gallbladder surgery yes or no

[yanti691]

I am contemplating on having gallbladder removed, I heard aftereffect is not good, should I do it or not?

[aatredes]

My GB removal was a total disaster.  Surgeon cut my main bile duct, tried to repair it before anesthesiologist woke me.  I had lap surgery before and knew it would be painful but nothing like this when I woke in recovery.  I begged them to do a CT I knew something was very wrong. The surgery took 4 hours.  They sent me home the same day.  36 hours later my husband had to call 911 because he couldn't get me in the car (pain).  Upon return to the hospital they thought I had a blood clot (no clot).  I was taken to have a stent put in the duct to stop the bile leak.  They drained no less than 2 liters of bile from my abdomen during this procedure.  The leak did not stop.  I laid in a hospital bed for almost 2 weeks while they did CTs and MRIs.  In the meantime I developed pneumonia and multi-system organ failure and they were talking about putting me in ICU.  Every 8 hours I was putting out 1 liter of bile.  They took me into surgery again to give me another stent.  The anesthesiologist gave me the anesthetic too quickly and I coded.  I woke up with someone holding paddles above me and I was intubated.  I spent 5 days in the ICU after this and somehow (and the GI doctor had no idea why) the leak started to resolve on it's own.  In the meantime, MY surgeon skipped town, going to Michigan (I was in North Carolina).  I spent 2 more weeks back on the medical floor, where I had to have PT because I couldn't walk (muscle atrophy) and I was on a pic line to feed me and deliver medications (after they took out the central line I was given in ICU).

When I was well enough (my surgery was January 2009) in April, I sought an attorney.  The attorney got all my records and the recording of the original surgery, where it was found that this surgeon cut my main bile duct.

In the end, I sued the anesthesiologist, the surgeon who removed my gall bladder, and the hospital itself (I had bedsores).  I took an out of court settlement, and the surgeon is not permitted to operate any longer, however she is allowed to teach and retains her MD.

FIND A SURGEON who is WELL-VERSED in lap surgery, my life was forever changed and I was in therapy for over a year to deal with my fears.  I still have problem even visiting a doctor's office.  

[bandmon]

I had gallbladder surgery in January of 2007 and the surgon nicked my bile duct and I had to have a T-tube and drainage bag for a month, then when they removed the T-tube the bile duct collapsed.  Then I had to have an ERCP.  An ERCP is when they go down your throat and through your stomach to reach your bile duct and put three stints in to keep your bile duct open.  And I had to do this every 3 months for a year.

I want to know if anyone else has had the porblems that I have had for the last year and a half.

[Jaybay]

Wow!  Your surgery sounds like it was a total train wreck!  Most patients don't have that kind of post op pain, and infection is not at all common aft gb surgery.  I'm glad to hear you finally recovered OK.  :-)

[MacieCodymom03]

I had Lap Gallbladder surgery in May. Yeah it was painful. Even more so then haveing both of my children with no pain meds, but in like 3 days it was gone. In august i was rushed to the ER with a 104.1 temp and URQ pain so they thought for sure appendix, turns out i had a severe infection in my intestions which is common so they say after gb surgery

[Jaybay]

I'll have to disagree with you on this issue.  There are many more dangers to any open procedure vs. laparascopic surgeries.  In my case, open surgeries result in tremendous amounts of scar tissue formation so it's absolutely out of the question for me.  The risk of infection and complications are also higher with an open surgery, and recovery time is over a month vs. a couple of weeks.

Try to remember that the majority of people who have lap chole surgery never have any problems afterward, which is why you don't see them on these kinds of forums.  

Cholesterol from meat does not necessarily result in gallstones either.  Many times NOT eating enough fat results in stone formation because the bile ends up being stored too long in the gallbladder.  In women, hormones from pregnancy or birth control pills can play a major role in thickening bile and stone formation as well.

[confused1000]

All Surgeons say they are tops in their field!!  The fact is if they would outlaw the "LAP" millions of people would not be suffering from the rest of their life. I hope you continue to do well!

[mr.lucky66]

I'm sorry you had such a bad surgeon. I've talked to 10 people who recently had this newer GB surgery(laprascopic), and we are all doing well with varying amounts of time. I know some people here are having problems. Check out your surgeon well. Mine was one of America's top doc. all the best

[jep65]

DO NOT HAVE THE NEW LAPARASCOPIC GALLBLADDER REMOVAL! INSIST ON OPEN SURGERY!YOU WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM THE NEW AND IMPROVED SURGERY!YOU WILL BECOME A GUINEA PIG JUST LIKE THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SUFFERING AS A RESULT.GOOGLE SEARCH (CLIPS MIGRATING INTO BILE DUCT).ONCE THE NEW  SURGEY CAUSES PROBLEMS LIKE CLIP MIGRATION OR CLIP LITHASIS(STAGANATION OF BILE) BECAUSE THEY CLIP OFF THE CYSTIC ARTERY THAT SUPPLIES BLOOD TO THE GALLBLADDER AND CLIP OFF THE CYSTIC BILE DUCT THAT SUPPLIES BILE TO THE GALLBLADDER.ANY IDIOT CAN TELL YOU THIS IS DANGEROUS!EVEN MORE DANGEROUS IS LEAVING THEM IN CAUSING INFECTION AND BILE STAGNATION.DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DEFINETLY DO NOT LISTEN TO MR.LUCKY 66 HE'S PROBABBLY GETTING PAID BY THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OR THE FDA.HE GOES BEHIND ALL OF MY POSTINGS USING HIS "SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PAIN AFTER SURGERY MY SURGERY WENT WELL."****.HE CAN NOT GIVE YOU ALL THE INFO THAT PROVES THAT THE SURGERY IS A COMPLETE SUCCESS.IF HE COULD THERE WOULD NOT BE ALL THESE PEOPLE ON THIS LINK COMPLAINING ABOUT POST OPERATION PAINS THAT PERSIST FOR YEARS.THE OLD SURGERY HAS NEVER CAUSED THE COMPLICATIONS THAT YOU SEE WITH THE NEW SURGERY.EXPLAIN THAT MR.LUCKY66! DID YOU HAVE THE OLD SURGEY MR.LUCKY66? AFTER YOU HAVE ALL THE COMLICATIONS  AFTER THE LAPARASCOPIC SURGERY THEY WILL WANT TO PERFORM AN ERCP(GO DOWN YOUR THROAT WITH MORE MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS)TO "TRY"TO REMOVE THE CLIPS OR TO PUT IN A NEW STENT CAUSING MORE DEBIILITATING PAIN AND THEN YOU WILL BE "FUBAR"(F'D UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION) AND UNABLE TO WORK TO GET INSURANCE TO CORRECT THE GEEKS MESS UPS.IF THEY WERE REAL DOCTORS THEY WOULD GO BACK TO THE OLD SURGERY  AND CUT YOU OPEN AND LEAVE NO DEVICES BEHIND LIKE THE OLD SURGEY WOULD BENEFIT.IF THIS WERE NOT TRUE WHY WOULD THEY BE INVENTING NEW DISOLVEABLE CLIPS.YANTI GO TO THE HEALTH FOOD STORE AND PICK UP A PRODUCT CALLED STONE FREE TO BREAK UP THE STONES AND OR MILK THISTLE TO KEEP THE LIVER STRONG. AND DO A VEGETARIAN OR MOSTLY VEGETERIAN DIET BECAUSE CHOLESTEROL FROM MEAT IS WHAT FORMS STONES ANYWAY.GOOD LUCK AND DO YOUR RESEARCH.  

[mr.lucky66]

Sorry to hear about that Reddawg. I have hep. c but no liver damage. The GB surgery went well and now I feel fine and eat whatever I want. The surgeon said (knowing I had hep c), that he saw my liver during surgery and it looked good! all the best

[reddawg]

Yenti, if you have liver problems I would get it as last resort. I have cirrhosis and had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago. Since then I have gone down hill. I no longer take my boat out, got so much weaker and fatigued.

[Ms_Makita]

In the summer I had horrible attacks from gallstones.I was also worried after hearing horror stories of after gallbladder surgery...but let me tell ya I feel so much better! it is worth it.I still have "phantom" pain sometimes if I eat certain foods but it isnt nearly as bad as those attacks.Just be careful what you eat for awhile your body needs time to adjust to not having it.I lost 120lbs because for a year I couldnt eat without pain and getting sick,I'm so glad I did it now,now I can eat and putting weight back on ( was 99lbs!!!) Good luck to you,dont worry,it will be fine!

[mr.lucky66]

I had the same fears until I got mine out a month ago. If you are having attacks like I was, I say go for it! The new Lap. surgery seems to be good. I was worried that I couldn't eat the way I wanted too and would have other complications that can happen, but this was not the case. In fact both me and my sister had this surgery the same week and both did very well. The pain wasn't even that bad but it wasn't a walk in the park, but well worth it for me.