I love removing gallbladders(cholecystectomy) but only if it’s warranted. As others have said, the mere presence of stones is not an indication to have the gallbladder removed typically. Residents and staff members feel it’s a minimal procedure because it’s done minimally invasive but there are significant complications that can occur although they’re very uncommon. I hope this helps and I wish you the best.

Mine acted up in Cody, WY. Scared the shit out of me. The wife knew. We went to the ER. Vacation ended, flew home and it was out about 4 days later. No big deal. In retrospect, it was the beginning of my surgeries……

Slight drift. Speaking of Stones, I'm having a Cystolitholapxy procedure tomorrow morning to rid my bladder of about 7 stones. Had this exact same procedure a year ago and they're back. Stones anywhere are never a great thing but happy they aren't north in the Kidney area.

Have mine. However, my wife, my son and my daughter have all had their’s out.
Seems I won the genetic lottery.

quote:

Originally posted by TexasScrub:
Since I assist about 10 of these a week I only worry that a small stone will cause an obstruction. I'll assume that they did a HIDAscan, or an MRCP, if you were symptomatic. If not symptomatic as I expect, keep the damn thing if its not causing problems.

Doctors just wanna cut/cut/cut

You forgot one thing. Prescribe, prescribe, prescribe!

After reading a half dozen articles on the WWW.
The only other
Issue I have to consider is this symptom addressing flatulence .
Specifically what they call excessive amounts.

What the hell is excessive?
Especially at 66 y.o.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

this symptom addressing flatulence .Specifically what they call excessive amounts. What the hell is excessive?

If the dog starts howling, tucks his tail between his legs, and slinks off to another room, it's probably excessive.

Most I ever got was side eye

Excessive would require you to stay away from ignition sources.

With no symptoms other than the discovery of stones while looking for something else, surgery should be a very last resort. Can. they be dissolved or busted up somehow?

I asked both my GP and my surgeon that they said not at my age, it's the whole package or nothing.


So all you old guys,
Do you fart after every meal, after every third meal?

Once a week,
Only on Wednesdays?

I still have mine, but younger bother and sister both had theirs' out.

Had a small gallstone when I was mri'd for a kidney stone in ~2004. I'm sure it's gone by now.

quote:

If you have recurrent symptoms, yes, but jusr the presence of gall stones does not equal surgery.

Agree with Q. I've worked for many years now in the OR of a large University Based Hospital. If you don't have symptoms, no need to remove it.

I have a few large stones in mine. I met with the surgeon and she said to leave it alone, unless I have symptoms. They are too large to block any ducts. Yes there is a slight increase in cancer risk but the overall rate for cancer in your gallbladder is extremely low.

Mine was gangrene when they took it out. They said I was on a short timer before it burst.
Mine was done decades when they sliced you open about a 6 inch scar.
Don't miss it.

I had a CT scan last year for possible appendicitis.
The appendix was fine, but they said I have several gallstones and several 5-7mm kidney stones in both kidneys.

I knew I had kidney stones, but the gallstones were a surprise..

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

So all you old guys,
Do you fart after every meal, after every third meal?

Once a week,
Only on Wednesdays?

I’m not able to give a sufficiently accurate accounting but will try to keep better records

Had mine removed a couple years ago. I had so much pain they finally had to give me fentanyl in the ER but the real problem was it caused pancreatitis which ended up being a week in the hospital during covid. My surgeon said "it was full of stones". I don't really miss it but sometimes I get grief if I eat to much fat but that doesn't happen too often and I bought some Ox bile pills for that which I can take one if I am eating a meal that I think will cause such but I sure as hell didn't want to get pancreatitis again. The doctor at the hospital told me that my pancreas was basically eating itself due to stones blocking a shared duct (or such).

Interestingly I had an MRI a few weeks earlier for liver reasons and the radiologist put on the report that I had stones in my gall bladder. I took a copy of the report to the ER with me and handed it to the ER doc and told her I highly suspect my pain is gall bladder related.

My wife's was removed during a liver surgery when she was 2 years old, but nobody ever told her. We didn't find out until I got diagnosed with type-1 diabetes a few years ago, so I started eating Keto (basically all fats and protein, no carbs). She tried going on my diet and was having all kinds of abdominal pain. She went to the Dr. and he couldn't figure it out either, so he sent her to imaging for an abdominal scan.

When the results came in, he called her and told her everything looked normal, and mentioned that there was no gallbladder.

My wife was shocked. "What? I don't have a gallbladder?" She ended up calling her mom and asking her, and my MIL said, "Oh yeah, they told me they took something else out while they were in there for that liver surgery when you were two, but I could never remember what it was." Gee, thanks mom !

Ultimately, my wife lived 35 years or so without one and didn't even know it, so it can't be that important! I now eat the meat, she eats the carbs, we share the veggies, and it works out for everybody.

Had mine taken out because it was useless. It wasn't due to stones, it just wasn't doing its job. My suggestion would be to have a HIDA scan. It will determine how functional the gallbladder is. On a scale of 1-100 mine was a zero. I had stomach problems for years with no proper diagnosis. HIDA scan revealed it. Once the gallbladder was removed I developed something called dumping syndrome due to the unimpeded flow of bile into the intestines. It is rare but it happened to me. Doc put me on something called cholestyramine and it is now managed. Bottom line is, minor surgery is surgery performed on someone else. Make an informed decision before having it removed.