Hiiii... I am suffering from intense abdominal pain at right side and I was diagnosed with cholelithiasis.. and also with jaundice.. and my surgeon planned laparoscopic cholecystectomy... But before surgery I went through mrcp.. and the mrcp result is normal with no calculus in the gallbladder... Am confused whether to go for surgery r not
If you can put up with the pain leave it as long as you can wish I had I got mine out eighteen months ago and still get the pain and burping for hours on end doc thinks I might have a hernia now ☹
I had ultrasound which showed small gallstones. Was then admitted a few weeks later and had another ultrasound which didn't see the stones and had a normal mrcp scan too. 4 weeks later was then admitted again with cholecystitis and ultrasound there was possibly small stones. By that point I was already feeling horrendous constantly. Had laparoscopic cholecystectomy the week after. So glad i did it, even after ending up with a wound infection 3 weeks post-surgery and managing to tear some of the stitches. The jaundice will no doubt some back and is serious too so I'd recommend getting the gallbladder out as soon as possible xx
Hi Asha
You may have very tiny stones or sludge that cause the same symptoms as gallstones or it could be that your gallbladder just is not functioning as it should. Either way, can you go on having intermittent pain and other symptoms continually disrupting your life?
If you're not having gallbladder issues to what does your surgeon attribute jaundice? Jaundice is a clear warning that something is not right. You are in danger of septic shock from jaundice, which is life threatening. Also, should the gallbladder rupture, you are in danger of peritonitis, which is also life threatening. A sick gallbladder can affect your pancreas, bowels and liver too.
I would have no doubts about the surgery. I was exhausted from repeated painful attacks that were debilitating and could last up to five days and I could not eat or sleep during these attacks and lost four stones in weight. I also developed jaundice and was in danger of sepsis. Even eating a low fat diet will not reduce the attacks in the long term. You reach the point where you just know there's no option but to have the surgery. Meanwhile, you are putting yourself at risk. The longer you put off, the riskier it gets.
Do not shrug it off as 'just gallstones'. Just because it can be treated laparoscopically, people tend to minimise the seriousness of gallbladder disease. I won't kid you, often surgery is not the end of problems, but more often it is.