Gallbladder removal - general questions.

[BambinoBoo]

Hi. I was diagnosed with gallstones in March and due to cutting out lots of trigger foods, I have been managing ok and have only had a couple of attacks. However, about a week ago, DS wouldn't settle so we had dinner too late which triggered an attack and I haven't really felt right since. I have had a couple more mini attacks, on and off pain/tenderness, terrible trapped wind and just generally feel sore. (I'm also anemic and on my period which isn't helping).

So, I have decided to ask the doctor to put me on the waiting list for the op to remove GB and wondered if any MNetters could answer some general questions of mine please. Here goes:-

What is the waiting list like (I'm in Bristol if that helps) - is it very long, can you request a time (I have a huge work committment in Feb)?

How soon after the op might it be safe to get pregnant?

Is it true that once you've had one attack then your GB is diseased and can rupture. So frightened of this happening?

Finally, I have a 2.9 yr old DS and am really scared of being put under GA in case I don't wake up. Can someone tell me to stop being silly.

Sorry for rambling on. Many thanks if you have taken the time to read.

sorry I don?t know about being pregnant after a GB op as I?m past all that
GA are very safe these days and Gb ops are routine

GB?s gets stones that make the GB squeeze to try and get rid of it/them, if the stone moves out of the GB then you can get billairy colic as the duct squeezes. Stones can be any size, large, small, sludge, and any number from one to too many to count. If the GB is full of stones for a long time then they can start to become infected. But not always, I had multitude of stones in my GB and 'many' stuck in the duct and none of them where ?off? to any vast degree, just caused a nasty blockage
The ladies either side of me in hospital had infected GB's, and after they were removed they had a drain and oral antibiotics and were sent home the next day fit and well. (just unable to stand upright ) Most people do not even stay overnight, it?s usually a very simple op.
I was in a week, but that is very unusual and mostly due to one stone getting ?lost? and needing a second procedure to find it. They did have a bit of trouble getting my GB out with so many stones but still managed it by key-hole. I feel great, better than i've felt in years

If you get an attack that goes on for more than a day, or you go yellow, or the pain is unbearable then go to a&e for some proper (strong) painrelief.

I think waiting lists are about 18 weeks around here.

Hello i had my gall bladder removed 2 wks after having my dd! No idea about waiting lists but if you keep going back to your g.p you may find you get moved up a bit! In the end I was in so much pain I went in as an emergency.

The op itself was fine, just 4 very small incisions where the probes or cameras went in! I stayed in hospital one night after the op and was allowed home the next day. I was a bit sore and washed out for a few days and probably took a couple of weeks to start feeling better.

Many thanks Stomp. 18 weeks sounds really good. I don't feel in agony or anything so I think it could be just tenderness after a run of attacks. I will keep an eye on my colour etc as suggested. I also read that if your temp is above 38 then that's a sign of an infection. My stones came on during pregnancy - why I want to do it again I don't know

Thanks again.

Thanks girliefriends. It's great to hear that it's such a routine op with a quick recovery. I have been umming and ahhing about it for months but this week has made my mind up I think.

I couldn't have gone on as I was - constantly in pain. It was such a great feeling after having the gall bladder out to be able to eat without fear of an attack again!!! Having gall stones ruined my pregnancy and I blame them for the fact that my waters broke early after a violent attack

Hi :) I'm in Bristol, well North Avon. Once on the waiting list, I waited 6 weeks, had GB removed in May. My mum who lives central Bristol waited 8 weeks, so it seems a lot faster here.

Re an infected gall bladder, I had this, not that anyone told me beforehand. But, the only thing that kept attacks away whilst waiting for removal was repeated courses of antibiotics. I did wonder how the heck antibiotics stopped stones moving

Another tip, if you get bad sickness during an attack and your urine goes very dark (kind of brown) get attention straight away. This can be the result of the bile duct being blocked by stones and can cause pancreaitis. I know this because it happened to me :(

Yy I'm another who ended up with pancreatitis and was in hospital for a week. The weird thing was that I had never had a problem with my gall bladder preceding the pancreatitis. I had my gall bladder out laprosopically, stayed in one night (because op was in the evening) and me and my pot of gallstones went home the next day. I was a bit tired for the first few days but I was fine after a week. It was very straight forward, I can hardly see my scars any more. Don't be afraid, it's as routine as brushing their teeth for the surgeons! HTH.

Thanks everyone. You've really put my mind at rest. alwaysme 6-8 weeks sounds really promising too. I could be in before Christmas if I play my cards right.

Were any of you able to eat normally again after the op? I heard that you still need to follow a low fat diet or you end up with terrible diarrhea.

BambinoBoo - one of the less common side effects is the diarrhoea, but it's not necessarily caused by not following a lot fat diet.

Some people who have their gallbladder removed can have after effects that mean they have to move onto a low fat diet, but in the majority of patients, they can return to eating a normal diet.

The diarrhoea tends to subside a few days after the op, as your body adjusts to life without the gallbladder.

I only get diaorrhea if I eat very high fat food - like lamb. Otherwise I eat absolutely normally,

I had diarrhoea for about a week and then my body adjusted. I have found i have a slight problem with eating out, the amount of oil in foods makes me feel rather bilious the next day- mostly pasta places. Other than that i can eat what i want but as i lost a lot of weight in the weeks before my op -weight i could easily afford to lose - i have tried [fallen angel] to eat sensibly since having it out.

I find I get diarrhoea if I over do it with food, but then i have IBS anyway!!!