I have gallstones. Has anyone had their gallbladder removed at the same time they got their lapband? I've had a consult with two different surgeons and they both say something different. One says to remove the gallbladder at the same time because there's no sense in having to go through surgery twice. The other surgeon says to wait a month between surgeries.

Your experiences welcomed.

Thanks.

Debi

Some docs believe that the band is a clean surgery, and the gall bladder is a higher bacteria surgery. The band is going into healthy clean tissue, the gall bladder has a problem. I was told that I had to wait to have the gallbladder removed. I had surgery in July 05 and my gallbladder in Feb 06. I was thinner and more able to quickly recover, I'm glad I waited. ~Mandy

There is a big difference between gallstones and an acute infectious process. I found the gallbladder surgery (2001) to be much easier than the lapband surgery. If I were given the choice (I'm an RN) I would have both surgeries at the same time. You go under anesthesia once, you don't need 2 hsopitalizations and the risk of developing surgical adhesions is lessened. Why wait?

I understand the difference between the stones and infection. My doctor and the new doctor agrees, that doing both are not reccomended. I was at the foot doctor today and ask about having a neuroma removed at the same time as I have my tubes tied. He advised against it, saying that multiple proceedures are a bad idea. So that's the third surgeon to tell me one proceedure at a time is best. ~Mandy

I have gallstones. Has anyone had their gallbladder removed at the same time they got their lapband? I've had a consult with two different surgeons and they both say something different. One says to remove the gallbladder at the same time because there's no sense in having to go through surgery twice. The other surgeon says to wait a month between surgeries.

Your experiences welcomed.

Thanks.

Debi

sorry you're getting 2 different opinions from your doctors, but here comes another opinion:

i would NOT recommend gall bladder removal AT ALL. don't do it! you just won't digest the same after the removal. there are other surgeries and ways to "dissolve" the gall stones & let them pass through without having to remove the entire organ. we need our gall bladder to digest properly!

best of luck & keep us posted...

Hi Debi, I had mine removed after the birth of my 2nd son. I have heard good results having it removed at the time of lapband. I wouldn't want to go through 2 surgeries either. Good luck.

Thanks for your responses. I really don't want to go through surgery twice. I'm nervous about doing it once. The gastroenterologist told me that it's very possible I'll have trouble digesting fatty foods after gallbladder removal, since the bile from the gallbladder is no longer breaking down the fats before they reach the stomach. I think I have that explanation right, or it's something close to that. However, right now I have pressure in my stomach anytime I eat anything, and I feel nauseous a lot of the time. I don't think my gallbladder would last long after getting the lapband and losing some weight.

Regards... Debbie

my wife had the gallbladder removed already, plus c-sections. Now contemplating banding, but fearing the scarring could cause complications.

Any experiences?

I was contacted Monday (7/6/09) by my surgeon's physician's assistant . He asked me if I've had any problems/symptoms with my gall bladder. I told him I did not even know what symptoms of a problematic gall bladder would be. He said I would have pain in my right side radiating toward my back after consumming high fat meals. I told him I had not experienced that and asked him why he was asking. Apparently the Upper Right Quad Ultrasound I had done as part of pre-op testing showed "sludge," whatever that means, in my gall bladder and they wanted to make sure I was not having any issues before we proceed with the lapband. Having read on here that a number of people have their gall bladder removed at the same time as having their band placed, I asked him about this. He advised that the inside of the gall bladder is considered "dirty" and the preference is not to do both procedures at the same time. He also told me that if they do both at the same time and then there are post-surgery issues it is harder to determine whether it is the gall bladder removal or the band placement that is causing problems for the patient. Made sense to me.

my wife had the gallbladder removed already, plus c-sections. Now contemplating banding, but fearing the scarring could cause complications.

Any experiences?

I had 3 c-sections (1989, 1992, & 1996) I also had an abdominal hysterctomy in 2005. Not scheduled for my band surgery yet, but my surgeon has not given me any indication that my prior surgeries will pose any problems. Thanks for bringing it up though, as I never even thought to ask this question. I know it was because of my 3 c-sections that the surgeon who did my hysterectomy opted to do it abdominally vs. vaginally.

I had my gall bladder removed in March and my Lap Band July 7th. My gastro doctor recommended I do it before the banding because he said it helps in weight loss. The scars from the gall badder surgery are minimal compared to the lap band scars. I wouldn't do them both at the same time,that seems like too much on the body.

Normandy, I had a C-section that had to be re-opened a few years later to repair an incisional hernia and I had my gallbladder removed back when they cut you from the sternum to your appendix. My surgeon said he had one banding that he could not perform laprascopically because of extensive scarring from an open gallbladder removal -- but had no problems with mine.

Realistically, the C-section scarring is much lower and therefore out of the way. Likely your wife had laprascopic gallbladder surgery (wish they did that back in 1984!), which produces a lot less scarring than what I had.

I too was told I have to have gallbladder rmoved first. Then the the lap band later. My lap band surgeon is going to do both surgeries but not at the same time . He said the risk of doing both at the same time might create a cross contamination that he is not willing to risk since the gallbladder is so close to the liver and close proximity of where the lap band will be sitting. Makes since to me

After losing over 100 lb when I was 18 I ended up having to get my gallbladder removed. I also had sludge. Gallbladder attacks are HORRIFIC. Yes Cap letters. Terrible and nightmareish are two other words to discribe the pain. When you loose a lot of weight it is more likely that you will have a gallbladder problem. Knowing what I know now I would have it removed before it started causing attacks. Did I mention the pain is horrific? Hard to breath and or stand up. One night in college I had to be rushed to the hospital my friend though I might have bleeding ulcers.

My doctor does not combine the surgeries. At a presurgery class one of the nurses mentioned they had only once removed the glallbladder (they have done thousands of lapbands). It was necrotic (meaning the tissue was dead); leaving it in would have been malpractice.

I had mine taken out old school which means I have a 4 inch scar (again I was pretty thin at the time. My lap band surgeon said "You must have been rather thin when you had that surgery because your scar is so "small"). They now use different procedures to remove the gall bladder which makes for a smaller scar.