I had surgery this passed Monday to remove my gallbladder. The surgeon said the gallbladder looked very diseased, he could feel a stone that was wider then an inch and several stones. He did not want to open the gallbladder but wanted to get it straight to the pathologist to examin it. Should this worry me?

Thanks in advance for your input.


Happy December!!!

I had my gall bladder out in August after several attacks and an ultrasound that confirmed quite a few small stones. Did the doctor do an ultrasound? My doctor never "felt" for the stones, he just sent me for an ultrasound after hearing my symptoms to confirm it. I had laproscopic surgery (three small incisions across my belly under the ribs and one through my belly button). He did say that if he got in there and the gall bladder looked large or was very diseased, he would have to open me up to get it out. Everything went very smoothly and I know the gall bladder was sent to pathology just to make sure everything was as they expected.

Good luck!

__________________
Marcy
Proud wife of Tim, Mom to Sean (8/87), Ethan (10/98), Sam (9/02)
and angels Nathanial (8/6/97-8/8/97) and Benjamin (8/6/97-8/21/97)

Until they all come home......
Life is a Journey (follow my blog about my journey)

I think its very normal to send it to the Pathologist. Seems like anything they remove from the body gets sent in for testing as a precaution. Please try not to worry! I had my gallbladder removed this past June and am very glad I did - I can eat without having pain afterwards! I hope your recovery goes well.

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"It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always." ~Oprah~

Had mine taken out 4 years ago I had a gallstone the size of a walnut they told me. Everything came out ok. My liver was a little slow to recover. That is because of other problems from years earlier. None now. You should be fine. Rest, drink lots of fluids and stay positive.

Yes, it's a pretty standard practice to have a pathologist evaluate pretty much anything that is removed from your body that has caused pain or appeared unusual in any way.

Thanks for responding that makes me feel a lot better to know that it is pretty standard. I will have the results on Wednesday morning...

For those of you that have had your gallbladder out did you stay swollen for awhile after the surgery? I have 3 incissions that are about an inch and the incission in my lower tummy around the tummy button is about 2 inches maybe a bit longer. The swelling is just not going down I am still not able to put on my regular clothes and I feel really heavy in my lower tummy area. (almost like carrying a small baby heavy) Just wondering if that is pretty normal.

I am certainly glad that it is gone and out of there for 2 weeks prior to having the test results and surgery I had not eaten anything but crackers because everything hurt and made me sick. My general doctor seems to think I have probably suffered with this for a few years but with my heart and lung problems it was something that was missed.

Sorry to have rattled for so long. Thanks again.

It did take a couple weeks before the swelling went down. You may also still have some air in your abdomen that hasn't been reabsorbed. I was surprised how long my belly was swollen (it was lopsided because most of the swelling was on the right side).

__________________
Marcy
Proud wife of Tim, Mom to Sean (8/87), Ethan (10/98), Sam (9/02)
and angels Nathanial (8/6/97-8/8/97) and Benjamin (8/6/97-8/21/97)

Until they all come home......
Life is a Journey (follow my blog about my journey)