So here I am. Day two in the hospital. Gallbladder removed and another procedure tomorrow to remove a stone that's stuck in my bile duct.

2 months ago, I had Gastric Sleeve - my surgeon and I had a lengthy discussion about whether or not he would remove my gallbladder at the time of surgery. He opted not to - he said it looked fine in the pre-op scan and didn't think it would be an issue. However, I tried to plead my case that gallbladders have a tendency to "go bad" after WLS.

So my question, how many ended up needing their gallbladder removed and how many surgeons actually removed it at the time of WLS?

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Having surgery 8/24 my surgeon wants me to have it removed says i have alot of stones.

I have read that having your gallbladder removed can cause weight gain has anyone experienced this at all or any changes in digestion?

I have read that having your gallbladder removed can cause weight gain has anyone experienced this at all or any changes in digestion?

I had to have my gallbladder out in early 2001. I had lost 40 measly pounds in 3 or 4 months on Weight Watchers. My youngest daughter was 3 at the time and I remember telling the surgeon I had experienced a lot of heartburn with her (my fourth pregnancy) He said I probably had gallstones even back then. I gained a lot of weight through 4 pregnancies in 6 years. Anyway, like most of us yo yo dieters I did gain the 40 pounds back, and then some, but I don't think lack of a gallbladder causes weight gain. I did have diarrhea for years off and on after the surgery, but it was better than the churning and burning in my stomach caused by gallstones. Avoiding heavy or fatty foods helped, but WLS people should be doing that anyway.

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@@Pinkberry2 I don't believe weight gain can be associated with gallbladder removal.

Thank you all surgery in the Morning! Wish me luck

Good luck @Pinkberry2!!

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Edited August 25, 20169 yr by amanda0930

I've had mild gallbladder flareups since 2010. I've had ultrasounds where they did diagnose me with stones, but advised non fat diets. When I follow low fat diets, I don't have flareups but hey I am obese, so of course the flareup continue but not dangerously so. When I read about the percentage of people who had gallbladder removed AFTER the sleeve, I spoke to my surgeon and asked him to take it together. We did another scan and it still showed stones, so he said for sure, he'd take both my gallbladder and stomach at the same time (thru the same incision).

The morning of surgery, he stood at the end of my bed going through my binder of papers said he was looking for my scan because it was showing to remove my gallbladder and he said he doesn't remove healthy organs. I hadn't seen him in months, so he just had to review that. He took it out. No issues.

I was lucky I guess in that my gall bladder had gone bad during my first pregnancy so I went in without one, but my surgeon says he has seen so many people need to come back for gall bladder surgery that he opts to take it out as part of the procedure for sleeve and RNY patients.

FWIW my surgeon's protocol is to palpate the gallbladder at the time of WLS and if there are any stones he removes it. He says his patients have only rarely had gallbladder problems when he didn't feel any stones during the surgery.

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Sleeved in May of 2015, never had gallbladder issues up to that point. To date I've lost 80lbs. Discussed my gallbladder with my WLS surgeon prior to surgery and he said no worries, my gallbladder looks fine. Started having attacks about 8 months later and then in August 2016 couldn't take it anymore and had my gallbladder out because it was so bad. My dr who did the surgery said it's very common in WLS patients after surgery to have issues, especially once you start eating "fatty" foods again whether they are good or bad fats. Feel better soon. It took me until just these past few weeks to get my stools back to normal. Had loose stools for 2 months afterwards.

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