Spectator N0. 2679 : Choc-A-Block By Doc
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Gallstones and Holiday
20 Answers
My other half was rushed into hospital a couple of weeks ago and diagnosed with gallstones.
He had had problems for a couple of months and despite me nagging him to go to the Dr's he didn't and ended up being rushed in.
He's now waiting on his operation date and it's looking like it might clash with a holiday we have booked for the USA.
We have been really careful and changed our diet accordingly, but while I was away working this week he had a spicy kebab (grrr!) and was pretty ill for the next 3 days.
He’s convinced he will get taken ill in the US, have to pay out a fortune for treatment and even possible die (he thinks he is going to die on the operating table anyway, because he has never had an op before and is getting himself all worked up)
I say, to cancel now would cost us a fortune and if we are really sensible about what we eat and drink we should chance it...it’s only 8 days and he was fine for two weeks after he came out of hospital until he ate the kebab.
Now he is saying that if the op isn't done before the holiday he can't go.....what would you guys advise?
He had had problems for a couple of months and despite me nagging him to go to the Dr's he didn't and ended up being rushed in.
He's now waiting on his operation date and it's looking like it might clash with a holiday we have booked for the USA.
We have been really careful and changed our diet accordingly, but while I was away working this week he had a spicy kebab (grrr!) and was pretty ill for the next 3 days.
He’s convinced he will get taken ill in the US, have to pay out a fortune for treatment and even possible die (he thinks he is going to die on the operating table anyway, because he has never had an op before and is getting himself all worked up)
I say, to cancel now would cost us a fortune and if we are really sensible about what we eat and drink we should chance it...it’s only 8 days and he was fine for two weeks after he came out of hospital until he ate the kebab.
Now he is saying that if the op isn't done before the holiday he can't go.....what would you guys advise?
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Your OH has gall stones......diagnosed.
He was ill for 3 days following eating a kebab........details remain undisclosed.
He thinks he will die on the operating table.
You will not be given Med Insurance for your trip involving gall bladder problems.
If he gets a stone lodged and needs an operation in the USA, you can say goodbye to £10,000 at least.
and you are prepared to go?
Madness.
He was ill for 3 days following eating a kebab........details remain undisclosed.
He thinks he will die on the operating table.
You will not be given Med Insurance for your trip involving gall bladder problems.
If he gets a stone lodged and needs an operation in the USA, you can say goodbye to £10,000 at least.
and you are prepared to go?
Madness.
Having had gallstones (and the op) I would urge you to cancel your trip.
As sqad and rowanwitch have said, you will not be covered by insurance and if a stone sticks there is no alternative to an emergency op at enormous expense in the US.
Even if he just has an attack it will be utterly miserable for him until it settles again.
I must also say that I had attacks no matter how carefully I ate. I don't eat much fatty food anyway, but cutting it out made no difference to me.
If he has keyhole surgery, which most people do, he will be recovered in no time (2weeks or thereabouts).
Is there no chance of your postponing your holiday till after the op ?
As sqad and rowanwitch have said, you will not be covered by insurance and if a stone sticks there is no alternative to an emergency op at enormous expense in the US.
Even if he just has an attack it will be utterly miserable for him until it settles again.
I must also say that I had attacks no matter how carefully I ate. I don't eat much fatty food anyway, but cutting it out made no difference to me.
If he has keyhole surgery, which most people do, he will be recovered in no time (2weeks or thereabouts).
Is there no chance of your postponing your holiday till after the op ?
A friend of mine recently had emergency Gall-bladder surgery (hers had ruptured) involving an 'open' cholecystectomy. She has been off work for 6 weeks.
Imagine the expense of staying Stateside until your boyfriend is given the all-clear to fly back to UK if he, too, requires an 'open' procedure.
Ask your boyfriend's GP to write to your insurers giving all the facts and you may be able to recoup the greater part of your holiday costs.
Imagine the expense of staying Stateside until your boyfriend is given the all-clear to fly back to UK if he, too, requires an 'open' procedure.
Ask your boyfriend's GP to write to your insurers giving all the facts and you may be able to recoup the greater part of your holiday costs.
Because we have booked everything seperately (before0 he got ill, we can't shift things around. We've booked to go over for a music festival, so changing the dates will mean missing it. we would lose about £3k if we cancel.
I could go alone which i have done before but he doesn't want me to and is telling me "You can go alone...if my health means so little to you!" (I'd just like to point out this came after I asked if we were very careful about his diet and took every precaution did he think he could manage it-I am not putting any pressure on him to go).
Unfortunately, asking the Dr's to write a letter won't help as they have only said it would be best not to go if he has had the op, but if it's before he won't be covered by his insurance...but they haven't advised against going.
I was due to go on this trip last year but cancelled because funds were tight and i was supposed to be going alone but then i met him. I'd booked the hotel direct so could cancel and had not yet booked my flight and was able to sell my tickets so there wasn't any financial loss.
This year he booked the hotel but chose one of those "you have to pay even if you cancel" options as it was cheaper and then we booked the flights about three months ago before he got ill.
He was fine for two weeks when he got out of hospital as i was monitoring our diet really closely, it was just with him eating crap whilst I was away that seemed to kick things off again.
I could go alone which i have done before but he doesn't want me to and is telling me "You can go alone...if my health means so little to you!" (I'd just like to point out this came after I asked if we were very careful about his diet and took every precaution did he think he could manage it-I am not putting any pressure on him to go).
Unfortunately, asking the Dr's to write a letter won't help as they have only said it would be best not to go if he has had the op, but if it's before he won't be covered by his insurance...but they haven't advised against going.
I was due to go on this trip last year but cancelled because funds were tight and i was supposed to be going alone but then i met him. I'd booked the hotel direct so could cancel and had not yet booked my flight and was able to sell my tickets so there wasn't any financial loss.
This year he booked the hotel but chose one of those "you have to pay even if you cancel" options as it was cheaper and then we booked the flights about three months ago before he got ill.
He was fine for two weeks when he got out of hospital as i was monitoring our diet really closely, it was just with him eating crap whilst I was away that seemed to kick things off again.
That's not strictly true.
Although diet *is* the main culprit.......when your gallbladder is on its way out, even thinking about food seems to bring on an attack. And if you have had GB problems, you would know yourself that it makes it very difficult to enjoy 'anything'.
Contact you GP and see if s/he would be willing to write a letter to your insurers (you may have to pay for this)
Although diet *is* the main culprit.......when your gallbladder is on its way out, even thinking about food seems to bring on an attack. And if you have had GB problems, you would know yourself that it makes it very difficult to enjoy 'anything'.
Contact you GP and see if s/he would be willing to write a letter to your insurers (you may have to pay for this)
The hospital told us that the reason he had such a bad time was because he had been doing some strenuous work (clearing out the gutters) and had stretched his gallbladder allowing one of the stones to fall out into his bile duct and it was passing this that caused the severe pain and hospital stay etc.
they told him to watch hos diet on leaving the hospital and not to undertake any heavy lifting or strenuous stuff, which we have been doing.
they told him to watch hos diet on leaving the hospital and not to undertake any heavy lifting or strenuous stuff, which we have been doing.
JTH's advice and failing that, then cancel.
It's not worth it - and I have been through it. It started in the US (where I was insured) but I ended up having the keyhole here.
Do not allow it to go on too long - the operation is relatively minor (usually), the risk increasing with the length of time the gall bladder fills up. If they do have to go in, that is not a small operation and it's 5 to10 days in hospital, whereas the keyhole surgery can be in and out in the day - the key thing is post recovery and pain management....(in my case the op was late, I needed a good wad of morphine (more please) and they kept me in overnight, out at 9.
If I was you two, I'd also contact my surgeon and see if there is any way he could move your OH up the list - you only need say ten days max between the op and going abroad on a normal keyhole procedure, three weeks would be ideal.
It's not worth it - and I have been through it. It started in the US (where I was insured) but I ended up having the keyhole here.
Do not allow it to go on too long - the operation is relatively minor (usually), the risk increasing with the length of time the gall bladder fills up. If they do have to go in, that is not a small operation and it's 5 to10 days in hospital, whereas the keyhole surgery can be in and out in the day - the key thing is post recovery and pain management....(in my case the op was late, I needed a good wad of morphine (more please) and they kept me in overnight, out at 9.
If I was you two, I'd also contact my surgeon and see if there is any way he could move your OH up the list - you only need say ten days max between the op and going abroad on a normal keyhole procedure, three weeks would be ideal.
Thanks Dt, that's really good advice. We called today and tried to move the op forward, but they said 4-6 weeks before he could fly (it is only the keyhole surgery-not the other lengthy procedure).
The thing is, if it were really bad wouldn't they rush the surgery up? Is he just supposed to out his life on hold indefinitely until they decide to operate? He is terrified of doing anything other than just sitting on the sofa at the moment (he's semi retired so no full time job)
The thing is, if it were really bad wouldn't they rush the surgery up? Is he just supposed to out his life on hold indefinitely until they decide to operate? He is terrified of doing anything other than just sitting on the sofa at the moment (he's semi retired so no full time job)
From what you say you booked the insurance before he got ill, so why not just cancel, claim on the insurance then go somewhere when he has recovered. Appreciate you will miss the festival but you must tell the insurance Company before you go because if anything goes wrong out there they will not pay out. You may find that they insist you cancel anyway to minimise any losses that have to pay.
^^^ no we haven't organised any insurance yet, just flights and hotels..that's the problem.
I have a year round policy as i travel with my job...but i'm not the one thats ill so i won't get anything back.
He's 61 and has never been ill in his life (apart from the odd cold etc) ad this was his first ever trip to hospital),just bad timing, "sod's law" I suppose.
LOL about finding fat free/unspicy food!!! The good thing is when i usually go to this festival, i tend to stick to some really nice restaurants and eat healthy salds (with no dressing) etc...we still have about 6-7 weeks before we're due to go, so we will look into the insurance options and monitor his health and review again in a couple of weeks.
I have a year round policy as i travel with my job...but i'm not the one thats ill so i won't get anything back.
He's 61 and has never been ill in his life (apart from the odd cold etc) ad this was his first ever trip to hospital),just bad timing, "sod's law" I suppose.
LOL about finding fat free/unspicy food!!! The good thing is when i usually go to this festival, i tend to stick to some really nice restaurants and eat healthy salds (with no dressing) etc...we still have about 6-7 weeks before we're due to go, so we will look into the insurance options and monitor his health and review again in a couple of weeks.
I was diagnosed with gallstones in early November after a number of attacks and generally feeling crap, my GP phoned to confirm on the Thursday (my birthday, ha!), I started feeling really ill on the Saturday and by Sunday night I was in the Emergency Surgery Unit via A&E with acute cholecystitis. Was in until the Friday and had a miserable time of things up them them taking it out on 9 March - had a laprosopic job and out in a day but it was on the way to septic and had split with stones having escaped - I had gone yellow before the op and had liver stuff even showing up in my wee on tests. I was off work for 2 weeks and even then it was hard going so I wouldn't have considered going abroad for at least another 2/3 weeks after that (I had underestimated recovery).
Going to a festival, let alone abroad, would not have been an option for me. I hardly went out save work and day to day stuff let alone ate out. I stuck to a low fat diet and still suffered, as Jack said it can help not aggravate things in some cases but won't stop attacks or worse. I'd have felt very uncomfortable with the thought of going and about anyone who tried to pressure me into going, especially if my health was at stake.
Even having general discomfort on a plane, let alone an attack or worse would have played on me, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Worst case scenario, what it something went wrong in the air - I've seen in some airline conditions about charging passengers if emergency care or landings have to be undertaken, especially with reasonable forseeable problems (not sure how right that is).
Others have covered what it could cost in the states apart from having to go through that many miles from home with the person who persuaded you to go against your better judgment (I don't mean to sound too mean but I think that's how I'd feel).
Also note that, as I found out, they won't, if they can avoid it, operate on an infected gallbladder so it a stone got stuck and it got inflamed and infected then he could be in hospital a while before it settles enough for them to be happy to operate, then waiting for a surgery space and recovery (possibly longer if problems before) then the time before is allowed and is able to fly home (also taking into account the airline's ok to take him to fly). Factor in not just the treatment but the additional costs of accommodation and meals and other things, including likely having to get other flights back. It could end up costing you a hell of a lot more than cancelling.
I hadn't realised how bad gallstones could be before, how ill they can make you and, especially once you've had problems once, the fear of it happening again or something going wrong (things can get very serious and very quickly!).
Having been through it, there is no way I'd go.
Going to a festival, let alone abroad, would not have been an option for me. I hardly went out save work and day to day stuff let alone ate out. I stuck to a low fat diet and still suffered, as Jack said it can help not aggravate things in some cases but won't stop attacks or worse. I'd have felt very uncomfortable with the thought of going and about anyone who tried to pressure me into going, especially if my health was at stake.
Even having general discomfort on a plane, let alone an attack or worse would have played on me, I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Worst case scenario, what it something went wrong in the air - I've seen in some airline conditions about charging passengers if emergency care or landings have to be undertaken, especially with reasonable forseeable problems (not sure how right that is).
Others have covered what it could cost in the states apart from having to go through that many miles from home with the person who persuaded you to go against your better judgment (I don't mean to sound too mean but I think that's how I'd feel).
Also note that, as I found out, they won't, if they can avoid it, operate on an infected gallbladder so it a stone got stuck and it got inflamed and infected then he could be in hospital a while before it settles enough for them to be happy to operate, then waiting for a surgery space and recovery (possibly longer if problems before) then the time before is allowed and is able to fly home (also taking into account the airline's ok to take him to fly). Factor in not just the treatment but the additional costs of accommodation and meals and other things, including likely having to get other flights back. It could end up costing you a hell of a lot more than cancelling.
I hadn't realised how bad gallstones could be before, how ill they can make you and, especially once you've had problems once, the fear of it happening again or something going wrong (things can get very serious and very quickly!).
Having been through it, there is no way I'd go.
If you read back on my postings from this time last year you will see all the trouble my Son- in -Law had. And how it ruined his wedding day.as he was rushed into hospital the same day he was discharged to get married. No way would I tell anyone to chance it......which is what you are doing. It will cost you a lot of money if you do. Brenda x
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