Has anyone had gallbladder surgery recently? Or waiting for it?

[Doowop1919]

Evening everyone,

I'm just curious if anyone has had gallbladder removal surgery recently? How long were you waiting before you finally had your surgery?

My mum has been waiting now for 2 years and 2 months. She's been fairing "ok" with dietary changes but it's been ramping up again recently and no one seems to be able to help or tell her what's taking so long.

I'm just curious if everyone has been waiting a long time or if my mum should be pushing more?

Thanks all

I had mine last year. I wasn't waiting too long, about 5 months once it was decided I needed it. I was quite impressed as this was coming out of the final lockdown and there was a lot of pressure on the NHS at the time.

Ps mine was bad though, when it came out there was 200+ stones in there, so maybe I was prioritised because of that?

North London, if that makes a difference

I was put on the wait list in Jan this year after pancreatitis due to gallstones, after a second bout of pancreatitis I had mine removed in August because it became urgent.

They told me the waiting list was 18 months this is in South Wales.

I had mine removed about 5 months after it was decided it needed doing. I didn't suffer before hand. I had a single occasion where a stone moved and blocked the top of my liver. Apparently if this happens once it's very likely to happen again, I was very poorly when it happened.
A friend of mine had very regular gall bladder flare ups and had to wait years....

I only waited a week from diagnosis - via admission thru A&E and then in hospital for the duration - but I did also have pancreatitis and jaundice. Consultant thought about sending me home to wait a few months, but I persuaded him to just do it and it was definitely the right decision.

Thank you everyone. Sounds like because my mum has ended up with a few dormant periods, it's not as 'urgent'. I just know she's worrying constantly about another bad flare up and I feel awful for her. She's in Scotland so maybe the area makes a difference too.

Before covid it was about 18 month wait. They did say that if symptoms increased then I should go to A&E and I'd be done as an emergency. I was too scared to do that though.

I was just coming in to ask about cleanses as I'm mid flare again. And thinking I need it out. It's debilitating when it flares but the GP doesn't seem remotely bothered?

I had a scan and they found a large stone.

How does eveyone fell after removal?

My mums been waiting 18 months, she finally has it booked for next week

Thanks again all. Sounds like over 2 years isn't normal, my mum is going to phone tomorrow and see what's going on.

MIL has been really unwell with flare ups & has been ill on and off for 18 months. They have now put in a stent which has worked & needs replacing every 4 months. It's frustrating as I keep hearing about people who have seemingly less urgent cases who have had the op.

mil waiting 18 months very poorly sometimes cannot get on with her life and she is in her seventies. i told her to go privately for £6,500 as she is comfortably off and thinks nothing of spending £40,000 on a new car every so often. her attitude is that the nhs should do it and that she has paid in. whilst i agree with this basically the lack of the operation is ruining the quality of life she could have. personally i cannot understand it

• has anyone else paid for this operation rather than waiting

sandalwood

My timeline was...
-Stomach upsets started around 2017 ish, initially infrequent, didn't think too much about it....I mean everyone gets stomach pains don't they?
-started getting more severe and frequent around 2019, with a particularly bad one after attending a cousins wedding. On hindsight it was likely due to too much rich and fatty food. (Lots of cheese!)
-2020 became increasingly bad. In the summer I had a very bad one which was the catalyst for me seeking help. I was rolling around screaming in pain. My husband dialled 999. This of course was during covid, and it was Saturday night, and there was a delay in an ambulance and I was triaged by a medical professional by phone an hour later and it had started easing off so I cancelled the ambulance. On hindsight I should have gone in but I didn't want to waste anyone's time but was encouraged to seek GP help. I'd had a chippy tea the night before which I now know was likely to trigger it.
-Gp phone appointment made for a few days later. I consulted Dr Google in the interim who suggested gallstones. I'm a mental health nurse so I'm sensible with Internet diagnoses, but I ticked every box....overweight middle age female, intermittent attacks easing off after a couple of hours, etcetera. The only thing slightly different was my pain was between my belly button and my sternum and usually it's more to the right but its not uncommon to be more central according to sites like NHS site etc
-I spoke to GP and wondered if it was gallstones but she was unsure as the position was not in the 'normal ' place but agreed to a scan referral.

• I had to chase up the scan referral as it went astray but it happened in October 2020, a few months after the GP appointment. It was one of those private places outsourced by the NHS. The radiographer appeared a bit alarmed but said I'd hear from the GP. I was on the train coming back from the appointment and the GP rang me saying there were concerns from the scan and I was to be referred urgently to the surgical team at the hospital

-beginning of Dec 2020 I had a phone appointment with the hospital which didn't go great as he didn't have my scan. I had it from my GP and offered to email it but he said no it had to come from the GP. He also suggested that because the pain wasnt in the 'normal ' place it wasnt gallstones! Eventually GP emailed the scan over, and it was agreed the op was needed. -April 2021 I had a scan at the hospital. Again radiographers appeared alarmed and said gallbladder was full of stones. I'm like 'tell me something I don't know' as by thing time the flare ups were about 3 weekly. By this time I was told surgery was prioritised just behind surgery for cancer. -due to the fact I'm a fat cow with a BMI of 40, I had to do Slimfast for 2 weeks to shrink my liver, but did have the surgery in August 2021. In the morning of the surgery the doctor said 'yes you have gallstones and we'll do the op but we don't think that's causing pain because it's not the 'normal' place' and I'm 'yeah, so everyone keeps saying, tell that to the NHS website, patient.co.uk etc who all say it's not uncommon '. After the op, the same surgeon came back and said they'd started counting the stones but gave up after 200 (there's usually about 4 or 5) and it was no surprise I was in pain!!! -so all in all between me seeing the GP and having the op was about a year, which I was happy with given covid and the fact routine ops were on hold for a long time! I have had no problems since which shows that I was right about the pain being gallstones despite everyone saying it was a couple of inches away from its 'normal ' spot.

Thanks for sharing @Spidey66 glad it all worked out for you!

My mum is still waiting, chasing it has done nothing.