heidi- gallbladder

[Guest guest]

Good afternoon, Heidi

I, too, have always had a healthy gallbladder. That is until now. Actually, now

I don't even have one! LOL! And, I've had pancreatitis for over 10 yrs- my 1st

acute attack back in 1989. So, I, too, have it in reverse order and definitely

shows that I don't have gallbladder induced pancreatitis. Anyway, because I have

Hepatitis C, I get an annual abdominal ultrasound. Until now, they've been

negative. This year it picked up gallstones. Go figure! Go for 1 thing and find

out something else. My doctor's fear was that the stones would travel through

the ducts and get caught by the pancreas causing more problems. He also said the

surgery is easier done electively than it is on an emergency basis.

As to whether the doctors mentioned a potential pancreatitis attack to me- the

answer is no. But, since the pancreas is so close and they do inflate the

abdomen with CO2 and I already had an elevated amylase going in, I'm not really

surprised.

As for what led me to surgery- I guess the 1st paragraph answers that. But, I

think that some of my upper right quadrant pain could have been attributed to

the gallbladder. The pathology report indicated cholecystitis (inflamed

gallbladder) which in itself can be problematic. My GI doc still believes that

I will feel better in the long run from this surgery. I have my doubts but one

can only hope. The problem I have is that I have problems with overlapping

symptoms ie. gallbladder, pancreatitis, hepC so it's a bit hard to distinguish

what's what.

Heidi, you mentioned that you are having problems in that area. Can you be more

specific about your symptoms? Are you, in addition to pain, experiencing

indigestion, probably pretty chronic? I know mine was much worse than ever

before but didn't know it was gallbladder til I had that ultrasound for my

liver. If, in fact, you are having gallbladder trouble and require surgery (and

I hope you don't), I will be happy to help you through it and will be more

specific regarding the procedure and aftercare, etc.

Please don't hesitate to ask me more questions as I'm not sure I covered

everything you needed.

Be well, Heidi

Jill