Gallbladder removal surgery...who's had it?

[live_in_hope]

Hi ladies! :wave:

For those of you who have had Gallbladder removal surgery (in the UK) i am just curious as to how long you had to wait from when the Dr said 'i'm referring you for surgery' to when you got the date for surgery? I have been marked down as 'Urgent' now as I have just had a miscarriage which I am blaming on my gallstones, obviously not the gallstones themselves but the stress of living in fear of eating and having an attack whilst pregnant, the severe weight loss (and im not overweight) and being run-down because of the drastic change of diet, then i got tonsillitis, so I feel it was all connected. so im hoping I wont have to wait too long. But im curious as to how long I will have to wait xxx

Thanks in advance xxx

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[MrsA82]

From been referred at the hospital to getting a date was around 3 months. I then asked for it to made urgent as my husband was due to deploy with Royal Navy and I didn't want to be alone with our son, so they gave it me the following week! Good Luck, you will feel so much better afterwards xx

 

[live_in_hope]

oh wow! so how long was it in the end once it was made urgent? I work in a school and break up for summer in 2 weeks then am on holiday for a week. So if it isnt this week, it has to be after 3 weeks... I have my consultation this weds which i only booked last thurs so i got that quite quickly im really excited! Coz having this procedure done would mean I can start TTC again im 28 and up until last week, id never had an operation and after my miscarriage surgery and soon to be gallbladder surgery, id have had two!

 

[tina3747]

My friend had hers, was referred as urgent as she went from Jan-June before the doctor picked up what it was. She actually had to ask her doctor to refer her for a scan after the googling she did pointed to gallstones. She was told she didn't fit into the criteria for it!! Because of this she was marked as urgent but had a 16 week wait. 72 stones altogether!! Within 2 days she felt a different person... Not pleased about the weight gain though ha!!
Another friend waited 10 days from her first consultation as she went private.

 

[Eternal]

Well it took 9 month from referral to seeing the doctor and I also lost baby to it too because it kept causing massive liver infections which killed my baby, when I got referred I was newly pregnant with twins, at 17 weeks pregnant I has a really bad attack, couldn't control pain, hospital were useless wouldn't give me anything for the pain, maternity admitted me as I couldn't keep anything down and then started bleeding, then tested me and the gallstones has caused pancreatitis, then the gallbladder surgeons panicked and insisted i have the surgery even though they felt it put my pregnancy in great danger.

So had the surgery, walked out next day, babies both perfectly healthy and no problems since.

The NHS here is useless, I know how horrible it is to lose a baby and if even considered private as I was so desperate, but I fell pregnant again.

I hope you get seen and sorted very soon.

 

[dgirllamius]

wow, why do you have to wait so long? I had a bad attack on a Friday and it was out on the Monday. even those few days were horrible, not knowing if an attack was going to happen. and waiting 6 months before finding out what it was? wow, that's pretty bad.

Hope you get yours soon, nothing worse than having an attack and there's sod all you can do. Just avoid high fat food as much as you can. Good luck!

 

[live_in_hope]

thanks ladies! Sounds like it varies so much! I wasnt even referred for surgery coz I was pregnant, he was sure they wouldnt touch me as I was expecting. Then as soon as I lost baby, I went to urgent.. I had my first attack in april, 2nd in may (which was where the hospital scanned me and confirmed gallstones) and ive had afew minor (but still exceptionally painful) attacks since. Ive lost nearly a stone after cutting fat from my diet, im scared to eat i dont fit the 'typical' criteria either. Im 28, average weight for my height (5ft 8). But my 8st, 5ft 2 mum had it along with her sisters who are also very small so its clear I have the hereditary form.. Really dont want to wait any longer to be honest...my poor husband wont even have sex with me incase he gets me pregnant and my surgery gets put off, which i totally understand coz this surgery is the most important thing at the minute...xx

 

[dgirllamius]

Man I feel so sorry for you. I know how it feels to be so scared to eat - I lost a ton of weight too because I was just so scared that anything I ate would cause an attack. It's not as if it's a complicated procedure that takes hours - I was in an out within an hour.

I don't understand why they don't get on with it - having gallstones can cause so many more complications. I guess it's just the cost of it - mine was just under 2000€ and my hospital say they do around 5 of those operations a week so it's fairly common and probably quite a strain, but still ... waiting so long and being scared to eat ain't on

 

[Melissa93]

its not the same but I've been told i need my kidney removed its not urgent but told I should get letter telling me when my appointment will b in about 6 weeks x

 

[wishuwerehere]

My sister was originally told 16 weeks i think but then she had a nasty bout of pancreatitis and they moved it up to the next available date...but it must've been about 6 weeks still I reckon. Good luck - my sister was pretty miserable with hers so i hope it's sorted soon!

 

[live_in_hope]

yer im pretty miserable to be honest, especially now I have lost my baby because of it i really really hope that I can get it done asap....im hoping I'll get there and they'll say, oh we have a cancellation tomorrow (thurs)....lol yes please!!! xx

 

[ellismum]

I'm having surgery tomorrow (neurosurgery, not gallstone related) I was told 8-12 weeks back in January yet I only received my date 2 weeks ago.

I hope you get a date quick, I've seen a close friend suffer and its not nice xxx

 

[Boomerslady]

I had mine out in 2010. I had my first attack when I was about 15 weeks preg, it took a while for them to diagnose it (even though I knew what it was and kept pushing for a scan, as my sis had the same thing, preg hormones bought on the attacks!) I actually had the scan the same day as my 20 week preg one!! Obviously they wouldn't touch me when preg and refused to operate until I was 3 months PP. I had roughly an attack a week during the lpregnancy, sometimes more and they'd always last 6 hours + I lost a lot of weight during my pregnancy lol and spent many a night rocking in the bathroom crying!

I got pancreatitis at 30 weeks preg, and again 4 times more after Ben was born. Was the worst time of my life, especially being separated from him so many times as a new born worst one was when he had to have an operation at 4 weeks old and I had an attack in the hospital toilets during the night and I was too scared to tell anyone as I didn't want to ,eave his side when he needed me.

Anyway rant over lol, I had my op at 3 months PP as that was the earliest time possible. Hopefully now you've been listed as urgent you'll get a date ASAP. I find with hospitals it's vital to get to know your consultants assistant. Call to make sure your down as urgent. Call again 2 days later to see how long the wait might be. Call again 2 days after that to see if there's any news!! You get what I mean!! Once your name is in thier head they are more likely to fit you in if a cancellation becomes available.

On another note I've been getting slight pain under my right boob just like gallstone pain, I had a stent put in my bile duct and got a nasty feeling stones have formed in there (which can happen) my GP won't do a thing as I'm bit having full on attacks, just niggling pain but arghh thought it was all over!!! Ill shut up now!!!!!