On My Mind

Way2 tired,
I did have quite sweet tooth so who knows? I ate lots of chocolate, some pastries, almost nothing for 2 months.
Thank you MD,
It is reassuring to hear that. I am sure it is simple surgery, but that is my rational side, fear is not.
As I was googling lots while sick, interesting fact Andy Warhol died of gallbladder surgery. But, as discovered he was in poor health.

Evamar, I’m sorry you are having this problem . You eat healthy and it still happened. Some things run in families as well . Or you could just be one of those random cases. Like you said though , probably most of us have stones as we get older and don’t even know it.

Need: Prayers for your brother. Kidney stones are very painful. I've had my share of them.

Way2tired,
Good point. I just assumed by not looking closer removing gallstones is done somehow different.
Llama,
Thank you. Feeling so much better.

Evamar: Glad that you are feeling better now.

Evamar , I just did a little googling as well about removal of gallstones. What I found was it said in most cases, it’s no more difficult to remove the gallbladder than it is to remove just the stones , and the surgical risks are the same. So I guess the thought process is once and done, since reoccurrence of stones is frequent .

Good luck . My mother had hers done in her late 70’s . She did great .

Way2tired,
Thank you for reassurance.
I know it is simple procedure, as terrified as I am, I know if I have another attack I will go to hospital and have gallbladder
removed.

Evamar,
That is a reasonable assumption that breaking up the stones would be tried if someone is fearful of surgery or if surgery ( or anesthesia ) is too dangerous for someone. However , the success rate for breaking up the stones isn’t great .

I used to work for a general surgeon . Surgeons like to do surgery , however, she was pretty conservative in not jumping to surgery especially if the patient was high risk for having any surgery . That being said, removal of gallbladder has gotten so simple , even she did that frequently.

Way2tired,
Quick search showed me they do in US stone breaking instead of removing gallbladder. It is my understanding it is simple procedure like removing kidney stones.Perhaps for those like me who are terrified of any surgery.Or some people cannot have surgery.And why I got them remains a mystery as I am healthy and slim and eat good food, nothing processed, no trans fats ever or very little. But, as they say everybody has them, especially females over 40, most don’t cause any problems

Regarding gallstones. In the US, surgeons usually remove the whole gallbladder rather than just the stones, because once an individual has gallstones it is common to develop gallstones again . It has gotten to be a simple procedure to remove the gallbladder unless someone’s anatomy ( meaning the gallbladder is tucked behind another organ ) causes it to be difficult to reach and remove via laparoscope . I don’t know specific examples of why a surgeon would recommend only removing the stones .

I personally think that the obesity problem in the US is why they just remove the whole gallbladder because they know these people will get stones again . Not everyone who gets gallstones is obese. However, gallbladder removal is one of the most common surgeries here because of the high amount of fat in the diets.

Thanks, MD

He’s doing well now.

Golden,Thank you. Feeling good now, although it took me quite a while to get better, I wasn’t as strong as usual as I was not eating, I think due to antibiotics. Really annoying as I hardly get headache or cold. But started doing squats and weights again, moderate exercise for now. Good to hear you almost moved and R is OK, I believe you mentioned knee surgery, hope all goes well.We decided we wait till next year as condos are scarce, one they building across a river from us is appealing, but won’t be ready until next year. The housing market is crazy!

Eva - sorry to hear you were ill, but glad you are better now, Out west here our experience is that for cancer the wait for surgery is not long. For knee replacement there is a long waiting list.

NHWM,
Thank you, in USA yes, not here.
Our wonderful( sarcasm intended) medical system is failing.
My husband who was referred to Pain Clinic over a year ago got official letter yesterday that he was accepted but waiting time is 14-16 months which means first assessment will be next year Aug-Oct. Meanwhile his GP says it is due to Parkinson’s disease, his neurologist says it is not, during visit to hospital he was told to go to GP. So we go round and round. And he suffers with pain, different or stronger meds don’t help. My intuition tells me there is more, yet, it is ignored.
Our best friend is waiting for surgery for cancer, postponed till next month. Scary to get sick, I will look into that as my son lives in USA, removing gallstones should be simple, I am terrified of any surgery. Actually more of going under and not waking up. Honestly, my biggest fear.

MD,

It was crazy. So DH had the appendectomy, got an infection, and I ended up taking him to the ER. Oh, then had some weird issue with his food and stayed on crutches for awhile. The whole thing was really strange.

Evamar,

Yes, gallstones can be removed. They removed my brother’s gallstones today.

My daughter and husband get kidney stones.

Years ago, they cut you open to remove your gallbladder. That’s how my dad had it done.

My daughter had a very simple procedure to remove hers. Many surgeries are so much easier today.

My brother just had this weird thing going on. It’s usually not complicated like his situation is.

Look at the strange thing that happened with my husband’s colonoscopy procedure. Oh gosh, what a mess that was. A polyp went inside his appendix when the doctor went to remove it, causing him to have to have his appendix removed.

Strange things can happen at times.

MD, I live in Canada. I am just curious if gallstones alone can be removed, if I am correct some kind of easy procedure is done in US.
NHWM,
Thank you. No I am not in pain anymore.

Just saw on the news that Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles has been hacked. We are being told to change passwords and freeze our credit.

My credit is already frozen due to a prior identity theft incident.

Evamar,

Oh, I see. I hope you’re not in pain.

Nhwm,
Yes, the infection was mild, had antibiotics and it did not show up on ultrasound after some weeks.
If there is surgery/removal of gallstones it is not done in Canada, but, I think in US it is done.

Evamar, I’m sorry for your issues with your gallbladder.

He initially went to ER due to having pain. They found gallstones. They tried removing them and couldn’t because of the location of the gallstones. They haven’t removed the gallbladder but may in the future.

Why can’t your stones or gallbladder be removed? Is it because of the infection? Can they treat the infection with antibiotics and then remove the stones?

Golden,

Yep! That’s what I am thinking.

I haven’t had gall stones or kidney stones. I have heard that they are both painful.

NHWM,
I am happy for your brother.
Are you saying they removed gallstones but not gallbladder?
I had gallbladder problem and infection few months ago, they cannot remove gallstones. They are not willing to remove gallbladder either.
Maybe in USA there is some new procedure?

So glad to hear that good news, Need. He should be much less pain now, One step, one problem at a time!

The nurse just called me to give me the results of my brother’s surgery.

It’s so crazy that what should have been a simple procedure turned into a complicated matter.

The location of my brother’s gallstones made them difficult to remove. So, let’s see, three different doctors tried and were not successful.

Then, they transferred him to another hospital and called in two specialists.

I am happy to say that they got the job done this afternoon. Yay!

So, they are still saying that they will most likely have to remove the gallbladder at some point in the future.

The nurse also mentioned something about his pancreas. Not sure exactly what that is about.

Next, they will look at his heart situation. He’s had heart surgeries in the past.

cwillie, I agree, I’ve been feeling the same way , despondent for quite some time . Things are out of control, and/or in the wrong hands .

History repeating itself is partly why I feel so despondent Send. I'm pretty sure people in the early 20th century were also smug in their belief that the world was too modern and sophisticated to fall apart as spectacularly as it did then, all the signs seem to say we are in for a very bumpy ride.

Cwillie,
History repeats itself.
Do you think there is any chance supply and demand economy will correct itself?
Let's all stick around to find out.

I don't really want to have to actually eat that slow growing lettuce outside in my garden.

I'm really feeling despondent about the state of the world this morning. It seems as though everything I use and interact with offers less and less while asking us to pay more and more, and then when they inevitably drive us away they use that as a reason to make even more cuts. They killed almost all local content on my radio station and have now shut the doors because nobody listens anymore - well duh. Same with my local newspaper, we get one or two local news stories per week plus a bunch of filler, is it any wonder nobody buys the paper anymore? Microsoft keeps disabling free apps and asking for money. Established companies going out of business because they've chased profits instead of offering solid products that people might actually want. There's more, I could fill a page.