After effect of gall bladder removal

[pipdawg]

After suffering a lot of pain, I was scanned and diagnosed with having lots of small gall stones. I had my gall bladder removed one week ago today. It was removed by keyhole surgery. My stay in hospital was short and comfortable, my recovery has been nothing short of rapid and I'm planning to drive for the first time later on this afternoon. I'm currently left with practically no pain, just a few bruises.

The day after I came home from hospital, I was chatting to my neighbour over the garden fence expecting a certain amount of sympathy. However, her reaction to what I'd had done scared me witless. She told me that the gall bladder was a vital organ and I'd probably wrecked my body having it removed.

When I returned indoors I immediately started Googling the gall bladder and discovered a train of thought that, to put it briefly, says that colon cancer will now be more likely as concentrated bile will now be dripping into my stomach 24/7 instead of just when it is needed. The cancer will probably occur in 11 to 15 years time. Not only that, I'm likely to have higher cholesterol which could lead to heart disease.

I've feeling totally sick now. I feel like I'm a ticking time bomb.

I spoke to my GP who tried to reassure me that these claims were totally exaggerated.

Has anybody got any unbiased, accurate information on this subject?

Thanks

[smart1]

Read anything you can about Rosemary Connelly - she only 'caught on' to the advantages (wrong word, I know) of losing weight because of her GB probs

[joannie10]

my dad is 74 now and had his gall bladder removed by keyhole surgery about 10 years ago now. He has hd no problem at all. About 5 years ago was told his cholestol was up a bit but changed his diet a bit and doing absolutely fine - dont think the higher cholestrol was anything to do with the lack of gall bladder though.

[Eve]

I have bile acid malabsorbtion which is apparantly quite common after that kind of thing (though I've never had gall bladder problems themselves or anything removed).

I have been put on medication for that which is brilliant in you have those kind of related problems such a really bad diarrhoea from it.

[ladyalex]

I had my gall bladder removed last year and have had no problems since then. I was told by my GP and by the hospital doctors that the gall bladder is simply a reservoir for bile. Without it, the bile just drips into your digestive tract instead of being held in the gall bladder and squeezed out after a meal. Other than the slight possibility of a bit of diarrhoea after a fatty meal , I was told that there were no downsides to the op. I perhaps had a couple of episodes of diarrhoea in the first few weeks after the op, but absolutely nothing since.........and, of course, no gallstone pain and no waiting for the next bout.
I certainly do not regret having the op, quite the reverse.
Think about it, who is likely to be both better informed and have your best interests at heart, your neighbour or the doctors who recommended the op for you ?
You neighbour sounds a bit of a pest. If he/she believes what he/she told you, why did they tell you all that guff AFTER you had had the op ? Either tell you before, or keep schtum is what a sensible person would have done.

[BeaverDiva]

I too had my gallbladder removed last year and have heard nothing about these suggestions of increased chances of colon cancer at all, despite the research I did. Your neighbour is a scare-monger and nothing more.

The gallbladder acts as a reservoir for your bile, holding it in place until your stomach needs it when you've eaten. It is not a vital organ (otherwise we would not function without it). When the gallbladder is removed, the bile just drips directly and constantly, as opposed to being released when you've eaten.

Take no notice of your nosy and troublesome neighbour. Or perhaps you could seek revenge for the worry he or she has caused you by telling them you're worried about some symptoms you've recently read about for a highly contagious disease - see how long they want to stand chatting over the fence to you then??

Honestly - don't worry! Just enjoy being able to eat food without fear of an attack !

[cupid04]

i had my gall-bladder out over 15 years ago . I didn't have the choice of having keyhole surgery and i had to stay in hospital for a week after.I have had no ill effects. I also think your neighbour is scare-mongering. the only thing i got was a small hernia where the scar tissue had'nt healed properly, and me being overweight does not help.









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[pipdawg]

Thank you, all 6 of you, for taking the time to reply. I'm feeling a lot more rational now and not quite so vunerable.
Smart1 - I took your advice and read about Rosemary Conley. It was thanks to her gall bladder problems that she invented the hip and thigh diet and managed to get her surplus weight off. After 5 years though, she had her gall bladder out anyway, so she must have deemed it necessary.
I love your sense of humour, BeaverDiva. I am able to think about my neighbour more rationally now and realise it is her that has the problem, not me. She is very much into alternative medicine and has come up with some wacky ideas in the past. She didn't know I was having my gall bladder removed beforehand and heard I'd had it done from a third party. Thinking back, she did hone in on me and was going to get her point of view across if it was the last thing she did.
A week after the operation I was driving again and shopped on my own 9 days after the op. And now I'm practically pain free.

Thanks again