gall bladder?

I am having really really bad pain around the rib cage on my right side, this has been going on for several weeks and I just atributed it to severe gas, but now i'm wondering.... could this be gall bladder going bad?  From those of you have been doing this a lot longer what do you think?
Becca 

Hi Becca,

My wife had her WLS surgery almost 2 years ago in June. She was complaining of symptoms that resemble gall bladder issues. I actually did a search this morning on "gall bladder attack symptoms" and what you describe certainly seems like a very likely candidate for pain. If it is worse when you have fatty foods, it would seem even more likely.

From what I understand I think about 1/4 (I'm not sure on this number - so take it with a grain of salt) of the people who have WLS have issues with their gall bladder in the first year or so. That is why it is pretty standard to to just remove the gall bladder when they do WLS that requires opening the chest cavity. Maybe someday removal of the gall bladder can become automatic for all WLS patients and could be done laproscopically. I'm wondering if it is a financial issue (profit) as the same doctors who perform WLS also remove gall bladders. This change would have to be driven by the insurance companies and I'm guessing it is someone's job at various insurance companies to look at the feasibility of taking care of it right away and avoiding these second surgeries.

Anyway, I'd certainly think you have enough evidence to have this checked out by a doctor.

Best wishes.

John

thanks,  Yeah I called the doc's office this am,and that's what they think too.  So i'm gonna go in next week for my year rny follow up early and they are gonna check the old gall bladder while i'm htere.  This is me hating that thought

Becca

Becca:

Had my gallbladder out the year "before" my surgery.

My surgeon was great, went through the bellbutton. I had 0 problems.

Recovery was easy.

You symptoms sound like what I had.  They sent me for an ultrasound.  You may want to call and ask for a script for this and go get it done before you see your dr. that way they canr efer you to a great surgeon right away.


It wasnt a big deal when I had it out, I hope that gives you comfort.

When they ultrasounded me I was full of stones!!!  Let us know, if you feel comfortable, what you found out!

Melissa

SW  /  CW

309/146

Back in Oct I had that same pain for about 4 hours. Not enough to warrant an ER trip because I was camping in the infield at the Nascar race. Granted I had a piece of pizza about 3 hours before the pain started so I figured it was from that.   Fast forward to Dec 22. Was at a hotel 3 hours from home.  Woke up in terrible pain in the middle of the night. It was worse than labor! Went to ER in a very small town of Pahrump, NV.  Got IV pain meds. Xray and abdominal ultrasound came back fine! Liver enzyemes were a bit elevated.  Released a few hours later. I followed up with my PCP. We agreed to wait and see if it comes again before we hack out the gallbladder.