Gall bladder removal

as the doc probably googled your symptoms, you're right to come on here.

sounds bloody horrible, but gl with it

don't worry about it. My mum had it done a couple of years ago, it's keyhole surgery with one night in hospital. She found the hardest part was the adjustment to her diet afterwards.

I had mine removed
Key hole surgery
the anasethic (sic) , really fcks me around

other than that could have played football the next day.

if you can handle the drugs , a piece of cake IMHO

anyway good luck,

the pain of the stones is a million times worse than the surgery

my neighbour had his gall bladder out last year, apparently it's a fairly common operation, and in one day and out the next if it's keyhole surgery, bandage over it, then take it easy for about 5 wks. I think the only foods he was told to avoid was spicy foods and also cut down the booze. 

If it is keyhole and not open surgery should be no trouble at all, easy operation.  Before he had this done he got rushed into hospital with pancratistus (spelling ?) stones and all that blocking his tubes, they sorted that out and following on from that he was told he would need to have his gall bladder removed. But you can live without it.

I had my gall bladder removed about 3 years ago. keyhole surgery, anaesthetic no problem, was out at the pub next day, surgeon told me I could eat what I liked. Don't worry!

my mum was told to remove all the fat from her meat and she loves steak fat, used to be a big job as my great granddad had the same op in the 70's and it was a week in hospital then and a big scar.

I had mine remove about 30 years ago before keyhole surgery was invented. Never felt better since it has gone. Found I was able to down loads more pints afterwards. I don't do that anymore but seriously no problems since it was removed

mmm       I might join in...............how do U get it done..............

mate of mine had it done when he was 40 (not so common to have it removed that young).  some people might react to certain foods afterwards I know he did.  he was also overweight which didn't help either, but generally diet is very much an individual thing, if your body reacts just avoid certain foods, and problem foods might be anything fatty, caffiene, another trigger could be alcohol, but generally it's finding out if anything is causing you a problem and avoiding it, but my mate had other health issues so that may have complicated things.

had mine done 3 years ago, keyhole, like shelling peas. felt a bit knackered after op, tired etc. also first time had a drink about 3 weeks later felt a bit faint ( apparently its the pressure from the vegas nerve )  was off work for 6 weeks. can eat once you want once removed. might get a bit flatulent and things like pastry may cause you to run to toilet due to fat content.
before that just avoid high fat food, its the bile in the gall bladder that is required to break down the fat, the bile can't get out as the stones are blocking it, hence inflammation and all the pain. I know what your going through with the pain, its horrific.
if you do get another attack, worst thing can do is lie down, keep on your feet. try and walk off. also took motillium which helped slightly.

mange

Since having mine removed , I have put on a stack of weight, the pain was interferring with carb and alcohol consumption

Thankd for all the info.Yeah,the pain at present is quite bad but hopefully the waiting list isn't too long to have it removed...The Dr told me at my age (43) it is not very common to have it removed especailly as I have had no other health issues.

eaglewardy

nothing at all to worry about , had mine done 15 years ago , keyhole surgery , after a few painful episodes which resulted in pancreasitis , since then can eat or drink anything and remain a fit and healthy 12 stone

Eagle

I had my removed early 40's no health issues
My brother who is 5 years older had it out about the same time (no family discount ) no health issues.


Do you have private health insurance??
i had mine removed within days of diagnosis.

I have no health insurance here in Malta,but I am paying for the consultations privately (hope to jump the queue this way) but will do the actual operation in the government hospital.At present, it is actually too inflamed to be taken out keyhole surgery so I am on a combination of drugs for the pain and to reduce the swelling.

I actually looked on Wikipedia and it shows how the operation is done. if you have a friend with steady hands and good at needle work im sure they can do it.
as barney says, prior to op I lost weight as was scared to eat any fat for fear of attack, once its out, you can go nuts, pork pie in batter etc.

pork pie in batter Gadzooks man, that sounds horrible.

its a sunderland delicacy

Your liver is producing bile all the time to break down food. The gall bladder acts as a reservoir to secrete additional bile if required( i.e heavy fatty meal).Once removed should be no issues. But best to avoid high saturated fat foods.eg sausages, cheese, chocolate and pastries. I was advised to look at ingredients and avoid any foodstuffs  containing more than 5g of fat per 100g of the product.
Keyhole has many advantages , but can be problems ( like leaving a rogue stone(s)behind in the bile ducts - which will cause a health issue if it blocks the excretion of bilirubin ie creates jaundice.

can remember when first had pastry after op, it missed me stomach out and went straight to me bottom.

I wd be careful. I know of two people, both youngish, who died having this op. My son-in-law had it and almost died as well. Good luck.

Yep - keyhole surgery is fine looking on the tv monitor as they hack away., but as one surgeon said to me, if we 'nick' a blood vessel, it becomes like working in a muddy pond.This is when major 'bits' of you can be damaged  i.e bile duct. which results in severe bleeding - and requires reconstructive surgery.

Then id go in for a larger penis...................

Further to cahillisgod, I was told to have my gall bladder out when keyhole surgery was in its infancy.  I asked the surgeon how many had he done the new way but he said that he had done none 'but that he had a fellow coming to show him how it was done!'  Due to this and reading up about gallbladders I read that if you cut down on fat then you need not need the surgery I decided not to have the operation.  I just watch that I do not eat too much fat, which is not good for you anyway and I have had no problems in about at least twenty years.  I believe that once they start tinkering with your insides then they can cause problems in the future. 

The next week after I had decided not to have the op a patient died in my local hospital after a keyhole gallbladder removal.

Obviously each case is different, mine may not have been as bad as some on here.

Thousands of people develop gall stones - and have no problem whatsoever. But once you've suffered with the stones moving to the neck of the bile duct - with the resulting unbelievable 'crushing' pain/nausea - then you have no option but to have the gall bladder removed 0- because your stones are moving - and at anytime they can cause serious complications.

annie, I had about 6 or 7 attacks before decided to have removed. problem was last attack was had was when on holiday in states ( was in flagstaff, Arizona ). nearly ruined a holiday, was in hospital for about 5 or 6 hours, on a drip etc. let me out about 1 in the morning, had to go to chemists and get painkillers ( Walgreen ) . mrs was in tears as was in a right mess, looked like s hit, nearly ruined a holiday etc. vowed then to get it removed once got back to England ( the doctor in flagstaff said they will do it there and then,  (bet they would !! ). also for the 5 hours or so , medical bill was over 2k dollars !! ( insured ).
I didn't want op and did  watch what ate and lost weight but in the end the attacks are just too painful. the last one , honestly wanted to curl up and die.

As I said I expect mine were not too serious, and I do believe that the gall bladder is there for a reason and maybe it gets stones because of our diet and therefore we should change our diet before we have an operation because especially today you can go in for gallbladder removal and then contract a virus etc. I would check the surgeon's death rate and that of the hospital before deciding anything.

I forget about my gallstone for years and then one day I get a pain and think I have cancer etc and then I remember the gallstones and when I look at my diet I have eaten an excess of fat.  So it is your body trying to help you eat healthily

^ That's fine annie - i.e watch intake of fat. But, once the stones have shown a propensity to move, the only option is to have the gb removed otherwise trouble(potentially very serious trouble)lies in the future. Next day,week,month or years - but it will happen.

aye, facts is right, can get problems with pancreas etc.

Thanks very much for all your input...I must admit I am a little worried of hearing about people who have actually died during the operation,the Dr made it sound like 'shelling peas'.Still,its got to be worth the risk,nothing can compare to the pain I felt last Monday.

Mate who had his out was absolutely fine, no complications with the op or afterwards.(Other problems he had was related to his heavy drinking and high blood pressure, not his gb being removed.)

If your Dr made it sound like 'shelling peas' then I guess that is like saying the risk is only about 1 or 2%.  There must be a small risk with any surgery, but a lot of operations today are much better than old style ops were years ago.

If knew what I did after the op, would have it any day of the week. hygienist check up at dentist is far more daunting .