Gall stones and Shoe Size Survey...and by the way, DENIED!
1. your PCP. you can train him or fire him, your choice
2. gall stones. according to old wive's tale and/or science, your GB is doomed due to obesity. Your up coming wt loss just guarantees its demise. Rapid wt loss.
Old wives tale, pick 4:
1. fair
2. fat
3. female
4. flatulent
5. fertile
6. forty
Fertile? Yes, mine attacked me when my baby was 6 weeks old! I was 23 (not 40)
you can add in rapid wt loss (so even diets); malabsorption messes with fats 'n oils, mostly in a good way.
doomed. lots of docs use actigall, but most ppl get sick from taking it and still, the GB is out.
i concur with everyone else. get rid of it! sooner or later. sooner skips one extra procedure and a whole lot of misery!
2. gall stones. according to old wive's tale and/or science, your GB is doomed due to obesity. Your up coming wt loss just guarantees its demise. Rapid wt loss.
Old wives tale, pick 4:
1. fair
2. fat
3. female
4. flatulent
5. fertile
6. forty
Fertile? Yes, mine attacked me when my baby was 6 weeks old! I was 23 (not 40)
you can add in rapid wt loss (so even diets); malabsorption messes with fats 'n oils, mostly in a good way.
doomed. lots of docs use actigall, but most ppl get sick from taking it and still, the GB is out.
i concur with everyone else. get rid of it! sooner or later. sooner skips one extra procedure and a whole lot of misery!
Michelle
RNY, distal, 10/5/94
P.S. My year + long absence has NOTHING to do with my WLS, or my type of WLS. See my profile.
hey there.
First of all, I have to agree with what's been said about your PCP. If you've known him forever, you owe it to him and to yourself to try to educate him on the DS. But hon, truly. You need a PCP that's going to SUPPORT you. This is more essential than ever if you're traveling for your surgery. If you have a problem and your surgeon needs to contact your PCP for follow-up, you damn well want that PCP to be receptive to the surgeon's ideas and thoughts.
My vote is try to educate him, but make it clear that you'll NEED to have a PCP that supports your decision. Let him know that if he's not that Dr, you'll need to find someone else to participate in your post-op care. Honestly. This is YOUR health, we're talking about here... not his feelings on the surgery you've researched and decided upon.
Your gall bladder.... ~whew~ ... my very strong advice is to lose that puppy. You're right in that rapid weight loss will likely cause more problems down the line. It's a pain you want to AVOID if at all possible. I started having gall bladder issues within a month of my first WLS 23 years ago. The recovery from the WLS ... and the thought of going through another surgery... kept me from having the thing removed, because I didn't want to go under the knife again.
My gall bladder would strike a couple times a year, and I'd want to die every time it did.
When I consulted with Dr Greenbaum, pre-op, I was DELIGHTED to find out he'd take the appendix and gall bladder. Truly delighted. I couldn't be happier to have that diseased, useless left-over organ GONE.
First of all, I have to agree with what's been said about your PCP. If you've known him forever, you owe it to him and to yourself to try to educate him on the DS. But hon, truly. You need a PCP that's going to SUPPORT you. This is more essential than ever if you're traveling for your surgery. If you have a problem and your surgeon needs to contact your PCP for follow-up, you damn well want that PCP to be receptive to the surgeon's ideas and thoughts.
My vote is try to educate him, but make it clear that you'll NEED to have a PCP that supports your decision. Let him know that if he's not that Dr, you'll need to find someone else to participate in your post-op care. Honestly. This is YOUR health, we're talking about here... not his feelings on the surgery you've researched and decided upon.
Your gall bladder.... ~whew~ ... my very strong advice is to lose that puppy. You're right in that rapid weight loss will likely cause more problems down the line. It's a pain you want to AVOID if at all possible. I started having gall bladder issues within a month of my first WLS 23 years ago. The recovery from the WLS ... and the thought of going through another surgery... kept me from having the thing removed, because I didn't want to go under the knife again.
My gall bladder would strike a couple times a year, and I'd want to die every time it did.
When I consulted with Dr Greenbaum, pre-op, I was DELIGHTED to find out he'd take the appendix and gall bladder. Truly delighted. I couldn't be happier to have that diseased, useless left-over organ GONE.
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Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
If you're in Western PA (pittsburgh area) there ARE NOT plenty of DS surgeons. Infact, I traveled to the other end of the state to find one. As for your gallstone, I had them and finally ended up having mine removed after a bout of pancreatitis. I've taken allopurinol for kidney stones, but I've not heard of dissolving gallstones. Pre-op, I was a size 11 wide shoe, post-op I am a 9 1/2 medium!
I was glad to get rid of my gallbladder-gave me nothing but trouble. And the kind of pain it caused before it was finally removed was excruciating. I am going for the DS as well-and if my gallbladder wasn't already thankfully gone, it sure as heck would be with the DS....
HW-390.6
SW-326
CW-103
GW-140
WLS is a very big decision. Please EDUCATE YOURSELF before choosing how you wish to spend the rest of your life!
Honey relating to the GB...DUMP THAT SUCKER ASAP! It will NOT get better! I fought it through from what I can tell three of five pregnancies, ending up back in the hospital when my youngest was barely 2 weeks old for another major surgery (she was delivered by c-section). Just not worth the pain, and believe me that pain is NOT mild when having a full blown attack...I would have liked to KILL the doc that told me to "hang in there" until the weekend was over and go for my surgery then. Had he been in front of me at that point I swear he would have been DEAD. Labor and delivery are no where near the pain of a full blown GB attack. Let 'em take that POS while you have the DS cuz ain't no reason to keep it.
As to the reason of having diabetes? gall bladder related to that? not that I know of.
the gall stones "other places" where else do you think GALL stones are going to develope? As far as I know the only place they do develop is the GALL bladder....
if I am wrong someone please let me now but I really don't think gallbladder has anything to do with your diabetes (weight and family history do!) nor do gallstone develope other places in the body....
as to the shoe sizes....yup...went from a 10 1/2 W to an 8 1/2 regular.
As to the reason of having diabetes? gall bladder related to that? not that I know of.
the gall stones "other places" where else do you think GALL stones are going to develope? As far as I know the only place they do develop is the GALL bladder....
if I am wrong someone please let me now but I really don't think gallbladder has anything to do with your diabetes (weight and family history do!) nor do gallstone develope other places in the body....
as to the shoe sizes....yup...went from a 10 1/2 W to an 8 1/2 regular.
SW 308/CW164/ GW 140
(deactivated member)
on 7/10/09 9:19 am - Woodbridge, VA
on 7/10/09 9:19 am - Woodbridge, VA
Gall stones caused your diabetes? I would like to hear your explanation of that theory.
Get rid of the gall bladder, which is diseased (healthy ones don't make painful STONES), and you wil not get gall stones anywhere. Gall stones come from the gall bladder. No gall bladder=no gall stones. Nope, no stones in your gall bladder, no stones in your bile ducts, no stones in your intestines, no stones in your stomach...no gall stones, period. Anywhere.
Get rid of the gall bladder, which is diseased (healthy ones don't make painful STONES), and you wil not get gall stones anywhere. Gall stones come from the gall bladder. No gall bladder=no gall stones. Nope, no stones in your gall bladder, no stones in your bile ducts, no stones in your intestines, no stones in your stomach...no gall stones, period. Anywhere.
The gallbladder can also be removed lap if thats what your DS will be. Mine was. I have scars still left from gallbladder removal, and from a failed lap band.When it comes time for my DS, I figure, if it's open, it just won't matter, whats 1 more big one.
Actually, a week after my gallbladder was removed I had to go back for an ERCP because I still had some gallstones left. Get that thing out. Nobody is kidding about the excrutiating pain it causes. I wanted to die, it was worse than labor. Ugh.
Lisa
Actually, a week after my gallbladder was removed I had to go back for an ERCP because I still had some gallstones left. Get that thing out. Nobody is kidding about the excrutiating pain it causes. I wanted to die, it was worse than labor. Ugh.
Lisa
I wanted to interject a couple of things:
Recent studies show that the appendix does, in fact, have a function - it's believed to help with immune function.
Some very well respected DS surgeons do not believe taking out a healthy gallbladder and appendix is beneficial and that the gallbladder does, in fact, function post-op. Pomp and I just recently had a conversation about this because I had a geeky question about how the gallbladder works post-op.
Every study I've seen states that there is only a 30% chance of gallbladder trouble post-op when losing weight and that goes down quite a bit if you take medication. I think it is such a painful thing to have gallstones that what we mostly hear about are the small percentage that had problems rather than the larger percentage that had none. However - for me it's a matter of percents - I'm willing to 'risk' the 5% or so chance on medication rather than remove organs that work just fine. Those are pretty good odds that I won't have a problem. And if I do, of course that would suck, but i'd still take the same bet given the same odds.
HOWEVER - you currently have gall stones. I'm pretty sure once you have gallstones you're kinda' screwed. I'd discuss it carefully with your surgeon. My guess is he'll take it out. If mine is diseased when my surgeon gets in there, he does remove it.
I love home remedies but I am not familiar with anything that is effective for gallstones. Most of the liver flushes have been proven ineffective for such things.
Good luck!
Recent studies show that the appendix does, in fact, have a function - it's believed to help with immune function.
Some very well respected DS surgeons do not believe taking out a healthy gallbladder and appendix is beneficial and that the gallbladder does, in fact, function post-op. Pomp and I just recently had a conversation about this because I had a geeky question about how the gallbladder works post-op.
Every study I've seen states that there is only a 30% chance of gallbladder trouble post-op when losing weight and that goes down quite a bit if you take medication. I think it is such a painful thing to have gallstones that what we mostly hear about are the small percentage that had problems rather than the larger percentage that had none. However - for me it's a matter of percents - I'm willing to 'risk' the 5% or so chance on medication rather than remove organs that work just fine. Those are pretty good odds that I won't have a problem. And if I do, of course that would suck, but i'd still take the same bet given the same odds.
HOWEVER - you currently have gall stones. I'm pretty sure once you have gallstones you're kinda' screwed. I'd discuss it carefully with your surgeon. My guess is he'll take it out. If mine is diseased when my surgeon gets in there, he does remove it.
I love home remedies but I am not familiar with anything that is effective for gallstones. Most of the liver flushes have been proven ineffective for such things.
Good luck!
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