Question:
Other options for gallstones besides surgery?

I had the Open RNY on May 8th, 2001. I'm almost 9 months out and have lost 129 pounds of the 190 I hope to lose. My surgeon refused to take the gallbladder out when he did the bypass. (He said my insurance wouldn't cover it) I was almost 100% certain (with my luck)that I would have trouble. Sure enough I've been having pain and had an ultra sound this morning. My gallbladder is FULL of small stones. Anyway, I really need to have surgery on my arm because of problems relating to a fall I took on Oct. 6th. Basically my left arm is useless and finally a surgeon is willing do to the surgery on it, however now I've got problems with gallstones! The pain is intermittent. I've had three days pain (off and on) during the last 10 days. I really want to have the surgery on my arm as I have had over 3 months of physical therapy and nothing short of surgery is going to get my arm working and there will be much more therapy and of course time involved in healing. I don't want to wait any longer as spring is coming and I'd like to have use of my arm by then. However I don't know if gallstones are dangerous, how much worse the pain will get and if I dare let this go for a few months or more. I don't know if there is any treatments sort of surgery itself that will help, or if there are medicines. You are probably wondering if I took Actigal? Yes and no. I was prescribed it at about a month post op. I tried taking that and all my other "many" medications I'm on. I just couldn't take any pills for the first three months or so. They would stop mid throat and not go down. So I never did take the Actigal. I suspect at this point it wouldn't dissolve them as I think it is only designed to keep them from forming. As far as the possibility of having gallbladder surgery, I have ALOT of scar tissue inside. The WLS was my second abdominal surgery so I'm afraid this is going to be pretty tough. Are there other treatments besides surgery at this point so I can get my arm taken care of? Thanks.    — Danmark (posted on February 5, 2002)

February 5, 2002
Daniel - believe me, you will be begging for the surgery if you ever have a full blown gallbladder attack! While the idea of additional surgery isn't what you want to hear about right now, it is probably your best bet. Is there any way that you can get a general surgeon and your orthopedic surgeon to work together so you only have to undergo an anesthetic once?
   — georgiacarol

February 5, 2002
Daniel- I waited a whole year before I was diagnosed with gall stones by that time I was having such pain I was willing to beg for the surgery. Most gall bladder surgeries are done Lap these days and the pain and healing time is very minamal. I went home from the hospital the morning after my surgery. If you could get a general surgeon to work with your specialist so you only have to be put to sleep once that would be best but I wouldn't suggest waiting until you have a major attack to have the gall bladder surgery. You should be able to recover in time to still have your hand surgery in time for spring. Good luck to you. Vicki Mize
   — vmize

February 5, 2002
Having your GB inflammed/infected can be a really BAD thing. I had gallstones and GB problems since the birth of my second child in 1991. I'd have attacks, but they'd go away. I put off having surgery. Last January, I ended up in the ER three times in four days. My PCP managed to get me in to see a surgeon in 2 days (Saw her Friday PM, saw him Monday AM), he scheduled me for surgery Wens. For whatever reason, I freaked out on the table and had to reschedule for a week later. By the time he got in, my GB was HUGE, infected and inflammed. One of the stones had moved into my bile duct and was blocking things. He barely managed to do it lap. I ended up staying in the hospital for 2 days after what should have been an outpatient surgery. I had drains to drain off the infection. It took me 8 weeks to recover because I let it get too bad. I ended up on pain meds for a month and was napping daily till 2 months out. If you can, take care of this now. Waiting doesn't always cause problems, but it can. In comparision, my lap RNY was a cakewalk. But of course, it was my fault. I'd hate to see you suffer if you don't have to.
   — Tina P.

February 5, 2002
You probably do NOT want to wait to have your gall bladder out. I had only one attack, starting on Monday afternoon. I had the surgery Friday afternoon. I have NEVER had a more miserable week. Like others have said, I was begging to have it out. The other thing, and the previous poster also mentioned it, is that the gall bladder can be infected much like an appendix can. My surgeon had intended to do it lap, but had to do an open because it was so absessed. I'm not saying that will happen to you, but it's not a chance I'd want to take.
   — garw