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Gallstones - gamechanger or no big deal?



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My PCP sent me for an abdominal ultrasound as part of my regular checkup. Gallstones were discovered. PCP advised that she could refer me to have a removal if I was having symptoms, I have been off and on for some time, but they hadn't been terrible and I was just living with the irregular bouts of discomfort. I'm done with all my pre-surgery clearances and just waiting to get through my last 2 dietician appointments. What I'm wondering is - should I contact my surgeon's office to let them know about the gallstones. Wondering what the likely outcome will be, if it'll be safe to go ahead as planned or if this is going to delay my sleeve surgery or if I need to see if I can have my GB removed at the same time. Anyone had gallstones prior to surgery and not had to have GB removed?

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I hear it used to be common to remove gallbladder during weight loss surgery. I’d ask your surgeon’s advice on it.

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My surgeon had me do a stomach ultrasound at preop to determine if removing the gallbladder was necessary. It is very common to have your gall bladder out at the same time as it is in the location of the surgery. Definitely tell your surgeon and they can advise you further on this.

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Actually, getting my gallbladder out is what led to me getting wls, because when the surgeon was in there my liver looked awful and he recommended wls, but had I not had it removed, my bariatric surgeon said he would have removed it at the same time as my wls. You should be fine!

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Thanks all, I'm going to give my surgeon a call once I've had my dietician appointment tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be able to see me soon and figure out if we can remove the gallbladder at the same time.

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Update - I asked my PCP to send my scan report to my Bariatric surgeon. They called me immediately after receiving my scans. Surgeon wants to see me next week to talk about scheduling gallbladder removal and my surgery.

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Had my gallbladder removed Monday. I'd hoped to have both at the same time but my surgeon doesn't like to do it that way. I guess this is kind of a test run for sleeve surgery I hope to get in April.

I feel a little traumatized as I remember coming to during the surgery, and of course I'm in pain right now and the though of another surgery so soon is not appealing. Hoping that I'll get over that soon enough. I'm using this to my advantage and practicing my clear broth stage, then I'll try out some shake/puree days.

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