Still alive and kickin' I think...

Hi everyone.  This is the first day I've felt like sitting up long enough to get on the computer.  They put the stent with drain in my duct work on Monday and then kicked me lose on Tuesday.  I've spent the majority of the rest of the week watching tv on the couch or sleeping.  Still very weak and extremely tired.  Still achy.  The JP drain is fine, hardly nothing out of it.  The bile drain has  been working overtime though.  I think it's all draining to the bag instead of any going to my intestines yet.  I think on Monday we are going to start clamping off the drain for short periods to see if it will flow the other way.  I hope this works.  I don't want to have another surgery.  I'm worried about work.  I've been off two weeks already.  Also I am extremely bored.  I am going to try to move around a bit more today.  I've been eating as much protein as I can get in and upped my caloric intake during this phase.  It's hard to eat that much, lol.  Oh well, enough whine I guess.  Hope everyone is doing ok.

I hope you get better soon. 

(Can I be nosey and ask why you didn't have your gall bladder removed while they were doing your RNY?  If that's too personal, just tell me to mind my own business!)

Dr. Roller won't remove the gall bladder while doing the RNY unless it already shows signs of disease.  Believe me, I asked. 

Och!  That's different for sure.  Most surgeons want to remove it with RNY (because even if it looks fine pre-op, rapid weight loss causes gallstones so frequently that most surgeons want it gone to keep from having to do another surgery later on).  Not only that, so many people (normies who never had RNY or anything) end up having to have their gallbladders removed later in life anyway. 

I know a few surgeons just have that philosophy - if it ain't broke, don't touch it.  That's good and respectable.  But with the gallbladder... something we don't really need and that's KNOWN as a troublemaker - especially for people who lose weight rapidly and he knows you're about to start losing weight rapidly.... I think it's better to remove it every time if possible in WLS patients. 

Sorry you're having so much trouble. 

Please don't take this the wrong way.  I know you like your surgeon.  But have you thought about getting a second opinion?  You're having an aweful lot of trouble for something that should have been pretty straight forward. 

Wen

I hear you.  If I wouldn't have waited almost a week running 102-103 fever in severe abdominal pain with horrible headaches thinking I had the flu, it probably wouldn't have been much of a thing to yank the puppy out and be done with it, lol.  Unfortunately, it was necrotizing by the time I got to him.  He said it was the worst gallbladder he has ever seen.  It was just a bunch of mush in there.  That's why it wouldn't hold a clamp.  Hence the stent with a drain to divert the bile to give the area time to heal to hopefully avoid another surgery.  I'm lucky I didn't die from my own stupidity.  Live and learn.

SYBIL,

SO SORRY.  I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE STATE FORUM BEFORE I SENT A NEW E MAIL.  BUMMER WTH THE GB DIFF.  MAYBE WE CAN RECOOP TOGETHER.  CALL ME SOON.

KAREN

Hello all,

Sybul, I am glad you feel better. I know you have gone through a hard time.

I just  wanted to let you all know the reasons Dr. Roller doesn't remove all gallbladders when he does bariatric surgeries. If the patient is not having any symptoms at the time of surgery, there is no need to take out a perfectly good organ. Studies from Duke University indicate that out of all gallbladders, only 15% will ever need to be removed. Dr. Roller doesn't belive in subjecting his patients to unnecessary surgery. Also, Dr. Roller does surgery laparoscopically so in the event of a gallbladder problem, it is not that big of a deal to go back in and take it out. A lot of surgeons perform open bariatric surgery and there will be increased risk to patients, due to adhesions, that need another surgery like having the gallbladder removed . Another reason it is not a good idea to take out every gallbladder is the insurance companies sometimes won't pay for removal of a normal gallbladder so the patient will be stuck with a very expensive bill. Unfortuantely, some patients will need their gallbladder removed and that is unavoidable in these cases. Fortunately,  Dr. Roller is trained in advanced laparoscopic surgery so he is better equipped to handle this and he strives to take care of problems as they arise. If a patient is having gallbladder problems or has a hernia at the time of surgery, he will repair or remove the problem so the patient doesn't have to wait to have the issue addressed. I can assure you that he takes all information into consideration and makes the best decision for each individual case he takes on.

I hope you all understand that this is the best for the patient. Any surgeon can take out a gallbladder but not every surgeon takes all information into consideration and puts the patients' needs ahead of their own pocketbook.

Wendi

Thank you Wendi for jumping in there for me.  I didn't have much fight in me the other day.  I have read lots of posts about other RNY surgeries on here and thank my lucky stars every time that I chose Dr. Roller to do mine.  I can't imagine what all those people must have suffered that had the open surgery with peg tubes and such for weeks afterwards.  I felt bad for them that I went to the hospital, was home two days later, back to work in 1 1/2 weeks with never a problem one.  Enough said!   Oh, p.s., no problems from shutting off the bile drain yesterday.  No increased drainage from the jp bulb.  Just had 15cc out this morning.  See you Thursday.

I guess that goes to show you how different people can be.  I didn't realize we were "fighting". 

Just out of curiousity, where do you get the 15% removal statistic?  (I'm all about #s, so I'm curious since that DEFINATELY does not reflect what I see around me in my own life personally.)