Help! Advice?????

[Char74]

I am needing some advice rally bad. I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning. Has anyone had their gallbladder removed laproscopically while pregnant? They want to remove mine on Tues. I am 17 weeks now. I am scared to death and dont know what to do. There is risk from gases, cut off oxygen supply and the anesthesia in general.. also knicking uterus or infection or bleeding. My OB doc said miscarriage rate is 1-3%. I called the anesthesiologist and he told me its always risky and if I can wait then do so. I am in extreme pain with attacks.. however I am willing to accept that. The surgeon and my OB doc are worried of a stone getting lodged that can lead to pancreatitis and becomes an immediate emergency situation. However the anethestisiologist says that is not real common, but if it does happen it is very serious and cause a lot of complications to the baby. I just don't know what to do. Theres no "great" answer I am seeing:ohno:

[froggie83]

I am needing some advice rally bad. I have to make a decision by tomorrow morning. Has anyone had their gallbladder removed laproscopically while pregnant? They want to remove mine on Tues. I am 17 weeks now. I am scared to death and dont know what to do. There is risk from gases, cut off oxygen supply and the anesthesia in general.. also knicking uterus or infection or bleeding. My OB doc said miscarriage rate is 1-3%. I called the anesthesiologist and he told me its always risky and if I can wait then do so. I am in extreme pain with attacks.. however I am willing to accept that. The surgeon and my OB doc are worried of a stone getting lodged that can lead to pancreatitis and becomes an immediate emergency situation. However the anethestisiologist says that is not real common, but if it does happen it is very serious and cause a lot of complications to the baby. I just don't know what to do. Theres no "great" answer I am seeing:ohno:

what are the % of these happening? i would use that and the 1-3% miscarriage rate to make a decision.....
i am also a procrastinater so i would wait. but thats just me... if the benefits of the surgery outweigh the risks then do it.

[misfit]

Here is so info I found: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452759_3

And I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'd be concerned the attacks might trigger premature labor.

[Char74]

what are the % of these happening? i would use that and the 1-3% miscarriage rate to make a decision.....
i am also a procrastinater so i would wait. but thats just me... if the benefits of the surgery outweigh the risks then do it.

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately no one answered these questions... I can try to see some answers online... I forgot to mention another risk of the surgery is preterm labor, but usually it can be stopped.

[Char74]

Here is so info I found: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/452759_3

And I'm not sure if it's possible, but I'd be concerned the attacks might trigger premature labor.

Thank you also for your response, that is a good article. You know I hadn't thought of the attacks themselves causing it, but it makes sense since I am doubled over in pain that it has to cause some stress on the baby.

[AbbeysMom]

I'm sorry that you have to face this while pregnant. :hugs:

I have no idea what you should do, I put off having oral surgery when I was pregnant with Abbey because I had to be under full sedation, but the only thing I was risking was my teeth and an infection (I had surgery 3 weeks post-partum, and actually ended up cracking a tooth in half during labor :ohno:).

Is there any medication they can give you to help break up the stones? Is there any diet restrictions you can follow to keep the stones from growing?

[wrennbird]

I had them diagnosed at about 20 wks with ds. The doc. told me that I had missed the window for removal and needed to wait until baby was term or after he was born. However as the pregnancy progressed the attacks were not as frequent. How often do you have them. I am truely sorry that you are dealing with this the pain is miserable plain and simple! Mine would always happen after I fell asleep and then keep me up most of the night. I think that I would wait but if you have attacks frequently maybe I would consider surgery.

[Char74]

I'm sorry that you have to face this while pregnant. :hugs:

I have no idea what you should do, I put off having oral surgery when I was pregnant with Abbey because I had to be under full sedation, but the only thing I was risking was my teeth and an infection (I had surgery 3 weeks post-partum, and actually ended up cracking a tooth in half during labor :ohno:).

Is there any medication they can give you to help break up the stones? Is there any diet restrictions you can follow to keep the stones from growing?

Thanks, yeah I need some tooth work too.. that one I am putting off for sure!..They cant give me the medication while pregnant :( The stones I guess will continue to grow but to try to avoid attacks you eat a low fat diet with not a lot of meat.. but I was doing this and still had them :(

[Char74]

I had them diagnosed at about 20 wks with ds. The doc. told me that I had missed the window for removal and needed to wait until baby was term or after he was born. However as the pregnancy progressed the attacks were not as frequent. How often do you have them. I am truely sorry that you are dealing with this the pain is miserable plain and simple! Mine would always happen after I fell asleep and then keep me up most of the night. I think that I would wait but if you have attacks frequently maybe I would consider surgery.

Thanks for your response! So you know the pain..sigh.. same here they wake me up around 1am then continue until mid day the next day. Nothing alleviates it, the doctor had me take 2 vicodin last time and it didnt even touch them :( I had my first attack about 5 weeks ago. I have had 3 really bad attacks, 2 not so bad. The last 2 very bad attacks happened within a week of each other and lasted about 12-14hrs....

[BrandiB]

UGH Gall bladder attacks are horrible I cant imagine how bad they would be while pregnant. I had mine removed in march and got pregnant in may. I'm so sorry your going through this, I'm not sure I would want to risk it, maybe you could seek a 2nd opinion?

[BrandiB]

Double post

[JJorn]

I have a friend that had a stent put in for her kidney (which made everything worse) and also had it taken out while she was pregnant. They never figured out what caused her pain. Baby was fine.

[littlemonster]

I have gallbladder disease as well and I'm el prego! I was supposed to get the surgery before I ever got pregnant, but SURPRISE! Anyways...my doctors all told me that they prefer to wait until 28 weeks because it's actually supposed to be safer to operate then, plus if anything goes wrong with my baby, she can be delivered and the NICU is the highest in the area so she will be fine. However mine isn't that bad.
You don't have to stay away from meat, because there is low fat meats such as chicken, turkey, fish and lean beef. Watching your fats can buy you some time, but if you're having pain that severity of pain, it might be better to have your gall bladder removed. I would be asking alot of questions about what tests they're doing too. Sometimes they jump the gun over pancreatitis and diagnose it as that when it's just elevated amylase levels due to the gall bladder.
Also you can take narcotic pain relievers if need be to buy you more time.
If it was me, I'd try to hold out for 7 more weeks because then if anything happens, there are more options for your baby, but if it's like a 9 on the 0 to 10 pain scale..I think surgery is reasonable to consider, but I'd rather feel like dying than risk the baby not making it due to a complication of surgery.

[BrandiB]

What did you end up deciding?