I would definitely have to be in a lot more discomfort than I currently am or at risk of some kind of danger to proceed if there’d be a significant risk of not being able to eat things like steak and pizza… interesting, people I’ve talked to on here seem to be about 50/50 with dietary side effects… whereas the doctor said he’d performed hundreds and never had a single case of prolonged dietary issues after a few week adjustment period—- that’s quite a disconnect
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Is this a surgeon? How long does he follow up with patients after doing the surgery and to what extent? Sometimes surgeons aren’t the ones who end up dealing with the aftermath if it’s not a surgical complication, which dietary changes isn’t so much.
Yes this is a general surgeon I would have to assume practicing surgery and a town the size you would know that kind of thing since he works hand-in-hand with the general practitioners every day also. And everyone essentially knows everyone there is only one medical group in town so all the medical records are pretty much consolidated
I totally hear what you’re saying though and agree that in a bigger city the surgeons likely wouldn’t have any idea what happens after their patients leaves their immediate care
Completely agree… id likely have to go out of town to find someone qualified to give an informed opinion on the subject without fear of ruffling his feathers, but I’d do so
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You know what they say about surgeons… Are you familiar with the proverb: “to the man with a hammer everything looks like a nail”?
I have also followed the recommendation of a surgon on… surgery and lived to regret not having asked for a second opinion.
Yeah, we’ll see. if it’s determined that the gallbladder is actually what’s causing all this discomfort and it keeps getting worse, which it has been for quite a long time, be a tough decision. I’m currently spending about half the day hunched over my right side bc it just doesn’t feel right
My primary hesitation would be that if it caused me to tolerate fatty foods poorly it’d be a huge adjustment for me because obviously carbs aren’t my best friend…
And working/ eating away from home like I do it would just be pretty tough if I either had to avoid fats or run to the bathroom every time I didn’t—- I think that’d be a much larger lifestyle change for me than for the average patient
Then again, if my gallbladder doesn’t work currently, and is causing pain, could it actually be any worse? I don’t know.
My endo passed a message to my wife unprompted, like I said I ran into him at the clinic, that he wants to review entire situation and discuss before I proceed with anything… will know more more after HIDA scan next week
heh. Sinus surgery.
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If you have to travel out-of-town for a second opinion, the Mayo Clinic (MN) is rated really high for Adult Gastroenterology.
(Not to mention very highly rated for Adult Diabetes. Nice to have a place that is good on both in case there is overlap with the diagnosis / treatment.)
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I don’t think it’d be justified to go that far… I’d likely just go to the next town over and see a GI who isn’t involved in the same local small town pecking order… or have my endo (who actually works in a decent sized hospital) refer me to someone he agrees with… or actually I’d probably just take his word for it himself… he’s probably the most knowledgeable overall doctor I’ve ever met
It’s not like it’s some bizarre complex thing, something like 1/10 Americans end up having their gallbladder removed, shouldn’t be overwhelmingly difficult to determine if it’s necessary
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My understanding is that it can be difficult. The cause of upper abdominal pain, near the gallbladder or not, accompanied by reflux or burping or not, can be quite difficult to determine. “Let’s take out the gallbladder” may seem the logical next step, but is not necessarily the solution. That’s been my impression, anyway.
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to a surgeon certainly 
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I have a curiosity if you done any dietary changes and monitored the results in relation to your gallbladder?
And I think that surgery side effects are often underestimated. I have a couple friends and family members who had their gallbladders removed, and the recovery has been somewhat bumpy. My mom has a pretty big gallstones, but they don’t cause her any pain, so she has decided not to have them removed. Her doctor was shocked, her surgeon agreed with her. If it isn’t really a problem, don’t undergo surgery.
I completely agree with @cardamom, he probably doesn’t see the after effects. I once saw a NP for a bout of depression in college, and she recommended against a certain kind of birth-control, because she said it caused depression - mind you, none of the product info said this. I asked her how she knew this, and she said that gynecologists never hear back from their patients about concomitant symptoms, but she saw them every week.
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Yes as with all things in medicine it can be complex… but there are clear guidance they follow. It’s not “I think we should yank that out of there” It’s “lets Measure it’s function with a radionuclide scan and if it’s less than 30% the recommendation of modern medicine is to remove it”.
Believe me we’re not going anywhere near it with a knife unless we’ve definitively determined that it’s dysfunction is the source of pain I’m in
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Normal scan… guess I keep my GB
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Great news!
The next step, I guess, is to stop eating all those burgers and fries
Good for that and not needing surgery, but sorry you didn’t find out answers re: your pain—I know sometimes I’ve found negative results sort of a mixed bag in those situations. I hope they have helpful ideas re: what else to consider.
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So sorry. 
Happy to hear you get to keep your gallbladder, but it sucks to not have answers. Just curious (and I won’t be offended if you don’t feel comfortable answering), but have you had any tests for additional autoimmune diseases, most specifically thyroid and celiac disease? Not sure what your symptoms are exactly, but both of those cause me significant GI issues.
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Yeah I’ve been tested for both… not really having any distinct GI issues just right side stomach ache that’s lasted for months
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Ouch, that sounds miserable. 
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Happy that you got your answer on the GB being an issue, and I for one think you have a good process for deciding whether or not to seek surgery.
A wise surgeon once told me, find out what the worst side effects you are likely to get from the procedure, then when your current symptoms are worse than the side effects, go for the surgery. The people who are disappointed are those that get a side effect, and expected none.
This advice btw only applies to non-emergent elective surgeries.
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