Question:
My gallbladder is getting fussy...

I have several gallbladder related questions to throw out to you guys. 1) I have been having right sided pain below my rib cage, right chest area, between my shoulder blades, & back pain for about 2 weeks now. After reading here, I think that it is my gallbladder getting fussy. So, I went to my PCP and he drew labs yesterday which came back fine-no evidence that anything was happening. Do the labs always show eveidence of gallbladder issues? 2) I am having an ultrasound tomorrow morning. Do stones always show up on the ultrasound? If not, what else can they do to look at your gallbladder? 3) If the ultrasound is negative, any thoughts on what could be causing the pain? 4) If I need to have my gall bladder removed, is it possible to do any plastic surgery procedures at the same time? If yes, how do I begin to try and arrange that? Thanks in advance for all of your help!    — Heather N. (posted on April 9, 2003)

April 9, 2003
I am preop and I had my gallbladder out in feb 2000. I woke up in the middle of the night with the worse pain in my chest and right side. I thought I was having a heartattack. when i went to the hospital they told me that is what it sounded like was my gall bladder and they did and ultra sound and said they could not find any stones and that it looked fine but that doesnt mean that there isnt a gallstone bumping around in your bile duct and they cant see it. From what I have gathered from friends and family and myself that have had it done the pain is usually linked to one thing your gall bladder and if you have had any thing going on such as wls that they will go ahead and take it out. when they went in to take my gallbladder out they did find stones so yes they can do an ultra sound and not pick up any stones. I dont think that i had any lab work done to determine if it was bad. they just gave me a shot for the pain and set up a time to see a surgeon. hope this answers some of your questions good luck:)
   — harleigh2002

April 9, 2003
Sounds like it could be your gallbladder to me. I had attacks for 8 years before I had mine out when I had Open RNY. I think the telltale sign is the pain between the shoulder blades. All I know is that I felt like I was having a heart attack and nothing would ease the pain. I'm not sure if the stones show up on an ultrasound but my little sister had an Upper GI and that is how they found her stones. They did so many tests before hand and it never "showed" up because they weren't looking for that and never would have guessed her gallbladder would have been bad at 16 years old. My surgeon takes out the gallbladder at the same time if you have stones but you don't know in advance. He doesn't do any pre-op tests to determine if you need to have it removed or not. But I know I had "attacks" as it wasn't constant pain. It was triggered by certain foods. If it is constant pain and tolerable I'm not sure it is your gallbladder. Gallbladder attacks are enough to make you want to crawl into a ball and cry "mommy"
   — Tracy A.

April 9, 2003
Yes they can see stones on the ultrasound. A doctor would not send you for an ultrasound to look at the gall bladder if they could not see the stones. I had an ultrasound on my gall bladder back in '91 and the stones showed up. Your labs could show higher levels of white blood count from an infection that you may have. Your pain does sound like gall bladder, that is what mine felt like, but I did not have it constantly, just after eating - anything. It also sounds like a pain that I experience now when I am under stress the pain will usually "campout" in my right mid to lower back above the kidney for a few days time. Good luck.
   — ChristineB