Gall bladder any one??

**Jack** · 12-15-2004, 09:31 AM

so how many have had their gall bladder taken out in the course of banding?

And what are the subsequent effects?

Who had a choice, and how many had it done against their choice?

How many would rather have kept their gall bladder given the choice?

How many had it removed without any prior complaints related to gall bladder?

Hope4Jen · 12-15-2004, 09:56 AM

I knew I had gallstones for 3 years. I asked my surgeron to take it out during my banding and he did. It had over 30 stones in it. I feel soo much better with it gone. Its only been 6 days tho. Ask me in a month or two lol.

New Hope · 12-15-2004, 11:39 AM

Jack, pretesting showed I had numerous gallstones and explained that "very nauseated, sick at my stomach feeling that I'd get-after eating. I also had painful spasm-like pains. For 8 long months I put up with that while the insurance denied, I appealed, and they finally approved my band. The surgeon removed my gallbladder when he did my band. It was almost immediate relief from getting that thing out. I've had absolutely no postop problems from it. One thing, it sure kept me from the "last dinner" splurge others talk about doing!

nightingale2u · 12-15-2004, 01:21 PM

I happily gave up my gallbladder with my surgery... it was full of "sludge" anyway and I didn't want to end up with another surgery down the line. Besides... the darn thing had to have weighed something. :)

Darcy

leatha_g · 12-15-2004, 01:44 PM

I had never had an inkling that a thing was wrong with mine. However, immediately following my re-banding surgery, I developed some strange pains which were said to be 'gallbladder'. (they were lower right quadrant and I still have them on occasion, which makes me think the pain was unassociated). songram did show gallstones and a dialated opening which was indicative of a possible stone passed - so 6 weeks to the day, after my re-banding, i had gallbladder surgery too.. ugh..

If you have a problem and have a choice, do it in one surgery. The weight loss can definitely cause problems afterward, if you don't.

ShrinkingViolet · 12-15-2004, 04:53 PM

Well, I'll be honest. I'm the sort where my husband says "If anything *can* go wrong, for you it will." But here's my story. I had my gallbladder removed long before I was banded. The only signs of problems were serious backaches in the middle of my back, and nothing could assuage the pain. Sometimes it passed quickly, othertimes it lasted hours. It continued to come more frequently. A couple years prior I had lost 80 pounds on Weight Watchers. An ultrasound showed numerous gallstones and my surgeon said he was surprised I had waited as long as I had to come in.

So, here's the upside. No more horrible backaches. And they were really really horrible. I've heard other people have additional symptoms that it must be a pleasure to have relieved.

Now here's the downside. I had diarrhea several times a week for about five years afterwards. It was horrible. I couldn't eat or drink anything in public or go out shortly after eating because I would need a bathroom right away. I have always had IBS and just thought it was getting worse and pretty much suffered with it. It got to where if I went out to dinner, I had to excuse myself twice per meal. I couldn't even make it home from a restaurant.

Then I was reading an article about Ashcroft getting his gallbladder removed and what he could "expect." The article said he might have diarrhea for a few weeks, although very rarely that persists for some people as a chronic problem.

I was "very rarely." My doctor prescribed cholysteramine (a drug that actually lowers cholesterol), which binds with the excessive bile acids my body produces and carries them out. I take it every day and now my stomach only gets upset maybe once a month. It doesn't taste great and I have to take extra vitamins because it also depletes your vitamins, but it really changed my life and I am much happier.

If you have pain, removing your gallbladder will be a great relief. In the unlikely event you have chronic diarrhea afterwards, don't wait five years to ask your doctor about it. :) It's treatable.

If I had to do it over, minus the five years, I'd definitely have my gallbladder removed. That pain could be excruciating. Also, sometimes your gallbladder can get infected and even burst. This happened to a co-worker of mine, who developed gallbladder disease while pregnant.

babsyintx · 12-17-2004, 10:48 AM

Hi,

Still have mine. Never had any problems with it. Was not offered the option to remove. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am with the amount of weight I have lost that I still have it problem free. Keeping my fingers crossed....

Babs in TX
334/188/170
-146
6/23/03

biggun · 12-17-2004, 10:57 AM

I also had the sludge in my gall bladder. I had it taken out about 6 months before I thought of the LAP-BAND^®. Fron last December to March 2004 I would have gall bladder attacks. In the middle of the night I would wake up and feel that I was having a heart attack in my chest. I would have the worst heartburn and it would make me so sick to my stomach I was throwing up. This didn't ease the pain though. Nothing eased the pain! It was the worst pain I had ever had. The pain sent me to the hospital twice with nothing to show for it. Since I didn't have stones nothing showed up on the sono. My doc finally sent me for a more thourough test and it showed that my gall bladder was full of this "sludge" and nothing was getting into it.

I had it laproscopically removed, very easy week off. I felt immediately better and that helped me gain some of the weight that caused me to get the LAP-BAND^®. I was free to eat what I wanted again and not worried about an attack happening. I did and still do have, every once in a while a feel of "dumping" right after I eat and have to hit the bathroom right away. I will take that over the pain any day though. Might as well take it out. They leave just enough in to still do the same job it was doing just no more pouch to fill up with crap.

I hope this helps!

Kim