I still have mine but it looks like not for much longer...I had a gallstone that probably got stuck in the common bile duct but got out on its own. I had an episode on Friday. My liver enzymes were sky high.

An ultrasound and an MRI today confirmed that I have a gallbaldder full of stones, but nothing floating anywhere else and no infection. Dodged a bullet.

Anyway, post your experiences and helpful suggestions here! I'm off to start looking for a surgeon...

Not me. A good friend, awhile ago. No complications that I know of. Best of luck, I remember her talking about how painful the episodes were before her surgery.

I had mine out in 2006. Once I recovered, it has been as if it never happened, except without the episodes of abdominal pain like you've had. So you're going to feel better soon.

I did have complications, so I hesitate to tell you the scary story, but I don't think my doctors did a good job of explaining the complications. They also did a p*ss-poor job of monitoring me for them, so I've decided to tell you about them, so that Mr. wtg will be able to recognize the signs and advocate for you, if need be.

During my surgery, a small stone slipped into the common bile duct and wedged there. It couldn't be dealt with laparoscopically, so they gave me a day to recover, then did a procedure where they went in through my mouth and into the other end of the common bile duct to retrieve it. I felt much better after the surgery and even after the second procedure.

What nobody told me, although they swore they did, was that the second procedure has a 10% incidence of post-procedure pancreatitis. I started having terrible pain late that night. The nurse called the doctor, who apparently ripped her a new one for waking him up and prescribed tramadol. Tramadol did not touch the pain.

He had been so awful to her that she would not call him for more medication, so I had seven or eight hours in the worst pain of my life. He showed up after he'd had a good night's sleep and a nice breakfast, said, "Oh! Pancreatitis!", prescribed morphine and a nasal gastric tube, and then went merrily on his way.

After that, I got a never-located infection that sent my white cells sky-high. Even an infectious disease specialist couldn't explain it. I spent eleven days in the hospital waiting form them to come down. They didn't, but my insurance company got tired of the bills, so I was discharged with nothing but tylenol and a smile.

So, I guess the upshot of all that is that you should tell Mr. wtg to start yelling at people if you're in an unusual amount of pain.

So glad you shared your story. I always want to know what can go wrong so I (and Mr wtg) can be prepared for it. Also helps to know what to ask the surgeon when discussing possible complications and how often they occur for surgeries they have done.

My best friend had her gallbladder out probably around the time you did. In her case, the stone appeared in the common bile duct quite a while after the gallbladder removal. She didn’t initially tie the new pain to the surgery.

She ended up at the GI doc, who said the stone had probably gotten in to the duct during the original surgery. He did an ERCP like you had., He got the stone out and she went home. That evening she had the worst pain ever and went to the ER. She had another stone that the doctor didn’t see. They
hit her with morphine for the pain. Her doctor had flown to Paris on vacation, but when he found out about what was going on, he turned around and came back and retrieved the other stone that he had missed. Case closed.

Things can go wrong during these procedures, but leaving a gallbladder full of gallstones could result in the same problem. I’ve been noticing for the last six months that things don’t feel quite right. I have no infection, the gallbladder walls are normal, and this recent stone didn’t lodge where it would have caused pancreatitis. Or it got through before it did any damage. I think it’s a good time to get rid of the source of the problem, as I doubt it will get any better as I get older.

I really, really appreciate your input!

I'm glad you didn't find it extraordinarily off-putting.

I'm also glad you've got imaging showing that there are definitely stones there. My imaging wasn't definitive, and the gallbladder wasn't that bad when they got in there, just a few tiny stones.

It's altogether possible that they should have been treating whatever was causing my white blood cells to skyrocket, instead of taking out what turned out to be a pretty healthy gallbladder and torpedoing my pancreas in the process.

It seems to me that your doctors are pretty clear about what you need, so I'm sure that all will be well.

And thank you for reminding me of the acronym ERCP. I can never remember that!

The report on the ultrasound said there are an "incalculable" number of stones in the gallbladder, so apparently I'm chock full.

Mine was taken out maybe seven or eight years ago. I’d stalled for a while, then wound up going to my primary care for pain … it was Friday at 5:30. She said, leave here and go straight to the emergency room. They took it out that night.

Both hubby and I have had our gallbladders out. Mine was due to a medication that is known to cause sludge. My gall bladder removal was part of a major surgery for the liver. No problems at all for me. Hubby's gall bladder stopped working altogether, so he just had the laparoscopy day surgery. However, he had problems with bile continuously dropping into his stomach from the liver which caused digestion problems. He takes a bile sequestrant now and that resolved the issue. Gall stone pain is definitely no fun. Good luck!

Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences.

I've been feeling great since the attack I had in late February, but the gallbladder is full of large stones that aren't going to go away, so it needs to come out. Am scheduled to part ways with it on Tuesday. Guess I'm lucky that it's basically an elective surgery for me and I got to pick my surgeon and to schedule the procedure rather than it being an emergency.

Wish me luck!

quote:

Guess I'm lucky that it's basically an elective surgery for me and I got to pick my surgeon and to schedule the procedure rather than it being an emergency.

Surgery is never fun, but this is definitely a plus!

Best wishes for Tuesday and post-op healing!!

Wishing you good luck and quick healing.

Big Al

Good luck! I found it to be remarkably easy ... except for the post-op pain medication, which made me nauseated, but the nurses eventually took care of that ... but maybe that was because I lucked into a good surgeon.

Good luck tomorrow!

You are in my thoughts as well wtg. Thank science for our modern medical technology and procedures. Let us know your status as soon as you are able.