High Bilirubin Level after Gall Bladder Surgery

[lisamariecarter]

My healthy 36 year old husband had gall bladder surgery December 13th.  He also had clogged bile ducts due to gall stones.  They removed the gall bladder and cleared the gallstones out of the bile ducts.  He was very jaundiced before he went into the hospital for the surgery.  After the surgery, the jaundice has continually worsened.  He has all the symptoms associated with high bilirubin levels -- the dark amber urine and the white stools included.  After a week of being out of the hospital, he is back in the hospital.  He has had a stint placed in his bile ducts to be sure his bile is flowing.  However since he has been in the hospital his bilirubin levels have increased and they don't know what is going on and now want to do a liver biopsy.  His phosphate levels have also increased -- whatever that means.  Please  help!

[wldfowlr]

Is he itching?....have they done liver function test?....why do they want to do the biopsy?...when they put in the stent, did they inject dye into bile ducts to look for obstructions in the liver?

[lisamariecarter]

Yes, he is itching alot!!  I don't know what you mean by liver function tests?  They did do a full blood screen on Saturday that we are still waiting on for results.  They did inject dye into bile ducts prior to putting the stent in but not durning and not after.  The cat scan showed no more obstructions.  The doctor wants to do the liver biopsy tomorrow Jan.2nd because they can't figure out why his bilirubin levels are now at 16.7 which is higher than when they first admitted on Friday.  A week after the gallbladder surgery, his bilirubin levels were at 6.2.  He was sent home with a tube/bag attached to his stomach to catch the bile and we were collecting anywhere from 70-140ml in a 24 hour period.  The doctor just removed the tube/bag today.  The doctor says that depending on what the results are on the full blood screen and liver biopsy, they may send him to UCSF.  Any advice or opinion you can give us is deeply appreciated.  -Faithful Wife

[wldfowlr]

I have the exact issues..no blocked ducts with horrible itching and pain....they could not figure out why my bile was so hi.....4 weeks ago, I had the biopsy done, but they found nothing abnormal....I am now taking a medication called urso forte....my itching has completely stopped...The doctor said I have all the signs of PBC (google it), but no apparent damage to my liver....I am to take it for 3 months, and go back in march to see if my blood work changes.I will say this, my symptoms have all but dissappeared since taking it....the bloodwork will be the key.....goodluck today and please let me know what they say...This has been a 2 YEAR process for me....after 3 doctors, I still have no real diagnosis....Why did they place a stent in if the ducts were not blocked?

[lisamariecarter]

Wow!!  We are looking forward to having this behind us soon.  The gastro doctor said he was putting the stent in the bile duct just to assure that the bile was flowing.  My husband did do the biopsy yesterday and we are awaiting results.  We should have results by Wednesday 1/9/2008.

[wldfowlr]

Hello again.....did you get the biopsy results yet?

[lisamariecarter]

Hello,

Yes, we just spoke to the doctor today and he and the specialist said that according to the pathologist, there is no evidence of cirrosis, cancer, damage, infection or disease.  It appears that he still has an obstructed bile duct somewhere so he is going back in on Friday as an outpatient to have the stent removed.  The doctor is now saying that maybe the stent has moved and is causing more harm than good.  They will then do another catscan with the dye to check for obstruction.  I do have our primary care physician along with the chief of staff for Kaiser working on a referral to have my husband go to UCSF.  Hoping to have him at UCSF by next week.  We will have a liver specialist there look at the liver biopsy and blood screening results for further observation and opinions.  On another note I have order a cleansing program from www.drnatura.com.  Check it out.  I am a firm believer that the body has an incredible ability to heal itself.  Sometimes we just have to help it out by removing the garbage we help put in.  Let me know what you think.

[chess1957]

I am big on homeopathic medications.  You may want to ask them if you could try to use more cranberry to clear the system.  You also may want to ask them if doing dialysis for a short period may help.  You also can lay under a black light, just like they do with infants that have high counts.

Best of luck to you.