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Gall bladder and hepatitis
Hi, Medhelpers! I'm in Buenos Aires and we are having a heat wave. Man, is it hot! Whew!!!
I got to see the head hepatologist at one of the big public hospitals here last week. Very nice and knowledgable guy, quite different from the screwballs at my own hospital. Many people here have told me that the public hospitals are better than the private ones, and I am beginning to believe it.
This head honcho, Dr. Frider, told me among other things that I ought to have my gall bladder removed as I have stones. He says that the gall bladder is a danger for hepatitics because once you've got cirrhosis the operation to remove it can cause decompensation. So he says I should have it removed now rather than later, when it might be too late. He also said I can have another liver biopsy done at the same time.
This seems to make sense to me, but I wanted to check with people here in the forum about it. Anyone have knowledge or experience with gall bladder problems, or preventative gall bladder surgery?
Any helpful comments will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
Mike
I got to see the head hepatologist at one of the big public hospitals here last week. Very nice and knowledgable guy, quite different from the screwballs at my own hospital. Many people here have told me that the public hospitals are better than the private ones, and I am beginning to believe it.
This head honcho, Dr. Frider, told me among other things that I ought to have my gall bladder removed as I have stones. He says that the gall bladder is a danger for hepatitics because once you've got cirrhosis the operation to remove it can cause decompensation. So he says I should have it removed now rather than later, when it might be too late. He also said I can have another liver biopsy done at the same time.
This seems to make sense to me, but I wanted to check with people here in the forum about it. Anyone have knowledge or experience with gall bladder problems, or preventative gall bladder surgery?
Any helpful comments will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
Mike
Thanks for the insights, Robo. Your reasoning sounds good and it's more or less what Dr. Frider said: take it out while it's easy. And it'd be nice to have a really good liver biopsy instead of the bad one done in 2008. So I'll probably go for it, that is, if I can convince my hospital to do it.
Mike
Mike
It's always interesting to hear dissenting opinions like yours. What are the problems that people have after removing it?
It's true that I've had no problems with it so far, and my philosophy has always been "If it isn't broken, don't fix it", but Dr. Frider (and some of the other posts here) have me pretty well convinced to remove it. My fibrosis is advancing. I haven't done Tx yet, but seeing as I am geno 1b there's not much chance of it working. So, when my liver becomes cirrhotic, if I still have the gall bladder I'm in trouble. Isn't it better to get rid of the darn thing now?
Once again, though, I'd like very much to hear what the bad consequences of the gall bladder operation could be.
Thanks.
Mike
It's true that I've had no problems with it so far, and my philosophy has always been "If it isn't broken, don't fix it", but Dr. Frider (and some of the other posts here) have me pretty well convinced to remove it. My fibrosis is advancing. I haven't done Tx yet, but seeing as I am geno 1b there's not much chance of it working. So, when my liver becomes cirrhotic, if I still have the gall bladder I'm in trouble. Isn't it better to get rid of the darn thing now?
Once again, though, I'd like very much to hear what the bad consequences of the gall bladder operation could be.
Thanks.
Mike
Hiya. You wrote:
} I thought they determined you to be a stage 2.
Yeah, more or less. At least, that's the agreement between the biopsy and the last Fibroscan. But it's all kinda inaccurate.
} Is there anything else going on with the gb other than the asymptomatic stones?
Nope.
} I like the idea of dissolving than removing.
That's the first thing I'm gonna bring up when I see him again in March.
} Did the hep doc say you could do any treatment for the HCV?
Tx for me is a long and confused story. This Dr. Frider who brought up the gall bladder isn't my regular hep MD. He's the chief hepatologist at a big public hospital, and I just had a consult with him. My hep MD at my health plan hospital wants me to do SO, and I am resisting.
M.
} I thought they determined you to be a stage 2.
Yeah, more or less. At least, that's the agreement between the biopsy and the last Fibroscan. But it's all kinda inaccurate.
} Is there anything else going on with the gb other than the asymptomatic stones?
Nope.
} I like the idea of dissolving than removing.
That's the first thing I'm gonna bring up when I see him again in March.
} Did the hep doc say you could do any treatment for the HCV?
Tx for me is a long and confused story. This Dr. Frider who brought up the gall bladder isn't my regular hep MD. He's the chief hepatologist at a big public hospital, and I just had a consult with him. My hep MD at my health plan hospital wants me to do SO, and I am resisting.
M.
Hi, babycham! Real sorry to hear about all your troubles with doctors, but frankly nothing about "the medical profession" surprises me any longer.
What the heck is a Hyderscan? Never heard of it. (Which doesn't mean much, as I have never heard of a lot of things.)
If you are F4 you probably don't want to wait for approval of the new meds and ought to try SOC, if your new MD is willing and your insurance covers it. That's my understanding of the situation, anyway. Even if Tx doesn't clear the virus, it will get your viral load down, slow down the fibrosis, give you a year of relief. That's nothing to sniff at.
My situation is somewhat different as I am probably not even F3 yet, and where I live (Argentina) the care on Tx is not so good as in the States. So I am not in any hurry to do it. If I can, I want to wait for beetter drugs.
But it's all a game of roulette. Especially for us gt 1s.
Good luck!
Mike
What the heck is a Hyderscan? Never heard of it. (Which doesn't mean much, as I have never heard of a lot of things.)
If you are F4 you probably don't want to wait for approval of the new meds and ought to try SOC, if your new MD is willing and your insurance covers it. That's my understanding of the situation, anyway. Even if Tx doesn't clear the virus, it will get your viral load down, slow down the fibrosis, give you a year of relief. That's nothing to sniff at.
My situation is somewhat different as I am probably not even F3 yet, and where I live (Argentina) the care on Tx is not so good as in the States. So I am not in any hurry to do it. If I can, I want to wait for beetter drugs.
But it's all a game of roulette. Especially for us gt 1s.
Good luck!
Mike
You had the stone removed, not the whole gall bladder?
And they did the surgery because the stone was causing trouble, not because you have hepatitis?
M.
And they did the surgery because the stone was causing trouble, not because you have hepatitis?
M.
Thanks for the biology and reasoning on removal vs dissolving. Sounds right. I am thin and am very careful what I eat (zero fat), so there shouldn't be any problem on that score.
Maybe I can talk my hospital into doing an ultrasound scan to see how hard those stones are. Maybe they can tell whether they are dissolvable or not.
I have long-time Irritable Bowel Syndrome and often have intestinal pain after eating, even after eating diet foods. I wonder how removing the gall bladder will affect my IBS?
Mike
Maybe I can talk my hospital into doing an ultrasound scan to see how hard those stones are. Maybe they can tell whether they are dissolvable or not.
I have long-time Irritable Bowel Syndrome and often have intestinal pain after eating, even after eating diet foods. I wonder how removing the gall bladder will affect my IBS?
Mike
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