Question:
Gall Bladder full of stones - hinder my surgery?

After going today to have my pre-op tests done I'm a little worried. They did a bone density and took SIX vials of blood. Then they did an ultra sound - they said of my gall bladder. But then they also did liver, spleen, pancreas. She didn't really say much about it - and I am a chicken so didn't ask - but she DID say my gall bladder was pretty packed with stones. I don't think I've had any pain from my gall bladder, nothing I can point to and say OUCH about anyway. Now I am wondering a couple things. Do you think that will make it so I can't have LAP RNY on 3/25? I wonder if he'll want to take my gall bladder at the same time (and do open?) or can he do it with the lap? Or will he make me get my gall bladder out and wait for my WLS? Any experiences you might have had on this line - would be appreciated.    — Allee Z. (posted on March 4, 2003)

March 4, 2003
They also found gallstones when they did my pre-op ultrasound...so the surgeon is going to take my gallbladder out during my open RNY. He said the chance of having trouble with stones after WLS surgery increases. I'm having open because of my size not because he is also taking my gallbladder. I know gallbladder removal is usually done lap...so I would think they could do both procedures together lap, you might have a couple extra little incisions. Hopefully someone who has had both done together lap will answer this for you.
   — Sarahlicious

March 4, 2003
I have not had surgery yet but i have been doing a lot of reading about it and from what i have seen they will take it out when they do the surgery. I had my gall bladder removed lap but it was not full of stones so I would be sure to ask if they could do that because the incisions they made on me were not very big at all.
   — harleigh2002

March 4, 2003
I don't mean to sound cruel but I think you are VERY lucky to have stones. I wish I had had them before WLS as I wanted my healthy gallbladder taken out then. I knew with my luck I'd have to have another surgery to remove it anyway. Sure enough, 10 months later it had to come out. Just think, you will be avoiding having it done later. ;)
   — Danmark

March 4, 2003
I had lap RNY on 1/31/03. Before surgery, I told my surgeon that I knew I had gallstones. My son was born 24 years ago by C-section, and my doctor saw them at that time!! They hadn't bothered me much through the years, but I knew that losing a lot of weight sometimes irritates them. So he agreed to go both procedures as long as he was going in. What he found sounds like you -- he said I had over 100 stones, ranging from bigger than quarter size to small gravel. The procedures together took about 5 1/2 hours because he said as he was removing the GB, stones started falling out. He had to be sure to get them all picked up. I'm sure that is why my insides felt like a train went through there. But finally, 4 weeks later, the soreness is almost gone. I am very happy that I was able to have both operations done at one time -- recovery wise, as well as cost wise. Two separate procedures with 2 recovery periods just didn't appeal to me if I could avoid it.
   — mindystarr25

March 4, 2003
My gall bladder is diseased (found out last yr) but they didn't take it then. I just have "spells' but no big attack yet. So my surgeon said he would take it out. They can and do gall bladder surgery via lap. My hubbys was done lap. My surgery is open so they will just take the gall bladder then.
   — Jamie M.

March 4, 2003
I asked my dr if they take the gallbladder out. He said no. They used to. They also seen an increase of pain and hospital stay. So they stopped taking it out with this surgery. If you have stones or a problems with your gb, they will do some sort of action after you recover from the RnY (lap). They will either treat it with meds or take it out at a later date. <P> you can still have the lap done and have the gb removed (some dr still remove it during the RnY). You may just end up with one or two more little ports (hole).
   — Pookie B.

March 4, 2003
They took mine out during RNY surgery.
   — Oldsoul

March 4, 2003
This is the reason that they do an ultrasound of your gall bladder so that if it does show stones they can remove it at the same time as your RNY. That is what happened to me, never had a problem, my gall baldder was full of stones and I still had a lap procedure done. Though the Dr said that he did have some problems getting my gall bladder out as it was in pretty bad shape, which did cause one of my incisions to be a little more tender than the others, but it healed up nicely. Lap RNY 9/23/02 down 104 lbs.
   — Laure H.