Gall bladder problems after surgery?

[want2lose 1]

Has anyone had any gall bladder problems after VSG? If so, how long after? Did anyone have their gall bladder removed with the surgery?

[Tiffykins 673]

I had my gallbladder removed at 8 months post-sleeve, but started experiencing symptoms that I simply ignored around 6 months out. My surgeon doesn't remove it with surgery because only 1/4 of his patients require gb removal post-op.

[Booklean 4]

Hi.

I had my gallbladder removed at the same time I was sleeved. I had my surgery just 6 days ago. I had several stones in the gallbladder but was asymptomatic.

I am doing well post-op. Wondering whether I will have a longer recovery time?

Bookleen

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I had mine out 7 months after surgery. I got really sick from ignoring or not recognizing the gall bladder issues. It's pretty common for people to have their gall bladder out after any kind of WLS.

[rlocke6500 0]

I had my sleeve on January 26th and I found out I have gallstones last week and I'm having my gallbladder removed tomorrow. I really wish they would have removed it with my VSG considering I am going to have 4 more cuts on my stomach along with my other 5, plus more time off work..ugh...oh well.

So ladies that have already had this done...What is recovery like after this surgery? Can you go back to eating normal afterward?

[HEARTONMYSLEEVE 1]

I actually had my gallbladder removed several years prior to surgery. I had it removed when I was about 21. Which I guess is pretty young to have your gallbladder removed. I had a phase at about 19 that I lost about 70 pounds in about 5 or 6 months. It was the smallest I ever was at about 140-150. But as you can probably guess I never ate anything and when I started to eat again it didn't take that long to put most of the weight back on and then a few years later almost more than I started with. But I am pretty sure that rapid weight loss is the leading cause of gallstones with or without weight loss surgery. I can tell you that I started having symptoms not long after I lost all the weight and it was dreadful but no one could figure out what was wrong with me I suppose because no doctor thought someone my age would have gallstones. I went to the hospital several times as I didn't have insurance. I was going to school and waitressing so insurance wasn't an option I had at the time. I was sent home every time with mylanta and gas medicine. It wasn't until a stone got lodge in my bile duct and I was vomiting no lie every 3 minutes and in so much pain that I thought I was going to die and I called an ambulance to come and take me to the hospital as I was home alone that anyone actually took the time to figure out what was wrong with me. In the end my gallbladder became very infected and in turn I became septic. It was ugly my whole body turned yellow my urine was brown. I had to spend a week in the hospital still in pain on heavy antibiotics before they could even operate on me due to the sepsis. This is a long story and the only reason I am telling it is because I would never want to go through it again. It was the worst experience of my whole life and i have had to corrective orthopedic surgeries for scoliosis which were very rough on me but did not compare to the pain I was in with my gallbladder. If I knew what I know now I would definitely want the surgeon to take it out ahead of time if that was an option, especially if you have a family history of gallstones, which now I know I have. Also, even if your surgeon does not like to remove gallbladders at the same time, as I know some don't, please do not ignore the signs of gallstones because it is actually a very simple procedure with little recovery time but if you let it go on like I did you could spend weeks in the hospital and actually have to have an open operation if the infection doesn't clear in time. Which I was very close to having, luckily the antibiotics worked and I was able to have it laproscopically. Anyway, that was longer than I meant it to be but just beware because gallstones are really not that serious but they definitely can be if you let them.

[want2lose 1]

Thanks everyone for the replies. After reading many posts on different sites, we have decided that we will have the gall bladder removed at the same time. I appreciate everyones advice.

[Tiffykins 673]

I had my sleeve on January 26th and I found out I have gallstones last week and I'm having my gallbladder removed tomorrow. I really wish they would have removed it with my VSG considering I am going to have 4 more cuts on my stomach along with my other 5, plus more time off work..ugh...oh well.

So ladies that have already had this done...What is recovery like after this surgery? Can you go back to eating normal afterward?

I had ignored my symptoms for so long, and let my gb get so inflamed that I couldn't eat anything except full liquid stuff and crackers right before surgery.

Once I got home, I decided to stay on a pretty bland diet until I felt better. I stuck with chicken noodle Soup, crackers, yogurt, and other easily tolerated foods.

Now, that it's been 3 months since having my gb removed, I can no longer eat full fat salad dressing, cheeses or red marinara, spaghetti, or pizza sauce. I have residual pain in my shoulder, or I get a bit of diarrhea with these options. I wasn't able to eat avocados until just recently. It's not too bad considering I've been able to identify what triggers the pain, and diarrhea. But, I hate fat free stuff because it's chalked full of more sugar/carbs/sodium just to make it taste better.

My recovery was pretty easy. I was also scoped at the same time. I was discharged a couple of hours after surgery, and was drinking grape juice and eating some Teddy Graham crackers upon waking up in recovery. I felt pretty rough the next day, but my surgeon also snooped around in my abdomen, and took down a lot of scar tissue/adhesions. So, he did a bit more than just remove my gallbladder. I can tell you that I felt immediately better once I woke up in recovery, and had no pain when I ate/drank. I only had to take pain meds for a couple of days post op, and it was when I would overdo it. I was on restricted activity for 6 weeks because of the extra stuff he did during the surgery.

Good luck on the surgery, and hope it goes smoothly for you.

[Grateful Heart 7]

Just one more case. I had the sleeve on 2/4/10 and was admitted to the hospital on 3/17/10 with pancreatitis and again on 3/28/10. My surgeon was out of town on the first admit so the hospitilist just put me on bowel rest and IV for several days and sent me home. When my surgeon heard of my hospital stay he ordered gallbladder tests, but I had another attack of the pancreatitis before we could get the tests done. Long story short, I got the gallbladder jerked out and have had no more problems with the pancrease. I seemed to be a little more sore from the gallbladder surgery, but was back on my regular diet after I got home.

[carolyn24seven 11]

After my GB removal my husband made me warm chocolate pudding. runny mashed potatoes with out butter. This was back in 93 way before my sleeve. I cannot eat marinara sauce or ice cream or most anything full fat. I will get diarrhea before leaving. Instead, I take a small bite of thoes things and I am perfectly satisfied.

So, just eat your normal reccomended diet for sleeve and you will be fine. Your taste changes as you get out further on the sleeve anyway.

[ryansgirl 1]

i'm 9 months out and my gall bladder fine so i guess it depends.

[TexasT 99]

I also had my gall bladder removed during VSG surgery, in addition to removing my lapband and repairing an undiagnosed hernia. I feel great now and am thankful I was able to do it all in one surgery. Plus I was self-pay, so it helped that insurance covered the GB portion so I paid much less.

[judygettinsmaller 0]

Good morning, I was sleeved on December 14,2009 and on January 26, 2010 I had my GB out, went home a few hours later, by the next day I felt 1000% better. I can eat everything no issues.

[cwalker 12]

I am only a week out but I asked my surgeon to remove my gb but he wouldn't so I guess we'll see how it plays out.Carla

[gsleeve 1]

Could someone tell me what to watch out for and is this common after vsg? I wonder how common? Yikes...