My sister needs to have her gall bladder removed!

My BIL called yesterday afternoon telling me that my sister is in the hospital and she needs to have her gall bladder removed. They planned on doing the surgery yesterday, but apparently she hasn't passed a gallstone yet, so they are waiting until Friday (from what I understand). They keep taking blood for tests to make sure her bile levels are going down (that's why they cancelled it for yesterday). She will be in hospital until she has the surgery. They have her pretty drugged up, so she's not in any pain which is great! She told her husband that if child birth was anything like this, then they wouldn't be having kids. LOL. She was told by a nurse friend that the pain of childbirth is nothing compared to the pain she is/was in (the nurse went through both herself). I don't know if she quite believes her tho. LOL. They told her that they are going to try to do it microscopically (I think that's what it's called), but if not, they will have to do it the old fashioned way. Now I prefer to think that is what they tell every paitent, and chances are good that it will be done microscopically and not them telling her that because there is a strong possibility of it having to be done the old fashioned way.

We haven't told Ceilidh that she is in the hospital yet and we probably won't. She has been very emotional lately (understandably) about hospitals and surgeries, so we (DH) doesn't want to tell her. I think she'll be able to handle it, but oh well. We just told her that she was sick and would love to hear her voice. They are 4 1/2-5 hours away, so I won't be able to go see her (I'm working part-time right now for the holidays). I'm not sure yet if my mother is going up, but I hope she does. She is supposed to babysit my kids on the weekend, but I think this trumps watching my kids so I can go to a Christmas party.

I'm sorry Dawn, she will be in my thoughts.
My brother has been in the hospital since Saturday night, I understand the stress.

Your poor sister. I had mine removed a couple of years ago, it was a fairly small surgery, small scar, not laparascopic. I clearly remember the pain, and i am glad they are giving her good drugs.

Yeah, I can vouch for the pain. I had one gall bladder attack when I was about 31 and pregnant. We were visiting in-laws and hubby had to take me to the hospital in the middle of the night. It was scary because of the pregnancy, but the Dr. attributed the attack to eating too many fatty foods after having been very strict about that for a long time.

My heart goes out to everyone who's ill or has loved ones ill at this time of the year. It's a stressful enough time to begin with. Take good care of her, Dawn, and Tara, I hope your brother is doing better soon, too.

(((((Dawn and Tara)))))

Dawn, I can assure her that this pain is MUCH worse than childbirth. And I had it done laproscopic. Mine was emergancy surgary (it was already cutting up my liver). Honestly, even the recovery for it was worse than a C section. But I was SOOo sore from the pain of the gall bladder. On the way to the Hosp when I finally decided that I had to find out what was wrong, I literly contemplated throwing myself out of the moving vehicle. I kid you not. I was hurting sooo bad it was all I could do to walk. Take the worse gas pain you have ever had, and add 8 hot knives and charlie horses in your stomache to it. Then the desire to puke. And you have part of what it feels like.

it was a day surgery. and aside from the IBS as a side effect, I am VERY glad to have had it done. VERY glad.


Tara, I saw where you said your bother was in the hosp. and I thought I asked, but I cant remember where it was and never saw your reply. Is he okay? whats wrong?

Hopefully he is on the mend. He has pancreatitis (sp) it was pretty serious. He was feeling crappy and his stomach hurt - we blamed the antibiotics he was on, it wasn't. He got worse after going in. Today he was well enough to have some food for the first time this week- depending on his blood test (after the food) he may go home tomorrow. They did a few tests knocked him out twice and put him on IV's, there isn;t much else they can do, just wait for teh swelling to go away. They told him when he leaves he needs to cut out hot spicy food and alcohol or it very well may kill him.

Wow! That's awful, Tara! Somehow, I thought I'd asked you about him, too. In my head, I thought you'd said it wasn't anything too serious. Obviously, I need to have my head looked at.

I will say a prayer for him and for Dawn's sister. Hopefully, they will both heal fully.

I'm sorry you are dealing with your brother being in the hospital Tara! I hope he's feeling better soon and can come home soon!

Thanks everyone! I haven't talked to her today (had to work), but I'll be calling her later tonight. Everyone is really surprised that they are keeping her in the hospital until the surgery! They keep telling me that they usually just send you home with drugs and tell you to come back. They are also surprised that they are taking out her gall bladder when it was a first attack. I was told that they usually wait a year of attacks before they remove it. I don't know if that's the norm or just the doctors where my sister is tho.

After my attack they scheduled an ultrasound. They wouldn't have jumped into surgery in any case because I was pregnant. The results of the ultrasound were "Gallbladder is completely obscurred by gas." LOL They never even redid it.

I had dealt with mine for about 4 or 5 solid months (everytime I ate, I would be in so much pain I couldnt walk). Before that it was about once every 2 weeks for about a year. I thought it was just gas... painful and awful, but heck, who goes to the Dr for gas? LOL

I went in and they told me to come back at 5 the next morning for surgery. My sister in law was told she had to have her taken out. Put it off for a few motnhs.. she almost died.. She was becoming septic or something.

Mine was bad enough they did it with out insurance. No questions asked. I can not imagine being told to live with it for a year...

I just talked to her a little while ago. I found out a little more about why they are keeping her in the hospital until the surgery. The doctor said it would be done much quicker if she was in hospital instead of being sent home and put on a waiting list. He wants her to be able to enjoy the holidays. I thought that was quite nice of him. She said this is a great diet tho. She hasn't eaten in 3 days! She figures she would have lost at least 20lbs by the time this is over.

Lori wrote:After my attack they scheduled an ultrasound. They wouldn't have jumped into surgery in any case because I was pregnant. The results of the ultrasound were "Gallbladder is completely obscurred by gas." LOL They never even redid it.

OK, that would drive me crazy. Not only is it an expensive test that gave you zero info, it's just plain upsetting being told you're too gassy, even if it is true. I remember when I found a lump in my breast a few years ago. It was benign, the kind that pregnancy hormones can make grow. But when the doctor was palpating it he said, "So this right here is the lump you felt that was new... and the rest of your breast is just normally like this, right?" I'm thinking, Great. Not only was I scared to death for no reason, my boobs are officially lumpy.

How is she doing, did it go well?


I have been praying

She hasn't had the surgery yet. I don't know what the delay is now. She did have the test where they put a scope down her throat. They said that had to be done before the surgery. I just got an IM from my BIL saying it was OK to call her (she was in some pain and quite groggy from the procedure today). My Mom is calling her first, then I will probably call her next.

Thanks for thinking of her and praying for her. I'll update again when I learn more.

I sympathize, my 18 year old grandchild just had to have emergency surgery for the same problem. She was really ill and in so much pain. I knew what she had as I had gone through the same thing, but not at such a young age. The Dr said hers was about to burst from infection.

Hey ida!! glad your GD is okay!! Thats what they said about mine. I am glad to have it done, but dont like the side effect. LOL

my grandma had her gallbladder taken out and they had to do it the old fashioned way because they couldn't do it microscopically

i hope that she does well

she'll be in my prayers for a speedy recovery

Ida - I'm glad your Granddaughter is ok!

Thanks everyone! I talked to her this evening, and she still doesn't know much. The scope thing today was to try to get the stone out first (apparently they need/want to remove that before they can do the surgery). She has no idea if they were even able to get it, but she'll know more tomorrow when the doctor comes in to see her. She was so happy that they let her eat something today. One hospital (a different hospital does the scope procedure then the one she is at) told her she can eat a normal diet, but the hospital where she is staying said clear fluids. She compromised and had soup broth and the solid pieces she mushed up pretty good before she ate it. She said that she never would have thought Campbells Soup on Hand would have ever taste as good as it did today. LOL.

DH thinks it's more serious then they are letting on, because he doesn't think some of it makes sense. I think everything we are being told makes perfect sense, but that is just me. I tend to be on the very trusting side.

Just wanting to update everyone right now.

The scope thing yesterday showed there were no stones, so they are assuming she passed it and the surgery will be today at 12:00.

aurora04 wrote:Just wanting to update everyone right now.

The scope thing yesterday showed there were no stones, so they are assuming she passed it and the surgery will be today at 12:00.

I had mine removed several years ago. I found it to be an easy proceedure.
I went home the next day and was back to work the following week.

That's good to know that you were back to work the following week! She's sort of getting stressed about that because when she doesn't work, she doesn't get paid. There is no sick or vacation time for her.

She's actually in surgery now. They got her in early.

I said a quick prayer for her. Let us know when you hear how it went.

My BIL called a little while ago, and said she was out of recovery and feeling much better. It was done laporscopically (sp??), so I'm assuming she will be out of the hospital at some point today. I'm going to try to give her a call soon to see how she's doing.

Thanks for the prayers for her!

Wonderful! I'm glad she's doing so well.