Pancreatitis/ Gallstones - What are your experiences?

[ByBreezyBiscuit]

Hi all, Mumsnet newbie here.

My 79 year old father has recently been hospitalised (and since discharged) with acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis. A CT Scan has confirmed gallstones.

He was discharged too early the first time and we had to take him back to A&E. They kept him in for 2.5 days the first stint and for 6 days the second time. They kept him in until the infection had cleared and he has now been out of hospital for about 2 weeks and they just sent him home with paracetamol.

He is waiting for an outpatient MRI Scan to confirm whether the gallstones are causing any blockages. The current waiting time for an outpatient MRI is 30 weeks in my area. He has also been put on a waiting list for gallbladder removal for which we have been told the current wait is 3 years unless the gallbladder perforates.

Aside from that we have been given very little information from Drs and Nurses and a lot of it conflicting. 'I don't know' has been the answer to about 90% of the questions we have asked.

He experiences pain when he eats and acid reflux which we were told was due to the gallstones and that he will experience some pain and symptoms for as long as the gallbladder is there. My dad is very up and down some days he's really strong and is back to normal almost and others he's very weak and experiencing quite moderate - severe pain and has very little appetite. The last blood test showed the infection was gone and the inflammation had gone down.

He seems to suffer more in the morning and then the pain settles. Luckily, he is in a position to be able to go privately but we still have a little wait to see the private consultant.

Has anyone else experienced the above symptoms or something similar and how did you manage it whilst you were waiting for surgery? He is on a low fat diet and eating little and often.

Unsure if maybe contraindicated due to age / other conditions. My medication for gallstones is buscopan (anti spasmodic) naproxen (anti inflammatory) codiene (if properly painful) and ozemaprole protects stomach/ prevents reflux / heartburn.

I was diagnosed in hospital but it took whinging at Gp to get meds prescribed. It’s been a year I’m also on a list for removal.

He was on Omeprazole prior to this, they quadrupled the dose in hospital but that caused a ton of side effects so he went back to his usual dose.

He is unable to take anti -inflammatory meds due to being on Aspirin daily. He does take Gaviscon in the evening which does seem to help after dinner.

I find it terrible that they expect people to suffer with this for so long. I hope you get a date for your surgery soon.

Maybe ask about buscopan? It’s often prescribed for IBS but can help prevent gall bladder clenching around stones so they pass easier.

The waits as do seem long tbh. I suspect mines will be whipped out as an emergency at some point as thst seems to be the way NHS works nowadays.

Hope your Dad perks up soon I find it utterly exhausting, food wise I’ve found bland and easily digestible seems to set it off less. White rice, plain yoghurt type stuff.

I will look into that. I asked the surgical doctor in A&E how long the current wait time is for surgery and he said 'very long,' I asked over 12 months? He nodded yes I said 18 months? He said you'll be lucky then a nurse on the ward said she had been told its up to 3 years now.

One nurse told us that the more he presents to A&E the quicker he will be bumped up the list. Another nurse said each time you are admitted you get pushed back as they won't operate if there's an infection, unless of course it looks as though the gallbladder will perforate or already has.

Hopefully we'll get more sense out of the private consultant. It really is an awful thing some days he's great other days he's uncomfortable and exhausted and looks really rough. It's hard to watch.

I was told 18 months to two years. The GP writes to the consultant periodically, as liver function tests hsve worsened, ultrasound showing dilated bile duct type stuff but I experienced similar when I needed treatment for something else which eventually worsened and then I was admitted and treated.

It would of been much cheaper I think to treat as out patient in a timely fashion rather than as an emergency taking up a bed but that’s the NHS these days. A colleague had it out privately six weeks wait and £7k, she felt it was worth it as couldn’t work atall whilst ongoing so would have lost much more overall.

Ask to go on the Right To Chosse pathway. GPs should tell you about this. I may have got the name wrong but its a protocol for GPs to request private care via the NHS. I got my gallbladder out a couple of months from diagnosis this way.

My DH has gallstones but cannot have them removed due to his other medical conditions. When having a flare up he had to go to A and E the pain was so bad . I heard someone on the radio say if you have gallstones drink apple, juice apple, juice apple juice. Cloudier the better . But he just drinks any and eats anything with apple in . Touch wood since doing this he hasn't had a flare up .