so unexpected thing is unexpected

Went to ultrasound; doctor states I have gallstones?

God, that word just lacks style so much. The question mark is more a product of my lack of ability to put this in context or like, you know, wtf? I am going to be consulting with a surgeon, or so my doctor reports. I feel this entire thing is a product of the fact that this morning I was texting svmadelyn about how pretty the hospital is. And it is! Glass and steel and a garden and all modern and comforting and now, you know, surgery.

Okay, yes, of course I googled, but you know, people who have had this or done this or whatever, give me an idea of what level of panic I need to be graduating to? I am more at the stage of "what the hell".

*sighs and hits google* I reserve the right to be really weird about this for a while.

ETA: I am breaking my soda only on weekends rule. Wikipedia is so very--informative. I've named my gallbladder Horace. If something has this many issues, it gets a name that is easier to use for hating it purposes.

Comments

[malkingrey]

I had my gallbladder removed a long time ago (so long ago that the US was still in possession of the Panama Canal, and I had the surgery at Gorgas Memorial Hospital.) These days, unless it's an emergency^†, I think they mostly either break the gallstones up with a sonic screwdriver -- or the surgical equivalent -- or do laparoscopic surgery with minimal incisions. I'd put the panic rating at no more than 4 or 5 out of 10, where 1 is outpatient treatment for minor lacerations and 10 is a straight-from-the-ER-to-the-OR crisis.

†And believe me, you'd have noticed if it was an emergency. A septic gallbladder is excruciatingly painful.

[seperis]

No, definitely not emergency. The reason he ended up scheduling it was because of the threeish flare-ups I had (and possibly my repeated whimpering about coffee). So at least I have an explanation on the entire acid reflux pain thing with some foods.

[katekat]

well, my sister had her stones removed in an overnight stay about 10 years ago - the process seemed completely easy and simply removed her pain, so yay.

my dad (who had a quadruple bipass three years ago) thought he was having a mini heart attack when he passed a stone he didn't know he'd had ... but after a morning of intense displeasure it was over for him.

I don't know if that's helpful or not. i can say that wikipedia and other online sources are more likely to be frightening than helpful because sometimes too much information really is too much information. I hope the information overload gets better. Horace is a good name.

[seperis]

Yea, wikipedia has this cheerful information dump thing early on--with pictures.

Oh Horace. Poor, poor Horace.

[dancing_serpent]

Had to have my gallbladder removed because of too many stones last November. Was no big deal at all. Three days hospital stay, 45 minutes of surgery and four really really small cuts.

I had to stay at home to rest for about four weeks, because I work in a job where I have to lift heavy things every day.

But yay! I can eat everything I want again. Coffee! Spices! No need to take any kind of medication.

If you want to know more, I'm happy to help.


Oh yeah, I should add that I was pretty mad at myself for not getting myself checked through by another doctor earlier. Could have spared me almost two years of pain, cramps, vomiting and panic attacks. Since the thing is gone it feels like a whole new life.

[seperis]

...God, coffee.

I forgot the penultimate result will be the return of coffee.

Thanks very much!

[forestgreen]

My father had the same problem about ten years ago. He had the surgery and hasn't had any problems since them. He was very, very, very skinny (unhealthy so) before the surgery and then finally managed to gain some weight, but not much (no need to fear that, if you are?). And all his digestive problems went away, too.

I don't know what symptoms you have. In his case it turned out well. Recuperation time was also relative fast.

[seperis]

Thanks! *crosses fingers* Just now, I've had flare ups of extremely painful acid refluxish stuff. It was highly unpleasant.

[jiltanith]

My father put off having his out, and put it off, and had literally decades worth of pain that he could have avoided. Since I take after him and his side of the family in many ways, I'm rather surprised that I haven't had to have mine out . . . but you can bet that I won't put it off that long!

[pensnest]

I had gallstones a few years ago, and the *pain* was horrifying. However, I had the gallbladder removed by keyhole surgery, leaving some tiny little marks which I can no longer locate. I can't remember if I even stayed in hospital overnight—may have done, may have gone home the same day. Blissfully simple.

I did find that eating fatty stuff was likely to bring on the aforementioned horrifying pain. Best not to do that, meanwhile, perhaps.

[azurehart]

I had mine out 13 years ago. My surgery was difficult because of other health problems and I ended up in hospital for over a week. My Mother on the other hand had a same day surgery (which is far more common) and went home 8 hours later.

Really, unless you have a lot of other health problems, gall bladder surgery is pretty simple. The only lingering problems I have is my inability to handle animal fat, so I hardly ever eat red meat anymore and avoid fried foods, but I hear that is pretty common in those that have had their gall bladder removed.

[synecdochic]

I had my gallbladder out laprascopically in '02. Recovered in a weekend, have been fine since, and it's SO MUCH BETTER than it was before. Get it out! You will be SO MUCH HAPPIER.

[green_grrl]

It's like an epidemic, I swear. Best friend's boyfriend had his gallbladder out weekend before last--doctor said it "looked like a coin purse." Leading up, one of the gallstones was impacting his pancreas causing excruciating, in-the-hospital-on-morphine pain. However once he got through surgery, he was out the next day, up doing chores around the house on the third day after, and out to dinner with me on the fifth day after. Still figuring out what he could eat, though.

(If you have to go for surgery, versus an office treatment of some sort: a little tip. If you can avoid it, don't have surgery in the hospital that is the local trauma center, because every car accident and gang bang will knock you out of the queue and you'll be sleeping on a gurney in the hallway.)

Also, chiropractor's receptionist's 11-year-old son (yes, for reals) also recently had gallbladder out for stones. Apparently it's an increasing issue among children because of soda and fat in restaurant/precessed foods.

Tips: avoid red eat, high fat foods, dairy (the softer the worse; small amounts of hard and/or lowfat cheeses may be okay). And, sorry for your rule-breaking, but soda seems to be a huge culprit--it acidifies the body, creating the stones. :-(

[iiyo]

I had to have mine out a year and a half ago, after having three attacks in a 6-month period. (I had the excrutiating, go to the hospital, spasms of pain in my right side. Not fun. Spicy food and ice cream were my issues.) I only have one recommendation, assuming you do have the surgery. When the doctor tells you that they will be doing a laparoscopic procedure, and that there's a *small* possibility that they might have to convert to an open procedure (the bigger scar), listen to the different recovery plans for lap vs. open, and plan for the open, even if you don't expect to need it. I went in on a Thursday expecting the laparoscopic procedure, having planned to only be off work through the following Monday, but. Due to being one of the 1-2% of the population with sligthly oddball anatamy, they had to convert to open in the OR. I have 5 scars, wheee!

Other than the unexpectedly long time off work though, recovery wasn't that bad. I was out of the hospital in 2 days, stayed with a friend for 2 more, and then was back home for a week and a half before going back to work. There was some pain, particularly the first few days, but it was very manageable (and I'm a big baby about pain, so).

In the research I did, some people do continue to have problems with fat digestion after the recovery period, but most adapt fully within 6 months. Coffee should be drinkable within a day :)

[sherrold]

My evil brother danced around the house (we were at Mom's for some gathering) singing, "Fair, Fat, Forty and Female" -- apparently so thrilled he wasn't female he couldn't contain himself. (He barely survived the weekend, but my attack weakened me...)

Then two weeks later my mom had her first attack, and not an unkind word was said. Hmmfp. I am still bitter.

(On the serious side; the surgery was reassuringly minor and soon over. Good luck!)

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

Don't panic. Annie had her gallbladder removed entirely in September and they considered it "minor" surgery - it was her other stuff that was worrisome.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Thank you. *hugs*

[dont_panic4242.livejournal.com]

I got my gallbladder out a couple years ago. It was fine. I basically went to the hospital in the morning, had my surgery, went home that afternoon. Laid very still on the couch for a couple of days (mostly because I discovered that I'm one of those people who don't metabolize codeine, so my pain control wasn't as good as it could have been), felt pretty much back to normal after about a week, though I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavy for 6 weeks after the operation. And no more random attacks of abdo pain! Life without a gallbladder is pretty good. :)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Your username made me laugh really hard for this, btw.

I've never had surgery, so it's very--disconcerting. The closest I've come was when they did that biopsy of my lungs, which was basically them getting me high and then sliding a tube down my throat for exploratory and cutting purposes. I was high enough to think that was the pinnacle of fun.

[kgoodbuddy.livejournal.com]

Before you opt for surgery, you might want to take a look at this book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B2KU1A/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?ie=UTF8&cloe_id=7ec12b0d-b6d5-4498-af18-3baacb389193&attrMsgId=LPWidget-A1&pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0976571501&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0Z6Z6Z4T09ZJ9TZYNZXA

I know several people who've done the 36 hour flush and avoided surgery completely. What your surgeon may not tell you is that many people have a permanent case of diarrhea after gallbladder removal (bile-dumping syndrome). Many of them wind up on various prescriptions to deal with the issue---not always successfully---and can end up not absorbing nutrients properly.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link!

[wolfling]

I had mine out back in 2006. It was a bit more complicated for me because apparently it didn't want to come out so they weren't able to do the labroscopy thing, which meant I was laid up a lot longer than most people are. And even still, totally worth it. No more random attacks of debilitating pain because I ate the wrong thing at the wrong time.

And with the labroscopy (which I'm sure I'm spelling wrong) way of doing it, it really is something that recovery is measured in days, weeks at most.

Don't panic. I know so many people who have had it out that I'm starting to think that the gall bladder is the new appendix -- expdendable body parts for the win!

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I think the fact it's surgery is the part that's seriously getting to me; general anesthesia just--I need to find out if there's a less terrifying way to go about it. Or you know, stop thinking of worst-case scenarios.

Thanks so much for commenting! And yeah, the intense pain when I ate certain foods is definitely motivating.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

My future sis-in-law had the extreme case of gallstones, and had to have her gall bladder removed. She was back up and chasing horses again within a few weeks. If you have to have the worst case, that is, getting gall bladder taken out, it will knock you flat for a few days, maybe a week, but from what I've seen and experienced, you would be back up soon.

Good luck, hope you feel better!

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much!

[an-sceal.livejournal.com]

I named mine Charles De Gall(bladder). He and I parted company in 2007, and I have not missed him.

All I can really say is that the pain mostly goes away, but sometimes I still have what FEEL like gall bladder flare ups even though I no longer have one.

And also- because what is the internet for, if not sharing disgusting personal info with strangers?- get used to the bathroom. You're probably going to be spending a LOT of time there. Things will fly through your digestive system at an alarming pace.

Good luck. It's uncomfortable and stupid, but I haven't found that (other than the bathroom thing) it has made my life all that much worse. And I have been told that even the bathroom thing doesn't happen to everyone, so maybe you will luck out!

ETA: Wow, who wrote this post, fucking Eeyore? It REALLY isn't that bad, and the surgery was the easiest "big" medical procedure I've ever experienced. I went in at 11:30am, and was home on my couch sipping a smoothie by 4:30pm. It really has made my life a LOT better, and the pain is minimal now, compared to months of attacks so bad I couldn't MOVE before.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*g* I like your anecdata. It felt very real and soothing, to be honest. I--will totally blow this up in my head to dramatic proportions, so I'm going to use this post to read whenever it hits.

Thank you very much for commenting!

[merryish.livejournal.com]

I've never had this particular surgery, but I did have another surgery, and I have just one piece of advice for anybody having any surgery at all. And that is: mood swings are normal.

Almost everybody I know who's gone through surgery with general anesthesia has had them to one degree or another. Mine were horrible and epic and lasted for six months, and varied between "depressed" and "even more depressed," but mine was a major surgery with a very long recovery period and involved a lot of muscles and structures you use to, you know, move about the world. Since yours is going to be really minor, probably it won't be any more traumatizing than a case of the flu. :) But just in case, you know, I'm putting it out there.

I think it's related to the fact that for several days at least, after, your body hurts in ways you don't expect and doesn't do quite what you want it to, and it's a shock, and it's upsetting. Once you heal and your body is behaving normally again, moods tend to even out to normal too. If you google "surgery" and "depression" you find a lot of interesting stuff that the doctors don't mention to you beforehand.

A friend of mine I mentioned this theory to before HER surgery said it helped her, after, to recognize what she was feeling and know it was normal. So I mention it to you, just in case!

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Actually, that is soothing to know, to be honest. Mostly my depression has been under control the last few years, so a sudden hard resurgence would be--disconcerting, to say the least.

Thank you!

[suzvoy.livejournal.com]

There is lots of good advice in this post. Assume that I had something useful to add because they said it all ;)

Seriously, I hope everything goes okay - sounds like it will. *cuddles*

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Thanks very mucch!

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey. :;snugs:; I've named my amygdala Ulrik. Ulrick the Unruly. Here's hoping Horace settles down and goesn't start throwing the stones about.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*snickers* Ulrick. I love that.

[delle.livejournal.com]

I had mine out many many years ago - back when laproscopy was still "experimental" so I had the whole abdominal slice and dice. It's the only surgery I've ever had. I was really panicked before, because, as I said, no other surgery. Recovery is harder adn longer than with laproscopy but still, not bad.

no long term side effects. no issues with constant-bathroom-running, as people mentioned earlier. I had my first gall bladder attack when my (then premature) daughter was 10 days old - I thought I was dying and ended up in an ambulance and the hospital. I'm *so* glad I had it done.

My only regret is the long 4" scar on my belly. Not that anyone's ever going to see my belly again (baring the Husband) - but I am seriously considering getting a tattoo to cover the scar. Other than that? No worries.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Ooh, a tattoo would be cool! A friend of my mom's had a double mastectomy and decided against recreating the removed nipples and instead had flowers tattooed where they would be. I kind of thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

One of my BFFs had her gallbladder out laproscopically (however that's spelled) and had a very easy time of it. She basically rested for a couple of days and that was it. She also lived with gallstones for many years, which weren't fun, but she says that surgery isn't always necessary. For her diet controlled them for a long time, but it depends on what sort of stones you're actually creating.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm hoping the surgeon has more specific information and a timeframe to deal with it. I am not fond of the pain associated with some foods.

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Like delle, I had mine out many years ago and have a really long scar - which still itches at times damn it. I didn't have to have mine done as emergency so I lost a bit of weight first keeping away from a lot of fatty foods. I had my gall bladder removed since my gallstones were large and many.

Only problem now is that sometimes I can't eat lots of very fatty foods without feeling a bit sick. Which is good in a way because it makes me eat less of the bad things in life.

Surgery isn't a problem. They give you something to calm you down before you go into the surgery theater and then you get the drip and are out almost immediately. Waking up in recovery is fast. They also give you control of pain meds so you can deal with it as you want. I personally love percoset and had no problems but my husband had problems with it (withdrawal, etc). Tylenol is worthless to me but works for others. Don't let them say you can only have one kind of pain reliever. If it isn't working, they should get you something else!

It's also better to have people visiting you as much as possible to watch over you in case something comes up. Nurses are overworked and don't always pay as much attention as they should.

Also, look up the hospital and check their recovery rates, etc. to make sure it's the hospital you want to go to.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I like the calming down thing part. The idea of general just freaks me out every time I think about it too hard. Or at all.

Thanks very much!

(The hospital is new but it's part of Scott and White system, which is also my insurance; so far they've been great, and we've been with them for years.)

[traveller.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any other comments, but I've been through this. my gallbladder, a year and a half ago, apparently looked like a billiard table on the ultrasound - at last an explanation for the screaming pain I'd been in every time I ate something even marginally fatty. I had ambulatory laproscopic surgery, took a week off from work, lost eleven pounds because I didn't feel like eating for almost two weeks, and have never regretted a thing.

my post about this item is here (http://traveller.livejournal.com/1210069.html), briefly detailing the joys of fentanyl and the incompetence of the pre-op techs.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Ooho, fentanyl. I had that for that lung biopsy thing. That was goddamn amazing stuff.

Your entry is awesome. *Glee* I love you.

[mahaliem.livejournal.com]

About 18 years ago, I had my gallbladder taken out. Spent one night in the hospital. Four days later I was lifting my son (who was 1 and weighed over 20 lbs - which was against doctor's orders but didn't do me any harm.)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like that recovery time! Thank you!