Gallbladder removal - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

Dayanara · 08-23-2008, 02:54 PM

Well I go under the knife Sept. 22 for gallbladder removal. My rapid weightloss made my gallbladder go into overdrive and now it hates me and is screaming to get out, hehe.

The surgeon is going to try and use the same holes from the GBS which will be nice, less scars.

They originally wanted to remove it at the end of the month/beginning of September, but my best friend's wedding is Sept 20 and sadly after I had my GBS surgery is when my MS symptoms flared up and caused me to go into the hospital. I don't want to take those chances again and not see my best friend get married and be able to carry out my MoH duties, hehe. I have only had 3 bad attacks since I found out about it, and 2 have been able to be controlled by drugs pretty easily, so not too worried.

Are there any risks with gallbladder removal post GBS that I should know about or make sure my surgeon knows about?

Squishy · 08-24-2008, 10:39 AM

I had mine removed a couple years before my WLS. The WLS surgeon explained that Gall stones are so common after WLS that, if it so much as twitches, he removes it during the WLS.

You should not have any problems without it. The bile simply drips into your system instead of being stored in the bladder. You won't notice any difference except the attacks will be gone.

Best wishes!
-Mike-

MiladyB · 08-25-2008, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayanara

Well I go under the knife Sept. 22 for gallbladder removal. My rapid weightloss made my gallbladder go into overdrive and now it hates me and is screaming to get out, hehe.

The surgeon is going to try and use the same holes from the GBS which will be nice, less scars.

They originally wanted to remove it at the end of the month/beginning of September, but my best friend's wedding is Sept 20 and sadly after I had my GBS surgery is when my MS symptoms flared up and caused me to go into the hospital. I don't want to take those chances again and not see my best friend get married and be able to carry out my MoH duties, hehe. I have only had 3 bad attacks since I found out about it, and 2 have been able to be controlled by drugs pretty easily, so not too worried.

Are there any risks with gallbladder removal post GBS that I should know about or make sure my surgeon knows about?

Trish, I had my gallbladder removed by my bariatric surgeon a couple months ago. It was an outpatient surgery and most of the pain came from the gas because he did it lap. Risks post RNY? Not really. Just the normal risks you have with any surgery. I had to work on the deep breaths after surgery because it kind of hurt to take a deep breath. I certainly didn't want a pneumonia so I pushed myself with the Incentive Spiro-meter.

One thing you may want to suggest is that the surgeon look around to make sure everything else looks ok. I had a few adhesions present that my surgeon took care of while he was in there to try to prevent any further problems with things like a bowel obstruction or internal hernia.

I also was kind of wiped out for a week but I was also just 6 weeks post ps revisions so I think that was why I was so tired feeling for several days. After a week I was back to work and feeling pretty good.

Let us know how your surgery goes.

soon2bthin · 08-25-2008, 11:16 AM

I had my gallbladder removed at 5 months post op. I know my gbp surgeon was adamant about removing the gallbladder as well. He said he always goes in and flushes the bile duct to make sure there are no stones in there stuck as well. He said once the gallbladder is out it is hard to back in and remove a stuck stone in the duct. I was thankful too because I had a huge one blocking that duct. They also kept me in the hospital overnight just for observation due to an increase risk in developing pancreatitis. Good luck with your removal.

Dayanara · 08-25-2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiladyB

One thing you may want to suggest is that the surgeon look around to make sure everything else looks ok. I had a few adhesions present that my surgeon took care of while he was in there to try to prevent any further problems with things like a bowel obstruction or internal hernia.

My GBS surgeon is not doing the surgery, a general surgeon is. I cannot get Ontario health insurance to cover the surgery in the USA since gallbladder removal's wait list is not huge like GBS is.

Would they still be able to do this? Because if so, I definitely wouldn't mind a check-up while they are in there, hehe.

MiladyB · 08-25-2008, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayanara

My GBS surgeon is not doing the surgery, a general surgeon is. I cannot get Ontario health insurance to cover the surgery in the USA since gallbladder removal's wait list is not huge like GBS is.

Would they still be able to do this? Because if so, I definitely wouldn't mind a check-up while they are in there, hehe.

I would talk to your general surgeon and see if he is willing to just kind of look around while he is in there. He really should be able to take care of any adhesions you might have. You also want to be sure you don't have an internal hernia. You often can't find those on any tests that you have done but that doesn't mean it might not be present. Again, I would think a general surgeon who is skilled with doing an exploratory lap or lap gallbladder removal could do that. All it really is, is looking around your insides with the scope. If he finds something he repairs it. Any patient who has had abdominal surgery can have adhesions and internal hernias so that isn't something just RNY patients might have.

Dayanara · 08-25-2008, 12:25 PM

Will definitely ask, thanks!

Toony · 08-25-2008, 01:16 PM

Day - I had my gallbladder done a few yrs ago... they thought they'd use the same holes for my RNY... no such luck! I now have 10 scars instead of only 5... I'm sure they had a reason. I'll NEVER expose my belly anyway, so it doesn't much matter...

Good luck hon! How's the MS treating you?

Dayanara · 08-25-2008, 01:25 PM

MS sucks. I have good days where I hardly even notice it except the tingling, and bad days where dragging myself out of bed is a chore and stepping outside into any heat bothers me. Looking forward to winter, as strange as that sounds.

Finally gotten used to injecting myself with my medications, but because of the red spots they leave, like you Toony, I will never show my tummy. My scars actually have faded quite a bit, but I have red blotches all over from the needles. Sucks, but I'd rather that than the MS get worse.