Thread: Gall Stones and Gall Bladder removal?

Who's had gall stones and/or their bladder removed? looks like i got em and am probably going to have surgery to remove my gall bladder. problem is, i'm heading to BC in two weeks for a cat trip. the jist i get from the doc is that they would try laparoscopic surgery to remove it which would allow me to go home the same day and back to "normal" activities within a few days. however, there's a 25% chance or so they would have to open me up which would require a day or two in the hospital and a couple weeks recovery and possibly cancel my trip. i guess i'm looking for recovery times for both surgerys and when i could realistically ski again.

other option is wait till after the trip but i run the (small) risk of a stone getting clogged while in BC (does canada have doctors) and another (even smaller?) risk of it getting clogged so that my pancreas is affected and major surgery is needed.

kinda leaning to waiting as i've had these minor systems (light knotty gut pain that comes and goes) for a couple months now with no other issues. thoughts?

I'm a general surgeon (recently retired). 25% is an extremely high conversion rate from laparoscopic to open for elective suregery--unless there is something unusual about your case your surgeon is probably being cautious in giving you the odds so he/she doesn't get blamed if they have to open. However even with laparoscopic surgery skiing hard within 2 weeks would be iffy. If you are having minor symptoms now the risk of you needing emergency surgery or getting pancreatitis in the next few weeks is very very small. If you do get an acute gallbladder attack there would rarely be a problem getting you to a surgeon in plenty of time--in a young healthy person the risk of emergency gallbladder surgery is nearly as low as elective surgery. There are several surgeons in Canada. (BTW-from what I've heard--Canadians please correct me if I'm wrong--most Canadians would have to wait longer for gallbladder surgery than you will be waiting if you delay the surgery. ) Pancreatitis can be very serious, but again the risk of getting it if you've never had it before is very low. If you were my patient I would certainly tell you that there was a risk in waiting, to cover myself, but I would emphasize that the risk was very small. If I were the patient I would postpone the surgery, unless I were going to France-since I don't think a sick gallbladder could survive French food.

thanks old goat. that's kind of what i was hoping to hear. after a little research it does sound like even with laparoscopic i could be laid up longer than "a few" days. i explained my situation to my doc and he didn't seem overly concerned about me going and postponing the surgery till after.

i actually just had my gall bladder out in August.

i was told that if i was feeling up to it i could leave that day, but I honestly was in a lot of discomfort and had a bunch of nausea after mine so i stayed the night. though that might have been a reaction to the anesthesia.

i think i had it done on a thursday and was back in work by wednesday i think, so i wasn't going to be doing any heavy stuff, and i doubt i would have wanted to ski.

make sure your doc checks the ducts and stuff while he has you open to make sure there were no complications.

honestly it was not that big a deal. be prepared for some adjustments in diet. and random bouts of diarhea. though a fiber supplement and probiotic have helped a lot and i am back to eating mostly presurgery stuff now, though greasy foods destroy me more so than it used to

Originally Posted by crackboy

i actually just had my gall bladder out in August.

i was told that if i was feeling up to it i could leave that day, but I honestly was in a lot of discomfort and had a bunch of nausea after mine so i stayed the night. though that might have been a reaction to the anesthesia.

i think i had it done on a thursday and was back in work by wednesday i think, so i wasn't going to be doing any heavy stuff, and i doubt i would have wanted to ski.

make sure your doc checks the ducts and stuff while he has you open to make sure there were no complications.

honestly it was not that big a deal. be prepared for some adjustments in diet. and random bouts of diarhea. though a fiber supplement and probiotic have helped a lot and i am back to eating mostly presurgery stuff now, though greasy foods destroy me more so than it used to

really? my doc made it sound that my diet wouldn't have to change. other than greasy foods, what else have you changed?

I have had to cut back on my dairy intake a lot. pretty much any fatty food is going to turn into a gut bomb. Though as long as I don't go nuts I am ok with it now. surprisingly things like salads tore through me at first. It does get better as your body adjusts. It was a lot of trial and error at first

I had it taken out about 8 years ago, went home the same day, and was shoveling mulch in my yard within a few days. No real changes in diet. I'm heading for lythotrypsy for kidney stones next month. Good times, was supposed to be on a plane heading for Euroland for 12 days of skiing yesterday. 2012 can go fuck itself. Good luck and speedy recovery to ya.

Some people have diarrhea or fatty food intolerance, some don't. For people who have those problems it does usually get better with time, as the common bile duct (look it up) enlarges and stores bile, which is normally the job of the gallbladder.

Still waiting to hear from the Canadians.

thanks all and good luck moegoul. at the risk of having diarrhea in the cat on the 2nd lap and hotboxing everyone in the process, i think i'm gonna try and postpone surgery till after.
however, i will be researching canadian surgeons closest to ymir just in case so if you know someone....

update: ended up waiting till after the trip and had my gb removed laparoscopically on monday. sounds like it went all right, seeing the doc on tues. still wondering about diet. been researching and have heard everything from horror stories (no alcohol!) to no diet restrictions at all. seems like it varies greatly from person to person. guess i'll just have to wait and see what puts me on the can.

alcohol seems to be fine for me. though i don't drink all that much.

i would start off low fat and work things back in. also , see about getting on some fiber/probiotics. helped me out a lot

feel free to drop me a PM if you have questions


also just because you can't have something at first doesn't mean you won't be able to forever

Originally Posted by criscam

update: ended up waiting till after the trip and had my gb removed laparoscopically on monday. sounds like it went all right, seeing the doc on tues. still wondering about diet. been researching and have heard everything from horror stories (no alcohol!) to no diet restrictions at all. seems like it varies greatly from person to person. guess i'll just have to wait and see what puts me on the can.

Good to hear. IIRC the gall bladder helps break down fats so cutting back on certain foods is prolly a good idea, full fat dairy products, fatty meat, etc. I haven't had any issues with any foods since removal.