This has been a long time coming. I had my first attack probably three or four years ago. I ended up in the ER with that one. Ultrasound done shortly after that attack just showed sludge, no mention of stones.

I've probably had four or five more attacks since then. A few were pretty intense, but I made it through them. A few weeks ago though I ended up in the ER w/intense pain and vomiting. They had to try several meds to get me to stop vomiting. Finally, after six hours I stopped. They had to give me Morphine for the pain too. I was kept over night, and went home the middle of the afternoon the next day.

I had the Hida scan last week. It showed a chronic problem, delayed gastric emptying. My doctor said it will not improve. I figured as much. I also found out a few weeks ago I have several stones now.

I'm ready to get it out. I don't want anymore attacks. But, I'm afraid of surgery. Mostly the anesthesia. I guess I've watched too many episodes of ER ;). I know there are trade offs, and you have to weigh the risks with the benefits.

I meet with the surgeon on the 21st of this month. I'm hoping to have it out the first of June. So, can any of you help ease my mind? I feel so foolish for being scared. All of the meds I was given in the ER pretty much got me over my medication phobia hurdle (that was due to having allergic reactions to several meds). I have had surgery before and did OK. I had my tonsils out when I was 22 (that was a long time ago, I'm 44 now)

Sorry for the rambling. Thanks in Advance.

Shalynn
PS
Oh, I also have MS, and am worried about how the surgery could affect me neurologically.

I had a gall bladder attack this past monday, I went to the doctors on tuesday she sent me for an ultrasound that same day after the ultrasound I was sent straight to a surgeon who scheduled me to have my gall bladder out on thursday.
Thursday got here and I went and had my surgery and I felt good for the first few days but I was given oxycotin and percocet for pain, by sunday night I was having a nagging pain in my side that the pain meds didn't take away.
I went until tuesday like that when the pain got to be to much,I called the surgeon wednesday morning at 9 am as soon as they opened and was told to come right in.
I got to the doctors office and he checked me and he didn't have a clue as to what was wrong, I asked him if I could have a bile leake and he said no because I wasnt jaundice Im native american and my skin color is olive.
So he said maybe a gall stone had fallen out and he didnt catch it and he sent me for a ct scan for that evening, it is now that evening and the scan was done but his office is closed so I have to wait until the morning to find out whats going on.
But I have a theory :confused: I think I may have kidney stones and he never asked for a urine sample just some blood drawn and I was never called about that either :mad: So now im all oxycotined up and can't wait until tomorrow, he never did mention that it could be kidney stones but when I researched it on the web I have the symptoms like pain in my right side and in my right shoulder.
I sure hope there is something they can do I don't have time for this mess.
But you will be fine trust me, being put to sleep is a breeze I have MS also so I know what you are going through.
Post back and let me know how you are doing and how your surgery went
Take care and you can e-mail me anytime.
Jackie

I had my gallbladder out 5 yrs ago and I was only 23. I was told that my gallbladder was so full that I had stones floating in my stomach. I was so scared when i was told I had to have it removed.Forget the fact that I had already had a child and this shouldn't be a problem but too bad. So the morning of the surgery they gave me a medicine to calm my stomach and a drug called verset. After I received those I didn't have a care in the world. Before I knew the surgery was over and done with and the attacks were gone.There is stuff they can give you to calm you down before the surgery.
Don't worry it will be alright.Take care.

I'm like you in that I am having mine out too (May 24th) and I am nervous about all the horror stories. But I just try and think that most people have successful surgery and feel so good they don't come around this site much. Most people on here have problems...

I had mine out 2 days ago and I was just like you, scared about the horror stories I'd heard from sites like this. I found a lot of friends and family that had had their's taken out and had do problems. Some had other problems going on too (reflux, hernias, etc) but almost all of them said that they defiantely felt so much better after the surgery.

I will not lie, this hurt much worse then I expected. I've had 4 children (naturally) and I figured the recovery couldn't be any worse then that, WRONG. The worse part for me that the gas they put into your body. They inflate you like a balloon for the surgery. Afterwards, the gas is trapped and just has to take it's time coming out. It's not intestinal gas either, so you can't really, um, release it. It gave me severe sharp pains in my sides and up in my shoulders. Fortunately, after 2 days, most of it has worked it's way out of my system.

Hang in there and try not to be afraid. It sounds like you definately need it out.

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words, information, and support.

Jackie, I can't believe you got in so fast to get your gall bladder removed! So, did you find out, do you have a kidney stone? Do you think it was that, and not your Gall bladder? Or did you have both? OUCH!

Did you find the surgery affected your MS any? That is another concern of mine.

Thanks again for your help.

Nicole, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm hoping for something to calm me before hand too. I'm ready for the attacks to be gone, that's for sure. Thanks for your kindness. :)

Miknan, I guess we will be going through this together.:D I agree that most of the time the surgery is successful. I'm trying not to think about what can go wrong. My son will be graduating from high school in a few weeks, so I'm keeping myself busy planning his party. Let me know how yours goes, OK?

Thanks for your input.

Forensicmom, I'm sorry you've had so much trouble. Have you called your doctor about it? Maybe he can increase your pain meds, or prescribe something else?

Honestly, I'm not too worried about the pain. I mean, I have had some pretty severe attacks. They were worse than any labor pains I ever felt. Still, I know anything can happen.

I bet once you recover from surgery you will also be glad that you had it done.

Take care. And, I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks again everyone. I feel better after reading all of your posts. I'll let you know how it goes.

Shalynn

I had a gall bladder attack this past monday, I went to the doctors on tuesday she sent me for an ultrasound that same day after the ultrasound I was sent straight to a surgeon who scheduled me to have my gall bladder out on thursday.
Thursday got here and I went and had my surgery and I felt good for the first few days but I was given oxycotin and percocet for pain, by sunday night I was having a nagging pain in my side that the pain meds didn't take away.
I went until tuesday like that when the pain got to be to much,I called the surgeon wednesday morning at 9 am as soon as they opened and was told to come right in.
I got to the doctors office and he checked me and he didn't have a clue as to what was wrong, I asked him if I could have a bile leake and he said no because I wasnt jaundice Im native american and my skin color is olive.
So he said maybe a gall stone had fallen out and he didnt catch it and he sent me for a ct scan for that evening, it is now that evening and the scan was done but his office is closed so I have to wait until the morning to find out whats going on.
But I have a theory :confused: I think I may have kidney stones and he never asked for a urine sample just some blood drawn and I was never called about that either :mad: So now im all oxycotined up and can't wait until tomorrow, he never did mention that it could be kidney stones but when I researched it on the web I have the symptoms like pain in my right side and in my right shoulder.
I sure hope there is something they can do I don't have time for this mess.
But you will be fine trust me, being put to sleep is a breeze I have MS also so I know what you are going through.
Post back and let me know how you are doing and how your surgery went
Take care and you can e-mail me anytime.
Jackie

Indian Summer- I had my gallbladder out a month ago, and ended up having kidney stones about 2 weeks ago. I still have the kidney stones. Hopefully on Monday my urologist will get around to doing something about it, otehr than running the same tests ER ran and waiting longer. Uggh...it hurts like the devil. I am on Percocet (a pretty high dosage), and sometimes it still doesn't help. I feel your pain with kidney stones. Hopefully they will fix taht. Sorry you are having problems so soon after surgery.

Shalynn, I hope everything goes well for you. One month after surgery I am feeling so much better. The first 2 weeks were really rocky and I was hurting pretty bad, but now I am feeling much better in regards to the gallbladder. My surgery was done kind of not like other people's surgery however, and my incisions were bigger than usual and stuff. Right now, I just watch what I eat but I think that things are getting easier to digest for me now. I just have kidney stones bothering me now. I went to ER two weeks ago, and they found them, and still nothing has been done about it. Hopefully they will do something on Monday. Who knows...I hope that things go well for you, and that everything will turn out well for you. Hope you have a quick recovery.
Daisy

I'm new to these forums, and I too may need my gall bladder out. As someone recently pointed out, most people don't come to these forums to post positive experiences, so we're left with horror stories and additional reasons to fear the surgery. After having a couple of "attack free" months, it seems that the bloating, stomach pain and what feels like gas have returned for me in the last couple of days-- just as I thought I had turned a corner and was doing better.

For a long while I was not eating much and basically had a "food phobia"-- extreme fear about eating too much (anything over 300 calories) and getting extremely uncomfortable or nauseous. Then things started to improve-- I was going out to eat with friends again, even though I was eating very little, I still felt like it was a success. When the stomach pain hit me again recently, I figured it was probably a sign that the gall bladder needed to go. But I'm worried about the diarrhea, indigestion, and all of the other things that people have mentioned having after the surgery. Can anyone out here tell me that it won't be that bad and things will get better?

Also, I feel that a lot of my gall bladder symptoms have had to do with fullness-- feeling extremely full after eating very little. Have any of you experienced this as part of your gall bladder symptoms? I know we're all different, but this was the main thing that made me feel like I'd never return to normal. :( I'm hoping that the surgery helps.....

Hi Bananarama,
The doctor told me it wasn't kidney stones but maybe a collapsed lung, not actually a collapsed lung but a collapsed lung?
I go back at 10 am tomorrow morning and the pain is still there and it has went down to my lower back but they did the ct scan with contrast so he can't really tell whats going on.
I just wish he would put me in the hospitol and do some exploratory surgery because I can't deal with this.

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words, information, and support.

Jackie, I can't believe you got in so fast to get your gall bladder removed! So, did you find out, do you have a kidney stone? Do you think it was that, and not your Gall bladder? Or did you have both? OUCH!

Did you find the surgery affected your MS any? That is another concern of mine.

Thanks again for your help.

Nicole, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm hoping for something to calm me before hand too. I'm ready for the attacks to be gone, that's for sure. Thanks for your kindness. :)

Miknan, I guess we will be going through this together.:D I agree that most of the time the surgery is successful. I'm trying not to think about what can go wrong. My son will be graduating from high school in a few weeks, so I'm keeping myself busy planning his party. Let me know how yours goes, OK?

Thanks for your input.

Forensicmom, I'm sorry you've had so much trouble. Have you called your doctor about it? Maybe he can increase your pain meds, or prescribe something else?

Honestly, I'm not too worried about the pain. I mean, I have had some pretty severe attacks. They were worse than any labor pains I ever felt. Still, I know anything can happen.

I bet once you recover from surgery you will also be glad that you had it done.

Take care. And, I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks again everyone. I feel better after reading all of your posts. I'll let you know how it goes.

Shalynn
Shaylnn
Im still trying to find out whats wrong with me,I'll let you know when I get back from the doctors tomorrow.
I beleive my MS affects everything and im hypothyroid also, one of these days im going to feel so good I won't be able to stand it.

IndianSummer, I really hope that it gets better!!! Hopefully they will figure it all out. I am having the kidney stones removed tomorrow. Go in for preop today. They can't do lithotripsy, because they waited to long, and now my kidneys are swollen, and I need to have a stent put in. I know it will all be over soon, so I am happy. I know how bad it is not to know what is wrong. Hopefully you will have answers soon! Keep us posted!

I just wanted to repond again and let you know that after one week, I'm feeling MUCH MUCH better. The pain is very little and I have only taken Motrin once a day. I'm back to doing a lot of my regular things (cleaning, laundry, cooking, driving, watering my plants, etc). I haven't attempted any heavy stuff but I do have 5 new rose bushes just staring at me to get planted. It's VERY VERY tempting but I'm holding out a little longer so I don't do any damage to myself. I meet with the surgeon on friday for my follow up visit and I'll ask then about what I should b doing.

I have been reading all these posts on this message board and yes some of the posts have scared me concerning post op. I am having my GB removed May 21st and I am not only scared of the surgery but of the post op too.
Glad that all of you that have already had the surgery are doing better.
It took my doctors about 1 1/2 years to decide it was the gb.
It started in mid March to really bother me except the pain was lower right instead of upper right. I am full of stones and I have been worried that they won't be able to do the lap even though he assured me he would.
I am so nervous that I am making myself sick. Wish me luck!

Try not to think about it and you'll be fine. Sometimes when you think about something too much, it makes you feel worse.

Good luck with your surgery.

This is my first posting, but I wanted to share another positive gallbladder surgery story. I had my gallbladder removed on March 26, 2007. The actual gallbladder part of the surgery and recovery was good. :)

Unfortunately/fortunately, during surgery they found a mass on my liver and so during gallbladder surgery another surgeon was called in to consult about the liver mass. I had many more incisions due to them doing a large biopsy on my liver, and I believe this is where I had the most recovery pain.

I have had GERD for 11 years and following the gallbladder surgery I have only had reflux issues a handful of times. The gallbladder removal was worth it just to get rid of daily reflux medication for me.

I had liver resection surgery on May 2, 2007. This recovery has been difficult due to the surgeon having to switch to an open incision procedure. I will post about my questions concerning the liver surgery recovery later, as it is getting late.

Good Luck with the gallbladder surgery everyone! Including myself, I personally know 4 other people that recently had laproscopic gallbladder removal and they felt great and had minimal recovery time. Hoping that all goes smooth for those of you approaching your surgery dates! Keep us posted!
Stefarina