Gallbladder Surgery

I just had mine removed. The only problem I've had was I get nauseated if the fat content in my food is too high. I find that a vegetarian diet sits better. Other than that I've been fine. I also lost about 6 lbs since the surgery

I had Mine removed Last June.. And Havnt had any Issues Since..
The Procedure was very Straight Forward, And I believe its a lot better than having it removed after you have an Infection. (the Diffrence is between 4 small scars and a Huge Scar..
I def. have not regretted getting this done, I had 3 Major attacks (with a month between them) prior to getting the galbladder removed. And thats not an Experience I wish to relive..

With that said, My Understanding is that the Glablader stones could get created in the Liver, after the Galbladder is removed, if you choose to Eate the same Crap as before you had the Galbladder removed.. So a Change of Lide Style is Still needed after the Removal..

Also, Prior to my surgery, I did a lot of Reasearch (Primarely Google), and Some of the Horror Stories out there really Freaked Me out prior to My Surgery..
But as said, The Surgery is Not a Decision I have regretted. (just make sure you dont Believe the Stories saying you can go back to work after a Couple of Days.. I Didnt go back for a Week.. (Milk it for what its Worth.. )

I had my gall bladder removed 12 years ago. To my surprise, I developed gallstones again 4 years ago and had to have another outpatient procedure to remove them.

This is my post taken from a previous topic on the same matter (edited a bit):

"I had my gallbladder removed March two years ago. In order to talk about the diet I was on post-surgery, I feel the need to explain a little bit about what happened pre-surgery.

About a year before I had my surgery, I had my first "attack." I was still living with my mom (20 years old at the time, if that makes any kind of difference), and we had absolutely no idea what was going on. I can't remember what I ate, but it was the thing to set it off (as is the case most of the time). My ribs were hurting and after I calmed down a bit, it went away. Then the attacks started happening more frequently and we found out that it was because of the food I was eating and my gallbladder needed to be removed. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have insurance at the time.

So a year passed and things got worse. It started out with me cutting out dairy products (cheese was my worst nightmare), fatty junk foods such as pudding or greasy chips, fried foods, etc. As that year progressed, things got worse and worse. It got to the point I couldn't even eat lean meats or believe it or not, unseasoned/buttered vegetables. Drinking a glass of water would set me off. The hospital didn't want to take it out unless I had insurance, paid upfront, or set up a pre-paid payment plan (which would've taken longer). Finally, the very last attack I had I could not tolerate it anymore. Pain killers were not helping me and I was at the end of dealing with it. So my mom drove me out of town to a hospital known for it's donating services and I ended up getting the surgery needed. Ironically enough, the doctors were amazed it wasn't taken out sooner as I was at a very high risk of developing more serious health problems. "

Now? The only time I have any kind of problem is if I sit and eat a bunch of fried food. And I'm talking a huge amount. Otherwise, I'm just fine.

I think the reason they suggest removal is that you don't want to wind up in a situation where an obstruction ( stone) causes an infection. Then the situation becomes a whole lot more critical.

My diet was clean, by the way. Hardly ever any fried foods (my entire life), no foods that are typical of gall bladder disease. I was about 30 lbs. overweight the first time and very fit the second time.

It's not an easy decision to make but on balance removal seems to be infinitetly preferable to some of the complications that can develop. In a family of 6, 5 of us have had problems with our gallbladders, both parents and 2 out of 3 siblings. I was the one with the complications. Both parents and both siblings have had no problems and followed a normal healthy diet with few limitations.
Be advised by your medical team and take their advice. Do not put it off. It's much better to deal with the situation under controlled conditions than to be faced with a sudden emergency.

As a previous poster said, sometimes you can still have problems afterwards if they fail to remove all of the stones. I had an emergency ERCP for a stone that was lodged in the common bile duct two years ago and was making me jaundiced (fun times!), and then they went ahead and removed the gallbladder since it was clearly throwing stones and was infected. I have had a few minor digestive issues since then, but nothing bad, certainly no pains that even compare to the gallbladder attacks.

All the liver does is manufacture the bile - if your surgeon makes sure to clear all of the ducts connecting the gallbladder to the liver and stomach then you shouldn't have recurring problems.

For the record, your gallbladder has to be pretty crazy infected for them to not be able to do the laparoscopic procedure - mine looked terrible (they showed me the picture afterwards - normal gallbladders are green ... mine was white) and they didn't have to do the big incision. If you don't have to have an emergency procedure like I did then you'll also be able to check out your surgeon ahead of time and make sure that they know you want the less invasive procedure.

Some other things that can throw off your gallbladder - changing your diet drastically, and doing anything that will cause the gallbladder to contract less often thereby allowing more stones to form (this includes eating very little, losing a lot of weight, and taking hormonal birth control since estrogen has the anti-contraction effect).

I had mine out nine months after my second child. I kept putting it off bc i was afraid to have an anesthetic. The day i had it out, the doctor said it was a good thing we did it bc it was about to rupture. I felt so much better after, like instantly. Don't put it off. Get it out. I didn't realize how sick i was until it was gone. Never looked back.

I had mine removed and have not had any more symptoms or problems. I had heard rumors from others of having to run to the bathroom after eating certain foods, but I have not encountered that problem.