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I had another gallbladder attack last week that set me back a little. Saw family doctor who referred me to a surgeon. Dr. said it is time to come out and it is better to come out when I am not in pain rather than during an attack.

So I go see the surgeon next week and schedule it. A few extra summer days off I guess.

I just wish they took it out before when they removed my appendix.

I too tried to talk my way into them removing my gallbladder when they were removing my appendix. They wouldn't. Sure enough, few years later, here's some more nice scars for ya. Gee thanks.

Good Luck...

I've known several people who've had their gallbladders removed... And they've all said it was the best thing they've ever done.

I had mine removed in 1992. It was a huge relief for me. I took a week off work because I was pretty sore afterward. You may have an issue with "dumping", so read up on that if you haven't already. Not everybody does, but just in case.

"dumping"

?

Gastric dumping syndrome.... It's the nausea, cramping, diarrhea, and dizziness that happens after food passes too quickly out of the stomach and into the small intestine.

[This message edited by lieshurt at 2:11 PM, June 21st (Friday)]

And they've all said it was the best thing they've ever done.

Agree. I had mine out in 1997. Not having it forces me to police myself when it comes to eating fatty foods. I feel like complete shit after consumption of anything fried.

Oh Lord.. having my gallbladder out was major major relief for me. The longer you wait the worse the attacks get. We have long waits for any surgical procedure that isn't an emergency here. So it was scheduled to come out but I was still 3 months away. I was in the Emergency room writhing in pain and getting demerol shots more and more often. Finally one night it was so bad you could see it bulging through my stomach, I was vomiting and crying and the demerol didn't work. The morphine also didn't work and they kept me and took it out. He said he barely got it out endoscopically. It is sooooo much better to just get it out of there!!!

You'll be sore for a few days but I think I was back at work within 5. It's such a relief!! I hope you feel better soon and for the love of all things holy do NOT eat cheese cannelloni.. trust me!!!

I'd gladly go through labor before I'd go through gallbladder attacks again. You'll feel so much better when its out.

I was pregnant with DS9 when my gallbladder started to act up...five months of attacks, while being hugely pregnant for three of those months After he was born and I was recovered from the C-Section, I had it removed. It was relatively easy to recover from and it beats having to live with attacks.

[This message edited by Mama_of_3_Kids at 7:32 AM, June 22nd (Saturday)]

Mine just went bad (in hindsight I may have had an attack months before, but attributed it to reflux). I was in pain for three days thinking it was GERD (gastroesophogeal reflux disorder) before WH insisted on taking me to the emergency room. Hours later I was in surgery - the surgeon told me that it was so bad that he came thisclose to removing it the old fashioned way!

Just remember - get yourself a small pillow for after. Every time you try to shift or get up, use it to press against your side for counter pressure - it really helps.

Oh, yes, they took mine away, too!

My input is the scars...it's amazing how it was fairly quick to heal but a few years later, sometimes the scars still burn!

When I complained about it during the after-care phone interviews, one woman said, "Oh, yes, I'm ten years past and the scars hurt like a son of a gun!"

The attacks were excrutiating and I never knew when they would come. I thought for a time it was panic, as sometimes it was in a similar place.

I wish you swift recovery.

This past December about a week before Christmas I had such severe pain in my chest that I drove myself to the hospital thinking it was my heart.

I was quite surprised to hear that it was my gallbladder especially because I forgot I had one. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't know what the gallbladder was even used for.

I scheduled surgery for right after the new year. Surgery was easy-breezy and recovery took about a week for me to standup straight and about 3 weeks before I regained my energy level back to normal.

The pain meds made me puke so I just took advil and tylenol.

I have to keep zantac in my purse now because I'll have a heartburn attack out of nowhere. It doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat. It's not often, though.

This is going to be waaaaaaayyy TMI. Seriously. So if you want to stop reading, now's the time!

Okay, you were warned!

I had my gallbladder out a few years ago. Yes, it was great that the attacks stopped. And really they had only been occurring for a few months at the time of my surgery, so I hadn't been suffering for years or anything. But Oh. My. Gosh. I literally cannot eat anything without needing to be near a bathroom for a while afterwards. And that is a NEED. There's no waiting a while, no oh, maybe I'll squeeze and think about something else and it will stop being so urgent. It's "Pull the damn car over, I need to poop!"

Not even joking or trying to be at all funny. My son has gotten to the point where it's not even a surprise to him when I shove the baby into his arms if we're out somewhere and run to a bathroom. Hubby knows that if we are going out, we need to stick around for little while after, or drive fast. I don't know how many random fast food places I've run into just to use their bathrooms on road trips. I am afraid to eat if I know I'll be in a car. If we have a longish trip, I wake up extra early just to eat so that I can be done by the time we want to leave.

I believe that having that to the extreme that I do is rare, and I certainly hope you don't! But there are times I long to have my gallbladder back if it would give me a day without this. Seriously. But good luck!

There are definitely times I'm incredibly grateful for the fact that this forum is annonymous!

I have to be careful what I eat now. My stomach hates fried or overly fatty foods but that's about it. And the only things that make me feel sick are things I shouldn't eat anyway so it's pretty easy to avoid them

My scars don't hurt and you can barely see them. Just 3 little scars.

The attacks started out painful but manageable. The longer they went on though? Oh my god. Pain like nothing else. I am a pretty private person and I was actually pacing the halls of the hospital moaning and crying and I actually threw up in the hall in front of a bunch of people. I'd have the surgery a thousand times over rather than one of those attacks again!

[This message edited by SI Staff at 9:09 PM, June 22nd (Saturday)]

I am afraid to eat if I know I'll be in a car.

I completely get this That is one of the disadvantages of the surgery, but it's better to have to take off for a bathroom than deal with the pain (for me anyway).

As far as scar pain, I often forget that I even had the surgery b/c the scars aren't that visible anymore.

Do adhesions from surgery run in your family?

My complicated hysterectomy (which left a huge outer longtitudinal scar) has caused me much agony years later...a lot of people are not aware of this post-surgery adhesion thing till some time has passed.

I wish you all the best and am sending huge hugs for a speedy recovery.

Oh yeah, no, for sure on a day-to-day basis I'd rather have the gallbladder out and deal with the complications. I'm just talking about a week once a year or something where I'd rather have it back, and not during an attack!

Unfortunately in my situation, it doesn't matter what I eat. Fatty or not, greasy or not, vegetarian diet, no milk, whatever. It's happening! And like I said, I know to have it to that extent is extremely rare.

Listen, I wasn't trying to scare you at all, honestly. When I was having the pre-op appointment and they were going over possible complications, they just kind of breezed through the bit about the bathroom issue. I just wish I had talked to someone and been a little prepared. I know it sounds dumb and really petty to say, but it has actually changed my life. Obviously not in an unmanagable way, but in a way that I certainly didn't anticipate.

Sorry Misskirby, I wasn't trying to belittle your situation at all . That would be hard. DD has a totally different stomach issue but eating certain things on vacation has landed us at rest stop bathrooms for an hour or more, or running back to the hotel and scrapping our plans for the day. And she still has her gallbladder (though I am starting to wonder if it isn't the issue). I know it can be awful.

Is there anything they can do for you now? A medication you could take maybe?

I had my gallbladder out 3 years ago. I had been ignoring the symproms for over 2 years and it got worse and worse. We had gone away for a weekend when I had a severe attack and after 15 hours of unrelenting pain I ended up in hospital for a week with jaundice and pancreatitis because of the trauma caused by the gallbladder. I had 4 drips running and morphine shots for the pain. I was bedridden for 5 of the 7 days. They did not operate as they had to wait for the pancreas and liver to heal. When they considered it safe enough I had a minor op done with a scope down the throat where they widened some tube (can't remember what it's called) so the stones could pass more easily. I had it removed 3 months after that. I have not experienced dumping at all and periodically I get annoying painful twinges in the gallbladder area. The dr's don't know what is causing it but according to them it is a common side effect. It was worth it removing it though.