New, pregnant, don't want unnecessary surgery...

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I am new to this group. I had my first gallstone attack about 2 1/2

weeks ago. I didn't know what it was -- had chest tightness/pain,

pain between my shoulders, nausea and vomiting. I went to the ER

and spent a horrible time there. I am now about 34/35 weeks

pregnant, so I was about 32 weeks pregnant at the time. The doctor

did a lot of tests -- an EKG, a chest cat scan, and a chest x-ray.

Ultimately, he said I was having heartburn and pregnancy related

nausea.

This is my third pregnancy and I KNOW this was not what the

doctor was diagnosing. I was very tired from not having slept all

night, frustrated and still vomiting a lot. I was also upset for

having agreed to so many tests that are best not done during

pregnancy (though later in pregnancy the risks are not as high). As

a precaution, the doctor sent me up to Labor and Delivery to have

the baby checked. A nearby nurse said that she thought I had

gallstones. I mentioned this to the nurse in L & D. They wanted to

do an ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok -- so they decided to

go ahead and look at my gallstone too.

My gallbladder apparently has lots of stones and sludge. They gave the

ultrasound report to the ER staff and then they added the gallstone problems to

my " heartburn " diagnosis. They said I would need surgery but it

could wait until after the baby is born. I had a follow-up appt

with my regular family doctor and she said pretty much the same

thing -- gave me a referral to a surgeon. I am not one who just

accepts things my doctor tells me and had been doing some research

about gallbladder surgery, as well as some alternatives to dealing

with gallstones. I mentioned the alternatives, but my doctor

brushed them aside. I don't agree with her and I feel like I would

like to try cleansing and other measures first.

I am surprised by how common gallbladder surgery is. Both my mom

and step-dad have had their gallbladders removed and now seem almost

alarmed that I told them I am looking at other ways of approaching

this instead of surgery. I think they think I am afraid of having

surgery. Well, of course I know there are risks to any surgery and

am reading about the risks in this particular surgery. My mom said

she is a " gallbladder expert, " but I don't think she read anywhere

about people having bowel problems and higher cholesterol after the

gallbladder is removed.

At leave five people have told me that they just had the surgery and it was so

easy. They raise their eyebrows when I respond that I am going to try other

measures before the surgery. *sigh* I should be used to this sort of thing

because not all of my childbirthing choices line up with mainstream thoughts,

but I do get so tired of how people are so quick to believe/accept

anything a DOCTOR says as the gospel truth.

I have been trying to make dietary changes to avoid further

attacks. I have read/heard about avoding so many different things

(some even conflicting). I think this will be a learning journey

for me and I hope I don't have to learn the " off limit " stuff the

hard way. For now, I am trying to make sure I don't eat too much

fat (eating non-fat or low fat protein sources). I am also trying

to watch refined carbs/sugars...which is my big downfall. I am also

limiting soy protein, which is something I tend to rely on as a

source of protein. Apparently, soy protein leads to an increase in

estrogen -- and between being pregnant and being me (an estrogen

dominant person), I don't need any more estrogen. I have read about

various foods that are supposed to help, such as radishes, beets,

lemon juice, and apple juice.

I have to say that I am a little depressed to think about living a highly

restrictive diet for the rest of my life. In some ways, it does seem just

having the gallbladder removed would be easier, but I sort look at this as a

wake up call to make some changes in my life. I think God gave me

this gallbladder for a reason -- maybe even if that reason is a way

to keep my diet in check. I am taking a few supplements to help:

milk thistle/dandelion combo and lechitin. Since I am pregnant, I

am not doing too many herbal remedies because it is hard to know

what is safe and what is not. I am also nursing (two year old) and

will nurse my newborn too -- so it may be quite some time before I

can do too much in the way of herbal treatments.

I would like to do some cleansing. My midwife is sort of leaving

this up to me. Another midwife that works with her says it will be

fine to do now. She did cleansing during pregnancies and had quite

good results. The main concern is that the cleansing *could* send

me into labor. I am thinking about waiting another couple of weeks

so it won't matter if the cleansing starts labor for some reason.

My midwives don't feel the amount of oil is anywhere near what you

would use if you were taking castor oil to try to start up labor. I

kind of want to do it BEFORE the baby is born because I feel it will

be easier than trying to do it AND take care of a newborn. I am

unsure though and any feedback about this is welcome. My chiro is

very supportive of cleansing and thinks most gallbladder surgery is

unnecessary. I guess I need to keep searching for a family doctor

who is more open to alternative choices...or who at least doesn't

want to send me to a surgeon without trying other remedies first.

Rondi

[Guest guest]

Rondi, it's so good of you to share your story with us. I admire you

for nursing your baby through your pregnancy. I did that with my

oldest daughter, too. It's not an easy thing to do, and boy does it

raise eyebrows! You're one brave woman, and I think you can easily

handle all the reaction to your decision to avoid gall-bladder

surgery.

You have really done your research! I'm very impressed! Do you have

an herbalist or naturopath that you go to? They would be so helpful

to guide you concerning what herbs you could take at this time.

The general consensus here is that a cleanse should not be attempted

while you are pregnant. But it sounds like you are getting some solid

advice from your midwife and helpers and I know you'll hear a lot

from people here, so I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Like you, I think the gall-bladder surgery rates are way too high.

When we moved to this area I was shocked to hear that some of my

friends had allowed their gall-bladders to be removed when they were

between 20 and 25 years of age! They also reported that they were

having the same kinds of problems that they had before their

surgeries, so they wished they hadn't bothered. I just don't believe

that we should carelessly dispose of an organ that has obviously been

serving a function in our bodies and now needs some help.

If you read some of the previous messages in this group you will be

doing yourself a favor. There are a lot of posts telling about veggie

juice concoctions that help our condition, and others talking about

why you shouldn't flush while pregnant, and others about ridding the

body of parasites and such.

I'm not worried about you. I can tell that you will teach yourself

what you need to know and emerge with wisdom and insight for those

around you and a knew knowledge about your own health.

Luci

" pinkmommy " wrote:

> Hello,

>

> I am new to this group. I had my first gallstone attack about 2

1/2

> weeks ago. I didn't know what it was -- had chest tightness/pain,

> pain between my shoulders, nausea and vomiting. I went to the ER

> and spent a horrible time there. I am now about 34/35 weeks

> pregnant, so I was about 32 weeks pregnant at the time. The doctor

> did a lot of tests -- an EKG, a chest cat scan, and a chest x-ray.

> Ultimately, he said I was having heartburn and pregnancy related

> nausea.

>

> This is my third pregnancy and I KNOW this was not what the

> doctor was diagnosing. I was very tired from not having slept all

> night, frustrated and still vomiting a lot. I was also upset for

> having agreed to so many tests that are best not done during

> pregnancy (though later in pregnancy the risks are not as high).

As

> a precaution, the doctor sent me up to Labor and Delivery to have

> the baby checked. A nearby nurse said that she thought I had

> gallstones. I mentioned this to the nurse in L & D. They wanted to

> do an ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok -- so they decided to

> go ahead and look at my gallstone too.

>

> My gallbladder apparently has lots of stones and sludge. They gave

the ultrasound report to the ER staff and then they added the

gallstone problems to my " heartburn " diagnosis. They said I would

need surgery but it

> could wait until after the baby is born. I had a follow-up appt

> with my regular family doctor and she said pretty much the same

> thing -- gave me a referral to a surgeon. I am not one who just

> accepts things my doctor tells me and had been doing some research

> about gallbladder surgery, as well as some alternatives to dealing

> with gallstones. I mentioned the alternatives, but my doctor

> brushed them aside. I don't agree with her and I feel like I would

> like to try cleansing and other measures first.

>

> I am surprised by how common gallbladder surgery is. Both my mom

> and step-dad have had their gallbladders removed and now seem

almost

> alarmed that I told them I am looking at other ways of approaching

> this instead of surgery. I think they think I am afraid of having

> surgery. Well, of course I know there are risks to any surgery and

> am reading about the risks in this particular surgery. My mom said

> she is a " gallbladder expert, " but I don't think she read anywhere

> about people having bowel problems and higher cholesterol after the

> gallbladder is removed.

>

> At leave five people have told me that they just had the surgery

and it was so easy. They raise their eyebrows when I respond that I

am going to try other measures before the surgery. *sigh* I should

be used to this sort of thing because not all of my childbirthing

choices line up with mainstream thoughts,

> but I do get so tired of how people are so quick to believe/accept

> anything a DOCTOR says as the gospel truth.

>

> I have been trying to make dietary changes to avoid further

> attacks. I have read/heard about avoding so many different things

> (some even conflicting). I think this will be a learning journey

> for me and I hope I don't have to learn the " off limit " stuff the

> hard way. For now, I am trying to make sure I don't eat too much

> fat (eating non-fat or low fat protein sources). I am also trying

> to watch refined carbs/sugars...which is my big downfall. I am

also

> limiting soy protein, which is something I tend to rely on as a

> source of protein. Apparently, soy protein leads to an increase in

> estrogen -- and between being pregnant and being me (an estrogen

> dominant person), I don't need any more estrogen. I have read

about

> various foods that are supposed to help, such as radishes, beets,

> lemon juice, and apple juice.

>

> I have to say that I am a little depressed to think about living a

highly restrictive diet for the rest of my life. In some ways, it

does seem just having the gallbladder removed would be easier, but I

sort look at this as a

> wake up call to make some changes in my life. I think God gave me

> this gallbladder for a reason -- maybe even if that reason is a way

> to keep my diet in check. I am taking a few supplements to help:

> milk thistle/dandelion combo and lechitin. Since I am pregnant, I

> am not doing too many herbal remedies because it is hard to know

> what is safe and what is not. I am also nursing (two year old) and

> will nurse my newborn too -- so it may be quite some time before I

> can do too much in the way of herbal treatments.

>

> I would like to do some cleansing. My midwife is sort of leaving

> this up to me. Another midwife that works with her says it will be

> fine to do now. She did cleansing during pregnancies and had quite

> good results. The main concern is that the cleansing *could* send

> me into labor. I am thinking about waiting another couple of weeks

> so it won't matter if the cleansing starts labor for some reason.

>

> My midwives don't feel the amount of oil is anywhere near what you

> would use if you were taking castor oil to try to start up labor.

I

> kind of want to do it BEFORE the baby is born because I feel it

will

> be easier than trying to do it AND take care of a newborn. I am

> unsure though and any feedback about this is welcome. My chiro is

> very supportive of cleansing and thinks most gallbladder surgery is

> unnecessary. I guess I need to keep searching for a family doctor

> who is more open to alternative choices...or who at least doesn't

> want to send me to a surgeon without trying other remedies first.

>

> Rondi