Post-Gallbladder Surgery: Same Pain as Before Surgery

[daron]

I am a 38-year old female.I began having the pain I will describe at the beginning of March.The pain has remained the same, in the same places and is very constant.It is under my right rib cage(right upper quadrant)very deep,radiates around my right side into my right shoulder blade and in between my shoulder blades.The pain up under my last right rib bone feels like someone has a clothes pin on it (a pinching sensation) and is squeezing the blood out of it,which then feels the same in my right shoulder and blades and is a constant ache.

I have seen my Internist 3x since it began.Have since had several blood tests run (CBC, Chem-24, Liver enzymes,etc.);Abdominal and vaginal sonogram;Abdominal CT without contrast because they could not get the IV in;Abdominal MRI with contrast;HIDA scan with CCK;Upper endoscopy;Abdominal X-ray.The only thing that came up was that I had a cyst on my right kidney that is very small.I have seen my Gastro and then the General surgeon on request of my Internist and Gastro,they decided to do an Exploratory Lap with the possibility of removing my Gallbladder.
he Dr.'s have thought it still might be my Gallbladder even though the tests did not show it.I had the surgery 12 days ago. After surgery,the Dr. said she found my duct at an acute angle and that could have been the problem.

I returned this past Tuesday and my pathology reported the gallbladder to be "blue-gray to green and wrinkled;mucosal surface is pink-tan,bile stained;cystic duct is pin point and measures .1 cm with average mural thickness is .2 cm;a lymph node is not grossy identified and no stones are seen. Pathological Diagnoses:Gallbladder,Cholecystectomy: Chronic Cholecystitis.

Here I sit 12 days after surgery with the exact same pain I have had for 4 months to the point of crying most of the time because the pain never stops; its waxes and wanes as far as the intensity but never goes away. I am getting severly depressed with the continuous pain especially after having surgery and the pain still remains. I actually thought it might have stopped 4-5 days after surgery but it has come back in full force. I have a 3 1/2 year old and cannot hardly take care of him because of the continuous pain.  I take Darvocet but it does not take the pain away. My Surgeon does not have a good bed side manner. She did not explain anything of what she did and does not give me the opportunity to explain my problems.

So my questions are: 1)Am I expecting too much too early - Should the pain I had before the surgery (if it was due to my gallbladder be gone)? I have had a C-section and sinus surgery and this does not feel like post-surgical pain because it is the same pain I had before and because it is still radiating.
2)I am very scared of cancer, could they have missed something??
Could I still have a problem with my pancreas,Sphincter of Oddi, common bile duct or a tumor somewhere that could be causing nerve pain?

Please help.I am very desperate and depresse

[SYLLIE]

Well, nobody has written back on my question about being
pregnant without a gall bladder, but I do have a comment for
julesnj.

Yes, it does get better!  Mine still hurts sometimes, but if this you gives you any hope at all, I'll tell ya that right after my gall bladder was removed, it was MUCH worse.

The pain will subside. TRUST ME.

Good luck.

[SYLLIE]

Hello, everyone..

I just want to say that I also had my gall bladder removed.
I had an attack one month before my baby was born and several
after she was born. It was removed shortly after that. It was
about 8 months ago. The surgery went great and I was cleaning my house the next day! That was the end of the good news. I have
been going through HELL ever since. I'm taking  pain almost
as bad as the attacks themselves! To make it worse, I have what they call "dumping syndrome" really bad.

I still call the pain "attacks" when explaining it to people.
I just want to let everyone know to try what works for me.
I force myself to cough really hard. It works! I feel a "pop"
in the spot where my gall bladder was and then the pain subsides
from there on.  It doesn't stop me from having future attacks,
but now my husband says "cough it out honey, you can do it"
He's so great about it.

I just have a question that NOBODY has mentioned.
I only have one baby and I'm 33 and I would like to have another.
Has anyone gone through an entire pregnancy without a gall bladder while being able to deal with the dumping and cramping and after surgery attacks? Can I do it? I'm scared. Thanks.

[LindeLee]

I too experienced the same symptoms post -op as pre-op.  I had 100% remission of all symptoms for 4 days and then they all came back.  Preliminary diagnostic (blood & urine) tests were within normal ranges.  Don't accept normal findings when you don't feel normal.  (my surgeon at 10 day post-op exam got me started with a simple explanation of the anatomy and physiology in the gastric system)

This article "PostCholesystectomy Syndrome" is located www.emedicine.com/med/topic2740.htm  It is a broad umbrella under which a host of possible disorders are listed with links for you to follow.  That is where I started to investigate. I am 25 days post -op.  Since narrowing down the scope of possibles w/support from new docs I've had good results treating symptoms while a proper diagnosis is being pursued.  I still don't feel well, but I do feel better than I did.  Patient education is critical.  You have the time (doctors frequently don't - and can't always "spoon feed" us all the information we need -- plus motivation (pain relief provides strong incentives) and you above all others know yourself best.  Pass any suspicions on to your doctor for professional assesments.  If your doctor won't work with you -- get a new one.  I won't work with a doctor that refuses to involve me in my own health care.

Following some research on the web I found strong indications - symptoms matched - and when applied to my medical history both past and present - it matched too.  Following my lead - my Docs have narrowed down the most probable cause is located with the endocrine system (you'd be amazed at how intermingled all the body's systems are with the endocrine system) -- my matches - specifically for me - adrenal insufficienty and/or Addison's Disease secondary to a lesion left over from a previous pituitary tumor or a reocurrence of that tumor.  

Links and research applied to your personal medical history - past and present might lead you in a different direction.  Think very hard about what changes have happened in your life before you got ill.  My thinking revealed that I became ill 2 weeks after very succesful back surgery.  Epidural steroid injections, oral and IV steroids abruptly stopped because the surgery stopped the pain and the inflamation that the steroids had been controlling.

The unknown is generally frightening and poorly tolerated.  I hope you are feeling better soon.

[Mizbacdraft]

I had my gallbladder removed 9 years ago and I am having severe pain as if it were still there. I have not found out what is causing it aftr having a CT sc. I am being refered to a surgeon tomorrow. I did fnd out today that my potassium level is extremely high and I hope they can find the cause of the excruciating pain it is causing me. AMy ideas?


Thanks

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Tough to say so soon after the surgery.  However, with the normal tests that you had prior to the operation, it is possible that the gallbladder was not responsible for the pain.  A further test to consider would be an MRCP - which can evaluate the biliary ducts.

As for cancer - this would be unlikely given the tests you have received.  If there is a mass in the pancreas - the MRCP can be helpful, or you can consider an MRI.

These options can be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[surgeon]

12 Days after surgery is too soon to draw any conclusions, in that irritated nerves from the gallbladder area can sometimes give a sensation like that coming from the gallbladder. However, given the fact that all your tests were normal, it's not likely that the gallbladder was your problem. The finding of chronic cholecystitis on the pathology report doesn't mean much: it's a close call sometimes, and when it was as normal as the gross description (color, thickness, etc) it's probably not significant. It's possible that as more time passes from surgery you'll see improvement. If not, then finding the cause may be frustrating. The good news is that between all the tests you've had, including exporatory surgery, it's HIGHLY unlikely that something serious -- such as cancer -- was missed.