there is nothing else on offer.

It must have been awful to be told you were imagining your pain! Thanks for yr kind response and I hope you continue well.

 

hi Cynthia

I realy feel for you and all the other poor people having so many problems.

It is a really tricky one and I can understand you being confused about what decision to make.

I first became ill nov 2013 with severe pains and thought i was having a heart attack.I went to hospital and they didnt know what was wrong.I then saw my gp and explained what had happened,she knew straight away it was gall stones,went for an ultra sound and sure enough it showed up as being full of stones!My gp advised me not to have it taken out as I hadnt had many attacks and also she thought i was too young ( I was 38!)

anyway to cut a long story short i should of decided to have it taken out as the following june i had a really bad attack and ended up in hospital for 2 weeks.I had developed pancreatis as a stone had got drapped in the duct and my gall bladder was very angry to say the least.The dr said straight away i need to have it out but only until i was better and after the GB had calmed down.I felt really ill and went through alot so I wish I had it taken out earlier.you really dont know whats going to happen if you leave it as the stones could move about at anytime.

Just recently I have started to have pains again and its being investigated,It could be sludge from the old stones or a new one as iv been told they come back.This is not good news,plus im very scared to get pancreatis again,but I still think it was the best decision to have my gall bladder taken out.Its not good to be worrying about what could happen if you leave it.But like alot of people on here have experienced problems after wards.You still have to be very careful with your diet,one dr said i could eat what I like after the operation but thats rubbish,and I knew from research that you need to be careful.

Good luck with everything and I do hope to get better soon.Reading peoples experiences on this site has been really helpful.

It took 8 yrs before the 10th dr found the gallstones. By that time the pain had crippled me. The X-ray showed one of the stones was logged in the bile duct. I was happy to see the cause in the X-ray and very glad to have the gb removed. 

It takes the body time to adjust after surgery & a good diet was recommended. I had my life back and could take care of my young children.

Praying for this common disease to be recognized earlier before complications begin. 

Reading all your experiences and advice is very helpful for those just going thru gb disease and facing surgery. 

Many blessing to you all. 

 

Thanks for replying, Debbie. Your story is exactly why I have doubts. I know there are others for whom it worked as well and it seems that as marvellous as modern medicine is, this is an area when they basically just do not know and it boils down to guesswork. The research I have looked at simply seems to have monitored people post op for new symptoms or still having same but it does not really answer as to what is the casue of any of these. There does not seem to have been much study of what happens IF we keep our dodgy gallbladder, they only pick up on stats if ppl present as emergencies later, but what happens to others - do they go on to live with their symptoms, present with other illnesses or what?

In yr case you know now that the Gb was not the main cause. Are they continuing investigations and any closer to a cause? It is soul destroying to be in these situations. I know only I can decide my own path, it is not easy as ppl are worried if I suggest I am questioning doctors. They know a lot of technical stuff, but don't live with our pain and problems and they no doubt see ppl who much worse off with life threatening illness. They implied to me I'm fortunate as the scans did not find cancer etc and I am grateful for that of course.

Some of our symptoms are like those of Hiatus hernia but while I have this as well, the Drs here say it should not cause these issues, just reflux at worst. However on HH forums ppl do have these symptoms.

Wish you the best, Debbie and hope we get answers. I will update in case anyone watches this thread and is in similar situation. Take care.

Hi Jill, good know there's others in same situation. Be good to hear how you get on, best of luck

I echo what Jill wrote. Best thing to remove Gb! No more issues! Move on with ur life . 

Thanks Lisa, Hope u do too. They do say recovery may be months for some - poss depends how u were before I think. Had stones 10 yrs so they are not going  on their own. Most of us are guilty of dieting  and some risk factors. Don't want to get pancreas probs etc. Take care..

Hi Cynthia, I'm a yo-yo dieter as well but I've been 'lucky' to suffer almost text book symptoms and do not have many doubts about the surgery. I feel for you I really do. I should imagine it's the fear or going through surgery and the symptoms do not go away and you are left with doctors scratching their heads while you continue to suffer. :-(

There are risks with any surgery and it's not a decision to be taken lightly. It will have been a 7 month wait. Up until now I was just focused on getting my gallbladder out but as the day draws closer, other fears are creeping in. Mostly the possibility of long term effects and complications. I think everyone hopes to be one of the lucky ones who are cured by GB removal but there are those who are not or develop complications. But I cast my mind back to October when I was in the worst pain in my life and spent 9 days in hospital. Living with a gallbladder full of stones that have already gone bad is a big risk. It's like a ticking time bomb and all the niggles every day, remind me of that. Good luck Cynthia. I'm sorry I'm not much help. X

Hi Lisa I was the same as you although mine was a bit of a whirlwind  from results to op  My concerns healthwise had only ever been that I may get cancer at some stage in my life as my mother and grandmother both died quite young from it , It never crossed my mind that something else crops up. I do have bad days like today when I feel sorry for myself due to the complications after op (which I have to say are mild compared to the pain) but my daughters leaving school this week so I have to remind myself that I am here to see that and hopefully many of her life adventures so I count myself lucky that im relativley fit and able to enjoy a full life. After seeing that poor man who lost his partner we just have to count our blessings as Im sure we all agree .                 Good Luck to you and dont be scared of the op the recovery from surgery for me was only really a couple of weeks but take it easy and dont rush around  xx

You are so right. I've lost family members and friends to cancer. I've got a sister in law who is fighting bowel cancer now. We sure do have to count our blessings. Since diagnosis I have taken it as a warning. My diet was not good and I had got very unfit. But I've been working out and have taken the wait for surgery as an opportunity to change things. Health isn't something to be taken for granted. Thanks for your kind reply x

HI lisa I feel for you you poor thing.Think that is so true,its like a ticking time bomb.Hope that you get well soon x

 

Its actually very helpful to know other experiences as this condition can prove quite a lonely journey as you have to make these life impacting decisions. I'm very indecisive to start with, I do make up my mind, but the next day, wake up feeling completely the opposite!! I've had a previous big op and that was something of an emergency as I was fast tracked in case it was pathological, but thankfully, turned out to be benign. The decision was much more straight forward that time. A few things were poorly handled by the hospital, too long to relate, but this has also made me less confident in them.

It is an odd thing when you feel somewhat "lucky" to have classic symptoms but it does simplify the decision and more so if you have had known complications.

Hope things will improve for us all soon x

Everyone is different of course as well as the circumstances. It's all attitude and following thru after surgery.  Age can be a factor, and core strength. 

Though with today's techniques,surgery is not nearly as tough for recovery as in the past. They don't cut thru muscle any more so recovery is quicker. Surgeons now make a very small incision. A lot of advances have been made for gb surgery. You will do well and best wishes for success and living in no pain. 

It's odd saying it but I had guessed it was gallstones before I was diagnosed. The classic symptoms had me diagnosed quickly and left me in no doubt that having my gallbladder removed was the best option. In that respect only I feel lucky compared to what others have gone through. Good luck with whatever you decide, Cynthia :-)