The main thing I'm worried about are long term pain or other issues caused by having it removed. I don't have stones but the gallbladder doesn't work and I get mild (occasionally strong) pain in that area of my stomach, I've also had occasions of inflammation of the liver but my consultant is not convinced this is related.

So risk of negative effects of surgery vs. sometimes very frequent mild pain.

p.s. it was reading about Postcholecystectomy syndrome that set my nerves going.

my missus had it done, and she has seen a marked improvement since, she had gall stones and unbelievable pain before having it out. tbh if you are only having mild pain i am surprised they are doing it…..

she is much much better at taking pain than me, and she would scream, vomit then pass out, and repeat, this went on for 2 months and 4 hospitalisations

she has lots of other issues with her chest, endemetriosis etc though

she cant tolerate fatty food much at all now (something she is ok with) and she did have quite a bit of pain post op, but generally she was chuffed.

A friend of mine had what sounds similar symptoms to timdrayton's missus – he was hospitalised 3 or 4 times before they finally decided the gall bladder had to go.
He said he feels like a different man since the surgery, which is probably 8 months ago now. He looks tons better. He took up cycling after the op and rode 75 miles with us about 5 months post surgery. I don't think he would be in any doubt that surgery was the right thing for him to to.

I hope all goes well on Wednesday and the improvement to your quality of life is as great as his.

I've spent the last year with the liver problems and the stomach pains (sometimes feel sick and fevers) go back about 3 years, riding a road bike would sometimes bring an attack on. I think they just about left me to decide if to remove it (this is all private via Bupa) with the hope that it might also solve the liver episodes which a years worth of tests haven't found a cause other than the gallbladder not working when I had a HIDA scan.

Missus had hers out a couple of years ago, after having frequent bouts of debilitating pain. Quick procedure, 45 mins, and home the next day. She would have been home the same day had it been an earlier appointment.

She had to take things relatively easy post-op for about a week, and said the worst pain was in her shoulders and neck because of the gas they use to inflate your abdomen!

Absolutely fine now, although she no longer eats tomatoes as they bring back a kind of gall-bladder attack (despite not having one) and makes her very sick.

At the end of the day, it is still major abdominal surgery though, even though it's mostly laparoscopic now.

I had mine out and it was problem free and had no troubles since.

I had gallstones, which had also led to to jaundice, it was unbelieveably painful! But they whipped the gallbladder straight out 🙂 It was a bit painful afterwards as one of the wounds was infected after the keyhole surgery, but stuck some iodine spray on and it was sorted.

It's a simple operation, I know two other people that have had it too, and all agree that is was totally worth it, especially to get rid of the pain we had already been experiencing.

Had mine out last year following a gallstone episode. Arrived at day surgery 8am, back home by 6pm. Fully mobile again after 3 days. Rode bike to work after 10.

Surgeon said that the only use he could see for the gallbladder was as a very good chemistry set for creating gallstones then killing people.

Gallbladder produces enzymes that help break down fat, without it's harder for you do this and eating fatty foods can cause you pain. My Gran had hers taken out years ago and caused the problems except for indigestion and pain when she ate fatty foods, didn't stop her though she was hard old bird and just suffered the pain so she could eat her favourite foods.

I'm a bit less freaked about having it out now, must have been idle time on my hands letting me think too much, going to have another chat with the surgeon tomorrow to settle my mind.

Drac – Not sure if I'll see much change from having it removed on the storage and delivery of bile, the HIDA test showed it wasn't really doing much other than sitting there being useless and causing pain.

My ex had hers out but she's still horrible.

I had mine out over 3 years ago, the pain it was causing me was unreal, I honestly contemplated suicide to end the pain, now pain such as cuts/knocks/crashes on bike feels like nothing.

It really is a pointless organ apart from concentrating bile to assist fat breakdown.

If done laparoscopic like 99% are nowadays if your on the morning list you can usually go home the sameday.

I sell laparoscopic equipment and can do a lapcoli with my eyes closed it really is quite a simple operation, the skill is removing the gallbladder from the liverbed without bursting it and getting green gunge everywhere inside, no worries if they do they just vacuum and wash it all out.

You'll only have 4 scars, 2 small ones on the right of your stomach about 5mm, 1 through top of your belly button to hide scar and one directly above your belly button about 12-15cm up around 15mm, I jsu tell folk they are stab wounds 😯

So really not bad scars at all

I observe 4-5 of these ops a week with my job

I haven't looked back since having it done.

The only side effects is the dumping syndrome – dump get it?

Yes say after a curry/Mcd's or high fat type food I find that within 30mins I have to "dump" pretty fast!! 😳

This is something you get to live with, ie knowing where nearest toilets are when your out and about and not eating a high fat meal before a epic ride.

You'll be fine Matt303, I was back in work after a week.

Good luck

Get well soon!

– Not sure if I'll see much change from having it removed on the storage and delivery of bile, the HIDA test showed it wasn't really doing much other than sitting there being useless and causing pain.

Aye if it's broke removing will make no difference, other than no bile stones.

24hrs to go for a pain free exsistence Matt 😀

Matt are you ok?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Saw the surgeon again today and feel much more relaxed, seems the consultant and him have been discussing my slightly odd case. Hopefully I might be back online from my hospital room this time tomorrow, if slightly drugged up, maybe the ideal state to order a new frame/bike 😉

ok tidy darts – let us know how you get on with your unusual case???

I'm intrigued – is your liver on the wrong side?????

Gallbladder produces enzymes that help break down fat

Not quite. The gall bladder stores the bile which is then injected into the common bile duct and from there into the intestine where it deals with the fat. The gall stones are created because the bile is being concentrated in the bladder and it can start to chrystalise (think that's what the consultant said.
Without the gall bladder the bile is simply continuously injected into the common bile duct/intestine – not a big issue at all.
I had mine out about 4 years ago after a bout of pancreatitus caused by gall stones. Spent 10 days in hospital, the first 5 days of which I had njust 10ml of water to drink and hour, no other food or drink allowed! I lost 1 stone in those 5 days 🙂
Had the gall bladder removed about 7 weeks later. Was a bit nervous beforehand but it was a doddle. Could have come out the next day but stayed as it was a private hospital and I'd paid for 2 nights!!
Since then I've had no issues as all. No food gives me paid and I'm on a normal diet – i.e. chips and curry included.
The only thing I'll say is that you 'may' find that very occasionally you'll need to go to the toilet pretty quickly afte a meal! And it might be a bit easier to poo than it was before if you see what I mean 😳
Otherwise just get on with your life….. it's a simple op. My only pain afterwards was in the shoulder from the gas but that only lasted about an hour.
If you are having issues with the gall bladder it's best to get rid of it as pancreatitus can be a killer.
Hope it all goes well for you. Let us know hwo you feel afterwards.

valleydaddy – Unusual in the fact that I don't have any stones (well none found with ultrasound, chest x-ray or CT scan) but I have abdominal pains similar to stones, my gallbladder doesn't seem to work (shown up with a HIDA scan) and I get occasional bouts of liver inflammation that fix themselves after a month or so. They think it might be some sort of muscle disfunction in the gallbladder, guess we'll find out once it's out.

Not quite. The gall bladder stores the bile which is then injected into the common bile duct and from there into the intestine where it deals with the fat.

Aye true it's an organ not a gland but it's sometimes easier to make things simple when explaining what a body part does.

how did the op go?

Back home and sitting with a cupa.

Still hurts around the holes they made but getting better, ended up having an extra day in hospital because I really wasn't in a state to be left home alone on Thursday. Stitches out on Tuesday so hope almost back to normal by end of next week and back on the bike in Feb 🙂

nice one

Are you getting the feeling when you lie on your side there's something missing inside you yet?

I did totally weird, went away after a few months, I could swear I could feel it had been taken out!!! 😯

valleydaddy – can i have your job?

t®ibal©hief no way I love it – plus get a shiny new car every 2 years!!!!

and my new company vehicle is a bike via C2W