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Gall Stones

wsmith0914

Member
Had my first ever gall bladder attack that landed me in the ER Thursday night. I have gall stones and will have to have surgery to remove gall bladder. I am 2 1/2 months post op from sleeve surgery. Has anyone else experienced problems with gall bladder after surgery?
 
Had my first ever gall bladder attack that landed me in the ER Thursday night. I have gall stones and will have to have surgery to remove gall bladder. I am 2 1/2 months post op from sleeve surgery. Has anyone else experienced problems with gall bladder after surgery?

Oh yes!!! I sure have. I never had gallbladder problems in my life until 5 months after my bariatric surgery. I started having terrible pains in my stomach right after lunch. I was very sick to my stomach also. I ended up at the hospital emergency and they admitted me and I was in there for 3 days. I had a CT scan among other tests and it showed my gallbladder was full of sludge. They said I had to have it removed but it has felt better lately so I have put it off but my primary care physician said it's better to get it out while I feel well because it's much safer than waiting til I'm very ill. The reason that the gallbladder goes bad in 1 out of every 7 bariatric patients is because it cant hold up to all the fat it is processing and eliminating.

Hope you feel better soon :)

Cheyenne
 
Doctor scared me when she said if left too long it could turn into cancer. I don't think I am going to wait. I have an appointment with my surgeon March 20. That is pain I don't want to feel again!
 
I had to have my gallbladder out less than 2 months post RNY surgery. RNY in November then Gallbladder in November..
It was perfect when I had my RNY and due to my rapid weight loss my gallbladder gave up the ghost.
I only had continual nausea and a slight gnawing pain under my right breast. My surgeon sent me in for a HIDA scan on a Sunday and took it out the following Friday.
No issues, no nausea and feeling much better now.
What kicked my butt was having 2 surgeries in under 2 months....

Good luck, take your pain meds. and rest a lot after surgery..


Awesome new picture you have....
 
Doctor scared me when she said if left too long it could turn into cancer. I don't think I am going to wait. I have an appointment with my surgeon March 20. That is pain I don't want to feel again!

I never knew it could turn to cancer. Wow! I had an appointment with the surgeon twice already last month but had to change it because of a snow storm and the other time because of car trouble. I am now scheduled to see him March 5th. Hopefully we won't have an earthquake, tornado or ice storm. :)

Cheyenne
 
Thanks StinkerBelle��
Has it affected your weight loss at all?

Not at all... This surgery kicked my butt a wee bit. I have developed some food intolerances which is really not uncommon after RNY and especially not uncommon after having the gallbladder removed.
This was painful for me which kind of surprised since I was up and running right after my RNY.
My surgeon told me the pain was from the fact the surrounding organs were irritated from my swollen enlarged gallbladder and the fact he had to take it out of my body through the muscle wall and the small incision did not help much either. He also reinforced my muscle so I did not have to worry about a possible hernia..
The pain was not horrendous, it was very uncomfortable walking, sitting down from standing or laying and standing due to the muscle stretching. I did take pain meds after this one.
I am now back up to walking over 2.5 miles a day with no stomach muscle pain
 
Did your doctors prescribe Ursodiol after surgery?

That does not always help.. Age, massive weight loss, diet, genetics and several other factors will take a gallbladder out without warning..

Gallbladder issues have a lil saying that goes along with it.. the 3 F's, "Fat, Female and over 40."

Fat can be due to size, diet, genetics, weight loss and massive weight loss.

Quick question... What happens when you come off the medication?

The national average of gallbladder removal after weight loss surgery is 6 - to 8 months post WLS surgery regardless of prophylactic medication.

The human gallbladder is not equipped to process large amounts of fat circulating through the blood stream, a filter such as the Gallbladder can only handle so much of an assault before it will retaliate.. This applies to diet and weight loss.
 
Luckily I knew my gallbladder was bad from previous unrelated xrays, and I knew that the gall bladder almost always goes bad from reading on this forum, so I asked my surgeon to take it out at the same time he did the WLS.
 
It is an overflow for your liver, pancreas and other organs.. Of all the organs the gallbladder is the best one to go.

Your body will handle fat more efficiently with the gallbladder gone.
 
Sounds good. I just made a gall stone drink in my juicer that I found in a Juicer Bible my mom gave me. It is 2 apples, 1 pear, 3 beets with tops, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 inch ginger root. Maybe this will help the pain
 
Luckily I knew my gallbladder was bad from previous unrelated xrays, and I knew that the gall bladder almost always goes bad from reading on this forum, so I asked my surgeon to take it out at the same time he did the WLS.

Very smart thinking Karenina! :)


Cheyenne
 
Sounds good. I just made a gall stone drink in my juicer that I found in a Juicer Bible my mom gave me. It is 2 apples, 1 pear, 3 beets with tops, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 inch ginger root. Maybe this will help the pain

Be very careful now that you know you have active gallbladder disease. The gallbladder detoxing can exacerbate the issue at hand.... God knows you don't want to deal with a gangrene gallbladder or a biliary duct obstruction if compacted stones are dislodged..
 
Luckily I knew my gallbladder was bad from previous unrelated xrays, and I knew that the gall bladder almost always goes bad from reading on this forum, so I asked my surgeon to take it out at the same time he did the WLS.

Going in for my RNY my surgeon told both my husband and I that if my gallbladder looked bad or gave any indications of problem he would take it our during surgery. He told my husband when he spoke with him after surgery that my gallbladder looked great and it did not need to be removed... Less than 2 months later it decided to give up the ghost.
 
Yes!! Just had my gallbladder out two weeks ago! I had the ursodiol post surgery for as long as it was required. Since I had no problems, I was allowed to stop taking it. Honestly, my mom had her gallbladder out when I was in high school, so I just took it as something that would probably be a problem for me one day. In my case, I took it as a sign I'm getting older! ;)
 
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