Gallbladder Surgery - Think twice!

[elph02]

I had my gall bladder removed a few years ago. It was a bad medical decision. Up until a few fairly mild attacks I never had any GI problems that I would consider out of the ordinary.

Since then life has been a constant challenge. I use Questron and hate it. I have used ginger which seems to work for a while but eventually fails. I have tried to alter my diet. Including excluding etc - nothing seems to work.

Then I occasionally come to these forums and read the arrogant responses of some of the hack physicians who treat this as an abnormality. I do medical research for a living and there exists some fairly strong anecdotal evidence, at the very least, that this is a fairly ubiquitous event.

Personally I think gall bladder surgery is an easy money maker for docs. Who is going to challenge it anyway, The insurance company doesn't want to see your damn organ to see if it is diseased. I think the prevailing attitude by many physicians is there is no answer to this. They treat it casually, called minimization, simply due to the fact they do not want to address the issue. Many do not have the cojones to admit they have no solution.

They fail in the whole area of informed consent. This should be disclosed prior to surgery and discussed fully before having the surgery.


This discussion is related to Bowel Problems After Gallbladder Surgery.

[davemc]

I think you're right -- GB surgery seems like a recommendation that the doctors get to pretty quickly.  In my case the PCP heard my complaints of abdominal pain attacks, ordered an ultrasound.  That found gallstones.  Pain + gallstones = surgery,  even though my pain locations were atypical for GB disease.  I never even saw a GE -- went straight from my PCP to a surgeon.

Turns out the GB had nothing to do with my pain. Don't have a GB anymore, still have pain, looks like it's stomach spasms.  Fortunately there were no complications from that useless surgery.  Just a few cute scars, perhaps some ongoing sensitivity to fatty foods, and some out-of-pocket expenses I didn't need to pay.

A doctor told me "sometimes the treatment is itself a form of diagnosis".  In other words, it may be your GB, we'll cut it out and see if that's the problem.  I do understand the concept, but hate to surrender my organs 1-by-1 to narrow down illnesses!!

[VincentVols]

I too had my gallbladder removed in Aug. of 2007.
Before having it removed, I was experiancing stomach pain and nausea simlar to what is described in previous post.  After a Hyda-scan - I was told that my gb was no longer functioning and had to be removed.
However, since my surgery, the nausea and pain only increased.  I have now been diagnosed with gastroperosis.  
In the mist of all the post on this website I have seen a connection between both the surgery of GB and gastroperosis.  Not sure which one is causing the other, but there definatley seems to be a connection.

I would advise strongly to read up on the effects of GB surgery.  I have had several friends with stones that received immediate relief and now have a limited amount of side effects from the surgery.  However, if your GB simply isn't functioning properly - I would ask more questions.

Just please watch it carefully.  Give yourself time to heal from the surgery, but don't wait like I did before finding a Dr. that will help you out.  I had to see several doctors (2 GI to be exact) before I found one that was willing to dig for answers.  Your body knows when you dont' feel well.  The best lesson I have learned from this whole experiance is to listen to your body!!
Best of luck!