Question:
How many long term post ops still have their gall bladder?

I had a lap rny and did not have my gall bladder taken out and am curious how many long timers still have theirs? Do we all eventually have it taken out or is it possible that we can still keep it? Thanks ahead of time for your responses.    — ncgal (posted on September 30, 2001)

September 30, 2001
hi michele, i've been reading about this, even though i don't have mine any longer. I read where patients can "argue the point" even find surgeons who will leave it in, but the reason they like to remove it, is the increased risk of gall stones. However have read there are some medications that can be given now. I would talk to my surgeon about this because he will probably know what has worked best in the past and what might work for YOU. But don't stop researching. You will find there are many ideas out there. Jacki
   — Jackiis

September 30, 2001
My surgeon would not take out my gallbladder since I had no stones or signs of disease. My general practioner swore up and down to me that I WOULD have to have my gallbladder out within 6 months post op. She also said that the side effects from actigall were worse than just letting the gallbladder "go bad." Well, anyway, I'm 16 months post op, down 140 pounds, 9 pounds to goal and I have my gallbladder still and NO PAIN or SYMPTOMS of gallbladder trouble. There was one day about 6 months ago that I thought "maybe" I was having a "gallbladder" type pain, but that passed, and I haven't had any more problems. Knock on wood, I think my will be staying put!
   — BethVBG

September 30, 2001
Well...this is a sort subject for me. I had my VBG on June 4th of this year. She said everything looked fine. No hernia, gallbladder looked good, so she just did the vbg. About 2 months post op I was eating pretty much anything I wanted. Could eat salads out of this world!! Then, all of a sudden, I started getting sick. Couldn't eat anything. Even water made me sick at my stomach! So...I went to my pcp and she did some blood work. She suggested that I go see my surgeon about my gallbladder. So...I did. She sent me for ultrasounds and it confirmed that I had a badly diseased gallbladder, no stones, just diseased. I asked my surgeon why she didn't take it out at the time of vbg and she said because it looked fine but at the same time she knew that it would eventually have to come out. So.....On Sept. 19, just under 2 weeks ago, I underwent lap gallbladder removal. Life has been tough since then, but i think i'm gonna live. While I was trying to recover from this i got a real bad Urinary tract infection which i am still trying to get over. My advice is, if possible, to go ahead and have it removed at the time of wls to avoid any extra surgery. If I knew then what I know now......HUGS...Markita
   — Markita S.

September 30, 2001
I meant to add that when she got in there to remove the gallbladder, that it was FULL of stones. I even had stones inside my intestines that she had to dig out!!! OUCH!!! Please, have it removed with wls, if possible...Markita
   — Markita S.

September 30, 2001
My husband is 6 yrs out, still has his. I can't believe it, since I think, of the many thousands we work with, I could maybe count on one hand who still has theirs. Mine was out LONG ago, though, when I was only 23, 20 yrs before WLS.
   — vitalady

October 1, 2001
I'm four years post-op. I was lucky because my surgeon removed my gallbladder when he did my open rny. I really didn't want to have to undergo another surgery after the rny and a high % of folks do eventually need their gallbladders out after rny.
   — [Anonymous]