Gallbladder is no bueno

I know this isn't really the right place for this, but I feel like I know (and trust) you ladies! I had a HIDA scan today and it showed that my gallbladder is very slow to empty which = its not working properly. I have to wait until my surgeon gets and goes over the results which should be by the end of the week. But the tech was really open about what we were looking for. 
So.... there is a good chance I will be facing yet another surgery in my near future. I am really really not looking forward to it, but I feel like it would be better to have this taken care of now as opposed to waiting. I have read stories of women who had major gallbladder problems while pregnant and it wasn't a good thing.
What are your thoughts? Who has had gallbladder removal surgery? What was it like? This will be my 6th major surgery. UGG!

Thanks for your insight. - Nikki

I had mine taken out last July, 3 months after wls. It was done laperscopically and recovery wasn't to bad. It's an outpatient procedure for most. It will be better you're getting it taken care of sooner rather than later when you're pregnant. I'm sorry you've had to go through so much and I hope you'll be on your way to feeling better soon so you'll be good and healthy going Into your pregnancy!

Hey hun

I am scheduled to have my gallbladder out this thursday. I am one of the ones who had problems while pregnant. Thankfully I didn't have any more major attacks once it was diagnosed otherwise I would have had surgery while pregnant. I go in thursday and stay overnight. I can let you know more details once I am recovered.

I had mine out 16 years ago - pre-WLS, when my son was 6 weeks old.  Thank GOD they took that B*#%! out!  LOL...the pain was unbearable.  When the dr told me it was my gallbladder & they could take it out, I asked if I could live OK w/o it, he said I wouldn't notice much difference...I asked how fast he could get it out before I had another attack.

Unless there are special cir****tances, It is usually done laproscopically, usually as an outpatient...no overnight in the hospital.  I'm not gonna lie...that first 2-3 days you will be in some pain...for whatever reason, my right shoulder hurt more than anything...but it's not the same as an open surgery, and within a week you'll be feeling pretty much back to normal, just a few extra scars on your belly.  I've had three laproscopic surgeries (gallbladder, WLS and kidney removal) and the gb was by far the least painful of the three. 

Get it out now before you get pg again.  Surgery while pg is obviously not a good thing, and God forbid that was necessary, would just add unnecessary stress when you'd already be stressed enough (...trust me, once you've had a mc - regardless of ectopic or whatever - there is no longer such a thing as a worry-free pregnancy...at least not in those early days).

Best wishes.

Shoulder pain is actually pretty common after general anesthesia. Just in case you were curious as to why.

I would have it taken care of right away....and make sure they check your duct very carefully while they are in there.  I am one of the unlucky ones who had my gallbladder out before getting pregnant then had stone problems in my duct so suffered terribly while pregnant (not fun), then had to have major surgery after I delivered.

Just think you will save yourself a lot of discomfort to do it now if possible....the recovery really isn't a huge deal.

-Jennifer 

You poor thing... so many surgeries!  If it should come out please get it out before you get pregnant!!  I carried my daughter with GB problems... ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis twice because stones had moved and blocked the pancreatic duct.  I could hardly keep anything down the whole pregnancy (this was before WLS)  THen ended up going back to hospital the same day I was discharged after having her because of yet another flair up.  Then had the thing taken out 2 days later ( days after she was born).  It was a living nightmare.  The pain from the surgery was NOTHING compared to the pain of the pancreatitis!!!!

Good luck to you!  Hope everything goes well and is complication free!!

Best wishes!
Linda

I had mine out at 8 months post-VSG. It was my 4th surgery in 16 months, and by far the easiest and quickest recovery. My surgeon actually removed hoards of scar tissue, and adhesions from my abdominal cavity while he was in there, and he scoped my sleeve as well. I was already below goal weight and trying to get into maintenance so it didn't effect my weight loss. As for dietary changes, I had ignored the symptoms for a couple of months, and not realizing that I was having GB symptoms. I thought it was because I was adding in more food/calories/carbs, and a lot of different foods because I was trying to get my losing to stop. I did have to change my intake to cut all full fat foods such as salad dressing, nuts, peanut butter, avocados, pasta sauce was a big culprit for pain after removal. This all resolved in about 3 months, and I was able to go back to my normal eating maintenance eating plan. 

I had mine out post WLS. It wasn't too bad. I was laporscopically (sp?). I had it out on a Thursday and went back to work on Tuesday. Really, the worst pain by far was the freaking gas in my shoulder from where they put in to expand your belly to see everything. They say the gas goes to areas where you had had an injury. I had my shoulder injured in a car accident years ago. The gall bladder itself was not a big deal, just uncomfortable.

Definately better to get it out now than to deal with it when you are pregnant!

Good luck!

Debbie

I had mine taken out at 28 weeks pregnant. They had to do as open surgery since my tummy was so big and they needed more room to get to it. It hurt for about 5 days but it was open surgery while pregnant and still growing :) nothing awful at all. I would get it out asap!!