Anyone without a Gallbladder?

[Dwarf_Angel04]

I don't post much but do watch the board on a daily basis and notice the great advice given.

Anyways... I've been under the whether the past week with abdominal pains and side pains. I ended up working for 30 mins last Thursday due to what I now know was a gallbladder attack. Everything was fine until Saturday night when I was staying at a friend's house an hour from home. Needless to say, after the rabbit show on Sunday I found myself in the ER. After blood tests and xrays, they 'determined' that I had Acid Reflux and a Peptic Ulcer. My pains were getting worse so I got an appointment with my new doctor on Tuesday. An xray was done then and today was an ultrasound and got the results back today . Gallstones.

So I am waiting now for a referral to a surgeon which will be sent on Monday.

My biggest thing is that gallbladder attacks normally keep coming back and at age 22, do I really want to deal with this pain off and on for my remaining time?

If it were you, if given the option... would you have the gallbladder removed?

Amanda

 

[Illusion]

I had mine taken out about a year ago. Yes i'd have it removed, it can cause other health issues, pancreatitis, which is really bad.

 

[BSAR]

I advise that you get it removed because like Illusion said, he can lead to other things and you could get gallstones again.

 

[SOOOSKA]

I had my Gallbladder out when I was 19, I'm now 52. It's a much easier surgery now a days. I have this wonderful 8 inch scar on my tummy, lovely when you wear a 2 piece bathing suit.

I also had pancreatitis years later due to having an ERCP, and believe me you don't want to get that. It's very painful andyou are in the hospital for quite a well.

I also suggest you have it removed, it's really not a bad surgery.

Susan

 

[NZminilops]

I have gallbladder stones and I'm on the waiting list to have my gallbladder removed. can't wait to get rid of the thing!

Both my mother and grandmother had theirs removed too, and were glad. It's all keyhole surgery these days so it's a one day surgery.

 

[seniorcats]

Get it removed. You will immediately feel better. I had gall stones wedging inthe common duct causing acute pancreatitis. Believe me, it's incredibly painful and also life threatening. Years later I had to have an ERCP because I still had gall stones w/out the gall bladder.An ERCP was supposed to have been done at the time of my surgery and wasn't. The remaining stones were removed during the ERCP.It wasn't pleasant either.

 

[Dwarf_Angel04]

Thank you very much for the input. I have done some looking online and it appears the standard treatment for gallstones is acholecystectomy. :?

All of this has to happen when classes are getting ready to start back up. I normally take them online but of course this time I'm down on campus.

Amanda

 

[TinysMom]

I was 24 when I started having gallbladder problems. I kept putting off getting an operation 'cause my mom was coming for a visit in a couple of weeks and I had 2 year old twins and I wanted to be home for my mom's visit.

Of course - you probably see it coming. I wound up having emergency surgery right before she came - I was in the hospital not only during her visit - but for approximately a whole month. In fact - I almost died (before my 2nd surgery - to drain bile from my abdomen - over 5 liters - and to fix the damage of what had burst - they told Art if I was out of the surgery soon - it would mean a 3rd surgery to fix things and they just drained the bile - if it took a while - then they were getting things fixed. It was the longest 5 or 6 hours of his life he says).

I have this really huge ugly scar - largely because I waited so long - had so many problems - it had to be kept as an open wound and packed every day for weeks till it closed (which Art had to learn to do). My kids had to go away from home for the first two weeks so I wouldn't even be tempted to lift them - it would've put me back in the hospital.

I once was complaining to Art about this horrible ugly scar (which I would not have had if I'd had the surgery right off). He said to him it was beautiful - because it reminded him every day that he almost lost me - and it reminded him of how that felt.

I share this not for sympathy - not to get attention - but to say this...

Gallbladder problems are nothing to fool around with. Don't procrastinate on this - get it fixed - get it fixed NOW.

I'd had problems for maybe 6 weeks when I was rushed into surgery....my gallbladder was red and inflamed and because of that - there were errors done because they could not see the tubes that come out from it properly.

Had I done the surgery right off - as recommended - I probably would've been up and about when my mom came for her visit...versus being hospitalized for a month.

 

[seniorcats]

Dwarf_Angel04 wrote:

Thank you very much for the input. I have done some looking online and it appears the standard treatment for gallstones is acholecystectomy. :?

All of this has to happen when classes are getting ready to start back up. I normally take them online but of course this time I'm down on campus.

Amanda

With new surgical techniques, you will have very little down time. My DH had his out 2 years ago and was driving and up and about a day later. It's an outpatient surgery, maybe an overnight if are scheduled late in the day.

 

[bat42072]

i was 18 and pregnantwhen i had gallbladder problems so i had to ait until the baby was born... i was miserable... after i had my daughter had the gallbladder removed and never had a pain from it again

 

[Dwarf_Angel04]

Meet with the surgeon on Friday.

 

[Dwarf_Angel04]

As of yesterday afternoon, I joined the "No Gallbladder" groupie.

 

[pla725]

Glad you got your GB out. I had mine out in 1992 just before my 30th birthday. I just kept getting sicker and sicker to the point it was impacting my work and graduate school studies. I have the ugly scar too.