Hi all,

I've got my Sx date for Feb 12 and I couldn't be more excited. I'm already down 27.4 lb since starting the approval process in late December. As I get closer to my date and my last pre-op next week, I do have a question for you all:

How hard should I press my surgeon to consider removing my gall bladder?

I have a dear friend who had VSG two years ago and several aquaintances - more than half have had to have their gall bladders removed since. The rest describe themselves as 'ticking time bombs' and all have emphasized how important it is I have mine taken out now. Has anyone here had a similar experience? Or perhaps a strong counter-narrative?

Obviously I'll as my Dr. and follow his advice, but I also have the most amazing surgeon who is very patient centered and willing to at least consider anything I ask. I don't want to waste his time or mine, but I won't be able to afford having my gall bladder out after the fact for several years while I'm paying off this surgery.

Thanks! Smye07

I asked my surgeon this past week this same question. He said that he would only take it out if there was previous trouble with my gall bladder or gall stones. So he's not taking mine out. Darn!

I am newly sleeved, but had my gall bladder out over nine years ago and my opinion.... Find a surgeon who will take it out or say you've been having trouble. I've had two children and several kidney stones. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING feels like a gall bladder attack. Have it removed!!

@@allyray, I suggest you talk to your primary doctor and see if you can get a referral for a sonogram to see if you have gallstones.

I had my first gallbladder attack 10 days after VSG surgery. My VSG surgeon took out my gall bladder (with 30 gallstones) 3 weeks later. Later, he told me that he used to do a sonogram pre-surgery and take out gallbaldders with lots of stones. But that now insurance won't spring for the pre-surgical ultrasound of the gallbladder, unless someone is complaining of their gallbladder.

So I said, "So what I SHOULD have said before having VSG surgery was (while placing my hand just under my right breast, 'I have been having these strange sensations here under my right breast and around to my right back just under my right shoulder blade. Do you think that could be a problem with my gall bladder?' And if I'd said that you'd have had me do an ultrasound and, consequently, you'd have discovered I had 30 gallstones going into VSG surgery and you could have removed my gallbladder too. Right?"

He grinned and said, "Right!"

Thanks to you all, this is very helpful!

Unless you have documented gallbladder issues there is a good chance your insurance won't cover it. Mine did an ultrasound during pre-admission a week before surgery. But he does not routinely remove them. He wants to make sue I don't have gallstones and it provides a baseline for if I have problems.

20+ years ago when I started paying health insurance the surgeon would remove the appendix during any abdominal surgery. It was an easy few hundred bucks for the surgeons. Once the insurance companies stopped paying for it the doctors stopped finding it medically necessary to remove.

While I understand gallstones are a common side effect of weightloss surgery it may not happen to you. You have a very small sample size for the 50%. I don't know what percent of overall surgeries have an issue let alone enough of an issue to have it removed.

Unless I had a previous issue or my ultrasound showed a potential issue then I would not want the extra stress to my body of having the gallbladder removed. While we don't 100% need a gallbladder it does have a function- unlike the appendix.

Okay per WebMD 15%-25% need the gallbladder removed after surgery. A percentage of those may have had issues or stones prior to the weight loss surgery.

They can prescribe Actigall to help prevent gallstones