Hi, over the the past few years I've been very poorly as most of us have been. Had all Cirrhosis symptoms except bleeding varices. Along side this I've had Chronic Cholecystitis seen by via CT and Ultrasound scans.
The hepatic consultant wanted a laproscopic removal of the gall bladder, but the gastro' consultant felt I was to ill to cope with it.
I'm sure lot's of you have had the same debilitating URQ pain associated with the same situation.
I've recently been given an appointment to see the gastro' team to discuss the options as my overall Cirrhosis health has improved a little.
Is there anyone else in the same situation?
The pain from the gallbladder issues have been so debilitating over the past few years, am I the only one?
Please advise. Thank you.
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Trewargas
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If it makes you feel better, you are not the only one. The pain is so severe that I thought I was having a heart attack and had multiple trips to the ER. They thought I was seeking pain killers. Finally diagnosed as chronic cholecystitis. Related to cirrhosis and HCC. They attempted gallbladder removal but was aborted due to complications. Then, doctors regrouped and started doing ERCPs and stents. Medication was Ursodiol 500mg twice a day. To date, I have had 11 ERCPs. Pain did reoccur making new stents needed. But, so far the chronic cholecystitis is manageable. Hope this information helps.Wayne
Thanks so much for your reply. It's been helpful to hear your story. But sorry to hear your initial procedure wasn't straight forward. Happy for you that symptoms now seem manageable.
I’m in a similar situation, 3 bad episodes of gallstone pancreatitis .
My local hospital were not happy to get involved in any surgery as my pre-existing compensated cirrhosis and varices muy course complication .
After 8 months of waiting for clinic appointments and repeated CT and MRI scans I’m waiting to hear from liver consultant if gallbladder removal can be done keyhole or open .
My episodes are impossible to predict, I have retired from my job as was spending more time off sick than at work .
I’m hoping that I will find out what is likely to be the outcome and be added to a waiting list soon . Fingers crossed.
No your not. Came.back to Scotland in 2020 after 45 years in South Africa where my medical was second.to none Now. Here in the Highlands
I have had pain from a stone the size of a golf in the gallbladder. One surgeon said he wont operate as I have COPD. No discussion with say the anesthetiist or anyone who would be involved. Now I'm more in bed than out. Having such trouble with innards due to painkillers and then having to take laxatives.
Welcome.home! Right! I think this crowd have just shortened my.life and weighed me down with depression 😫
I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I'm also on painkillers and laxatives to help cope. I can agree that it certainly badly effects you mentally.
Hi, I'm in exactly the same situation. I've been told the surgery risk is very high ( I will tell you the statistic the surgeon gave me only if you want to hear it!) but like you the gallbladder pain is ruining and running my life. I've decided to go for it (I think!) Do you find you have pain most of the time? I do. My gastro consultant said that gallbladder pain isn't usually constant but the surgeon didn't seem surprised by it. Regardless of your decision I wish you well and would be interested to hear how you are getting on 😊
I do have pain pretty much all the time with fairly regular bouts of acute excruciating pain. I'm taking painkillers everyday to manage, although I don't like doing so because of the side effects and possibility of addiction.What are the statistics you mentioned, if you don't mind sharing.
Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your pain, I'm in the same situation and take morphine - as sparingly as I can.The surgeon said one in 50 will die during surgery, it is unlikely to be completed as keyhole surgery so then there are risks of infection. He also said there was a chance (I think a high one, I have more questions for him) of the surgery 'flipping' the liver into decompensation with hepatic encephalopathy. He said this would happen immediately if it was going to happen so would be managed in hospital. He said this was recoverable from.
It's a lot to think about. At first I wished I didn't know all these things (and that I'd told my son), but now I think it's better to go in knowing it may not be easy, but in may case, I hope worth it.
Thanks for your reply! My gastro' appointment is next week so your knowledge/information will certainly be useful during the consultation.I wish you well. Take care.
You too. I haven't reached out on here really so it was interesting to see someone in the same boat, though I am sorry you're going through it too. I hope you get somewhere with your consultant (can you ask them how high the risk of decompensation and H.E is?!!!) If you forget to ask anything, I'll ask mine! 😉 I'm going to have my surgery done at king's hospital (if they give the final ok) so my condition might be worse than yours, or different, which is why I didn't want to chuck any potentially scary or misleading statistics at you. But I'm happy to answer anything I can. All the best, I'll be looking out to see how you are getting on 😊
Hi. I had my gastro meeting with the consultant today re possible gallbladder removal.
As we had previously discussed together here is a precis of his thoughts:
The consultant reiterated that he agreed that I was too I'll a several years ago to have a removal. He agreed with the hepatic consultant that my bloods had improved since then, BUT he was still very concerned, particularly because of the on-going pulmonary hypertension. Simply put he was concerned that the chance of uncontrolled bleeding during the procedure had a 70% likelihood of being fatal.
I asked him about possible HE and ascites issues following the procedure, but he said they were irrelevant because of the % fatality chances.
He didn't completely rule out the procedure and is organising MRI/CT images as well as reports from anesthetics and the hepatic surgeon. So I'm left feeling rather dispondant tonight.
His parting comment was "would you rather be in pain and alive, or not around"?
I hope you have more positive results when you next meet your consultant.
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