Gall bladder removal

[TopStar74]

After a long investigation, we've discovered mum has gall stones. Not sure if it is in the bile duct or gall bladder. Very quick decision by staff was gall bladder has to be removed. An elective surgery letter will be sent to us soon. I have tried to read sources/information about the gall bladder, it's function, problems/solutions etc.

Quality of life - should be near normal after surgery.
Risks of laparoscopic surgery - accidental cutting or scratches of bowel or other organs around, infection of bile duct or gall bladder, jaundice due to bill stones now in the bile duct etc.
After surgery issues - random bouts of diarrhoea and constipation!

Conflicting and contrary opinions were received from different doctors about what changes in lifestyle, foods to restrict after surgery etc. One actually said - "no, in fact your quality of life gets better, you can party as much as you like" which I am quite sceptical about. Another said "you may have to restrict fatty foods" which is sensible advise anyway. But nothing very determined was mentioned.

Though we feel ok about the surgery, the biggest anxiety is "what next?". Mum is very worried as she has had no other relatives or friends who've had the surgery and talked about it. So this post is to request if anyone here had the surgery and if so please could you let us know about your experience of the surgery itself, and since then whether it has affected your daily life after and whether you've had any complications etc. causing you to think if the surgery was worth it or not.

[kiloran]

My wife had her gall bladder removed at a private hospital about 20 years ago. Arrived in the morning, had laparoscopy in the morning, rested a bit, saw the surgeon (who produced lots of gory photos) and discharged late afternoon. No after-effects other than a lot of bruising, and she was pain free at last. Can't remember any specific guidance on lifestyle or diet post-op, but she is living a normal life.

--kiloran

[monabri]

Gallbladder surgery risks studied

https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/all-news/gall ... allbladder.

"Gallbladder removal is one of the most common operations in the UK, with around 60,000 performed in the UK each year.
The most common need for surgery is the presence of gallstones in the gallbladder.
These are formed when substances that make up bile - which helps break down fatty food - are out of balance.
Most patients are discharged the same day or the following day after surgery."

"Patients considered most at-risk of complications included the elderly.
They also included those with other underlying health problems such as heart or chest conditions, and patients from socially deprived areas."

"The study showed that mortality rates were 50 per cent higher in hospitals that carried out only a small number of gallbladder removals compared with hospitals that performed many. For patients considered low risk, the difference between hospitals was negligible."

[monabri]

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gallbladd ... val/risks/

"Removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) is considered a relatively safe procedure, but like all operations there's a small risk of complications."

Life After removal

https://www.rockwallsurgicalspecialists ... er-removal

"You can expect to live a perfectly normal life after gallbladder surgery but may experience temporary side effects related to the way your digestive system processes fatty foods. These symptoms may include loose stools or diarrhea, bloating, cramping, and excess gas in response to meals or certain foods. Fortunately, these problems usually last 30 days or less and only affect about half of the people who undergo gallbladder removal."

Article goes in to list foods to be avoided.

[ten0rman]

I had my gall bladder removed back in 2010. Can't really remember what the symptoms were only that my GP (Northern Irish) got most upset when his letter requesting "camera down the throat" (can't remember the correct term) was intercepted by an Asian consultant who interviewed me and ultimately arranged for, yes, the camera down the throat. Unfortunately, despite the sedative, apparently I fought against it so much that the attempt was abandoned and a barium meal x-ray was performed instead. Anyway, the result was gall bladder removal and a referral to a Polish surgeon. I let it be known that I only needed 24 hours notice and thus got in reasonably quickly. Came the operation day, and the anaethetist was a blunt speaking English man, possibly from West Yorkshire. Then appeared the surgeon. No, not the Polish guy, but a rather dapper slim black man. "Hello, I'm Mr. (Polish man)'s registrar." Etc. Then into the theatre anteroom where I was prepped whilst the electricians sorted out some lights in the theatre. Then at 13.27, yes, I was clock watching, the nurse says right we're on, and the next thing I knew was 2 hours later when a female voice started saying "Come On Mr ten0rman, you can wake up now it's all finished." I must point out that I had previously been told it would take about 3/4 of an hour! And then she showed me what they had taken out - a golf ball sized lump of what I was told was pure cholesterol. Later, I discovered that it was touch and go as to whether or not I had to be cut open rather than the keyhole surgery they managed to do.

So there we were, a Northern Irish GP, an Asian clinician, a Polish surgeon, a black African Registrar, and a possibly West Yorkshireman anaethetist. I must stress, by the way, that this is not meant to be negative or racist in any way shape or form - I simply find it somewhat comical the different nationalities involved.

So, the results. Well, I was given 30 Tramadol tablets to take home, of which I used three. And that caused my GP some alarm when I told him I had them and should I hang onto them, sort of just in case. You see, I had no idea what they were!

And what about since then. Well not a lot really. The problem I was getting, whatever it was, possibly stomach discomfort, went away, and since then I have only had the occasional problem with Fish & Chips. I suspect that it's the greasyness of the F&C which I can no longer cope with if I have large amounts. Otherwise, no problems. Unfortunately, these occasional incidents do take a long time to go away, as much as three days. Small amounts, eg share a fish with my wife, seem to be ok,

FWIW, a few years after that I started singing with another choral society and discovered that my colleague on my section was a Professor of Medicine so I asked him what the gall bladder was etc. In simple terms, the gall bladder holds a reserve of "gall?" which can be called upon by the stomach to help it cope with greasy food. He described the "gall" as being like washing up liquid in that it helps to breakdown the fat. Which makes sense, especially in the F&C incident mentioned above.

So, yes, 12 years later, no problems. Was it worth it? Well considering one of the problems I had which was being kept awake one night by tummy ache until it settled, then yes it was. I do remember my GP putting me on Gaviscon 2 on prescription. Then I went and mucked up what he was trying to do by buying it myself. It turned out that he wanted to know how bad I was by checking the consumption rate of the Gaviscon. Hence the request for the camera down the throat.

Good luck to your mother.

ten0rman

p.s.. It was just my luck when I got discharged to come up against a District Nurse without a sense of humour. I pretended to scream when she hadn't even touched me. It didn't go down very well. Also, when she asked if I was getting any pain, I said "Well, not really. But it's sore, which is what one should expect after being cut open." Her reply was along the lines of "You're getting pain etc" when in reality it was nothing serious and wasn't what I call pain. To me pain is what you get after hitting your thumb with a hammer. Or a tooth goes bad. But something that's mending is just sore. Oh well, sadder and (hopefully) wiser!

[pje16]

requesting "camera down the throat" (can't remember the correct term)

In case you're wondering, - gastroscopy
I only know as I had one last week

[TopStar74]

Gosh! Didn't expect such a quick response but ever so grateful! Thank you so much for your replies and I would be grateful for any more narrated experiences too! Only because this serves as a reference for others too. I searched for "gall bladder" and nothing much came up here previously. So this might be useful to others too. Thanks again!

[monabri]

30 Tramodol....

Might have been useful to have had one before the camera down the throat! Been there, got the t shirt...don't wish to do it again!

[pje16]

30 Tramodol....

Might have been useful to have had one before the camera down the throat! Been there, got the t shirt...don't wish to do it again!

My gag reflex kicked into firm action on the first attempt
the following week was supposed to be semI-sedation
I think the doc saw my notes from round 1.
“I'm going to give you a stronger dose” he said, “now close your eyes”
A few mins later, I sat back up and said when are we going to start.
“All done” was the answer
It doesn't get any better than that.

[ten0rman]

Just to follow up a bit more about my "camera down the throat", or as pje16 says gastroscopy, in fact,that was the third time I'd been on the table for that procedure. The first two times were 10 years previously when it was discovered I had a badly inflamed stomach due to Ponstan (mefenamic acid). Those two first times were easy enough in that I knew nothing at all about it, but I was told after the third one failed that they now used a weaker dose. Which, of course, backs up pje16 again.

As you will have realised, I have to an extent concentrated on some of the comical aspects, eg clock watching, but there were one or two more serious aspects.

Because my operation took so long, I was kept in overnight, otherwise I would have gone home the same day. But another comical aspect was that my precedure took place Thursday pm, and being kept in I had Friday midday meal in hospital. Can you guess what it was? Yes, fish & chips!

Another problem I had was that my throat felt like there was something hanging down inside it. Although I complained about it, I wasn't told anything about it, but ultimately I discovered that I had had somesort of tube shoved down my throat, presumably for breathing. It was sore, but it soon recovered, a few days at most.

I was on oxygen overnight and early morning, just a steady slow feed via something just under, or maybe just inside, can't remember which, the nostrils. I had a drain into one of the incisions, of which there were five. This was draining small amounts of blood and was removed at some point on the Friday.

Mrs T was rung up Friday pm and told to come and collect me. Now when I looked at the dressings I had, I decided that I couldn't see me getting dressed so I decided to change into pyjamas and dressing gown when Mrs T arrived and went home like that. You must remember, that in my case an overnight stay was not expected.

Just looking back at TopStar74's OP, he talks about bloating & diarrhoea. I can't say that I remember any difference after my operation, but, since starting my Lung Cancer treatment, 3 years now, bowels have changed. I mentioned it to the oncologist and was told to take Loperamide which does indeed do what it says. Maybe having a box of the capsules handy might be of comfort - they're cheap enough so if not needed, it's no big deal.

I suppose then, the final point is that it does not appear to have affected my life much at all, other than improving on what caused the build-up of cholesterol. Certainly, other than the occasional land & sea meal, I do not have any problems, but then I'm not what you would calla gourmet eater - I eat to live!

Cheers,

ten0rman

[pje16]

Because my operation took so long, I was kept in overnight, otherwise I would have gone home the same day. But another comical aspect was that my precedure took place Thursday pm, and being kept in I had Friday midday meal in hospital. Can you guess what it was? Yes, fish & chips!

Glad to hear you are ok
Chips on a hospital menu

3 years ago I was in the Royal Free in Hampstead for 10 days or so, the one thing that was never on the menu was chips, until late one night
I was at the nurses station having a chat to some of them and about 11pm I said goodnight to them and walked the few yards back to my room
5 minutes later, there was a knock on my door (one of them had been out to get a round of burgers and chips for the group and they had a spare bag) “Paul” she said “there's a bag of chips if you want them”
So that's how I got my chips in hospital

[ten0rman]

Actually, I'm not too sure about the chips bit, but certainly it was fried fish. There was also a vegatable, peas most likely. The point was though that there was fried fish, maybe not deep fried but certainly something like that, and me just recovering from a gall bladder removal operation. Anyway, whatever it was, it was nice. And, unlike when I was taken in for heart attack, I did at least get a midday meal - I missed the midday meal which I was told included Mushroom soup when I was taken in for a heart attack.

Yummy, yummy,

ten0rman

[pje16]

when I was taken in for heart attack

Snap, that's what I had too

[melonfool]

I had mine removed twenty years ago. Key hole surgery. Private (had salmon for lunch the next day).

No residual issues at all.

Bit alarmed reading the risk of scratches to the bowel. Considering the gall bladder is under the left side of your rib cage, if they've got equipment near your bowel they've taken a wrong turn!

Also - I didn't have any camera down my throat shenanigans. I had an ultrasound, then an x-ray, then an MRI (I still have all the photos, which they gave me in case they might be useful reference one day, and I recently had some other investigations and offered them to the consultant who said no, there's not much point looking at old scans). None of the scans actually showed my gall bladder so going in they didn't know what was wrong and had to warn me that it could be something else. Turns out my gall bladder was full of "gravel".

You'd never know I'd had it done now though. More common in women than men, by the way.

Mel