I am 11 years out and lost 51% of my All Time high Weight. Now have Gall Stones....

I am schedule on 10/12 to have multiple Ventral Hernias repaired with the MESH and he wants to take the gall bladder out while he there. After the mesh is installed it would be more difficult to get to it.

I am really concerned with the side effects of have no gall bladder as it relates to my diet. I have no symptoms from the stones other than they show up on the CT Scan needed to address the hernias.

I am not sure I really want to go forward with any of this. I would like to hear from RNY Patients who has had their Gall Bladder removed.....

All Time highest Weight 390

Weight at this time 199

Help,

Jeff W Waldrop

Westlake, LA

Gall bladder issues are pretty common with massive and/or quick weight loss. I had my gall bladder removed about 10 years ago after I had lost nearly 200 lbs. before WLS (unfortunately I gained most of that weight back and had WLS last year). I have not had any issues at all related to the gall bladder removal; did not affect what I eat at all. I know some people do have issues, but that's true with any surgery. We're all different. What I can tell you is that when I had my first gall bladder attack 10 years ago it was the worst pain I have every experienced in my life (and I've given birth and had several major surgeries). When I went to the ER I could barely breathe the pain was so great that I really thought I was having a heart attack and would probably die. You need to make the decision that you feel is right for you. Thank God for morphine. Best wishes and congratulations on the weight loss.

Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate you sharing your experience. I hope that what I eat now and how I do that isn't affected. But we shall soon see, right.....

Yikes! Sayin' prayers that you make a decision that leaves you at peace with it all! If it were me and the hernia repair wasn't life threatening, I'd prolly wait until I was at goal a few months--then jack with it all. I'd have the gb out at the same time.

(I'm toying with asking to have mine pulled now when they go in for the surgery...)

I have 5 ventrel hernias. Been opened 4 different times and had a colostomy for 6 mos in 2000. I need to address the hernias now as they are worsening.

Thanks for your reply

Jeff

If you have stones now, it's a good chance that you will start having attacks eventually and need it out at some point anyway. From what I've read, it's common with a lot of WLS patients. I have not had WLS yet, but I did have my gallbladder out a couple years ago after a 50 lbs weight loss (which I've put back on, and now in pre-op evaluation). The attacks were excruciating and scary. I thought I was having a heart attack the first time. My chest felt like it was tightening, I couldn't catch my breath, I threw up. The week before I had it out, everything I ate gave me an attack. Everything.

The gall bladder surgery itself was no big deal at all, and the only things that bother me now are raw broccoli (no problems with cooked) and iceberg lettuce (no issues with other types of greens or lettuces). I don't consider either of these to be great losses.

Beside storing the bile, GB had other important role in our gut. Some as appendix a and spleen, and other organs. Sure you can live without one. But, most likely you life will not be the same. Should you leave it or remove? It is up to your and your doc.

I had mine out and I know that causes for me to deal with more constipation, and fat malabsorption. It took me a year to slowly increase my day intake to the level it is now. I eat relatively high fat diet now. But I probably cant digest be some, and malabsorb others. It was iffy at the beginning. Some of my friends who had their gb out - can't eat fatty foods. Or steaks, bacon, sausage, etc. But they adapted. I say increased fat. I was told my bile channel from liver to small intestine is larger than average. I guess my body adapted.

They can take it out but not put it back it.

It is up to you and your doc to decide.

Hey! I had my gall bladder out at the same time as my original surgery. It slowed my healing a bit but wasn't a big deal. And frankly I haven't missed it.

From what I hear, some folks have gall bladder issues early out as they lose weight so quickly. It was nice not having to worry about that.

As far as the hernia repair, I had that done a couple of years ago and came home with a drain and stitches but had to use absolutely zero prescription pain meds. Even when they pulled the drain and such the pain was surprisingly minimal.

Good Luck, I believe whatever you decide will be right for you. =)


ps - also, congrats on your weight loss! that is awesome!

I had my GB out many years pre-WLS. Honestly I have never missed it, I guess my body adapted well. I never ate fried foods anyway except for an occasional French fry.... really haven't had any problems.

Since you seem to have an ongoing history with hernias... I would consider what the doc is saying. If you have stones at some point chances are it's going to bother you.

Well, I am perplexed. I saw a surgeon (No 1) and was feeling good about his confidence level on fixing my multiple hernias. He wants to use the Di Vinci Robotic machine to repair 5 Ventral Hernias in my abdomen. I casually mentioned this to a friend who is a nurse at the hospital this repair would be done at and her comments concerning his experience and more importantly the other surgeon he partners with was enough for me to actually cancel that procedure which was scheduled for Oct 12th.

I then saw "my" first choice in a second possible surgeon and he didn't seem as confident in "Success" as was the first. Now I don't know what to do. I have a gall bladder full of stones and 5 openings in the fascia and one is actually causing some pain. I haven't thought about just putting this off.

Jeff W Waldrop