Gall Bladder Surgery: made it through!
 

So I had my gall bladder (GB) out yesterday. My journey with the GB began about the same time as AA last year. The main issue the Dr had during surgery was that I lost a little 200cc of blood. For this reason, and because I was groggy and nauseated they kept me until about 5 pm. My surgery was at 8 AM. He said he thought about keeping me overnight. I suppose it is good I wasn't kept overnight considering my compromized immune system.

I initially went to the surgeon on January 6th, but was struggling with what was suspected to be reactive athritus. After going to the reumatologist she confirmed reactive arthritus but noticed that my platelets were a little low. After 4 more weeks my platelets dropped to 30 so I was off to the hematologist. By March 30 I was diagnosed with AA and began treatment for SAA on April 5th. Among other issues, over labor day weekend I had another GB attack that sent me to the hospital. This time I knew what the issue was so I was able remain a little more calm and let the pain pass with the help of morphine.

At this point I talked to my hematologist and she said I needed to wait until my platelets were above 50. I continued to have attacks but nothing as severe as over labor day. They subsequent attacks just kept me up most of the night. Finally I went back to the surgeon and we scheduled for yesterday. He said the GB was very thick and the opening was wide. Now I have four incisions and some pain. Hopefully this will pass quickly. I feel lucky to be alive and thank God for the miracle of modern medicine. I thank my wife for being with me during this time of great strife. I pray for all of the caregivers that many times stand alone. I think in some ways it is more difficult for the caregivers.


Scott

Scott,

I'm glad to hear you've gotten through the gall bladder removal -- I think they call it a cholecystectomy. The pain you had must have been awful, especially since you had to wait so long to have this procedure. Almost a year since you started having gall bladder attacks, right?

Do you still have post-ATG pain in your hands and feet? I remember you mentioned that too.

Neil

The symptoms in my hands and feet are not nearly what they were. Some digestion issue I associate with cyclosporine and possibly the gallbladder. have you historically seen many AA patients with GB problems? Thank you for administering this forum nd for your great posts!

That's good to hear. You're on an upward path.

The only Marrowforums thread I've seen that mentioned gall bladder issues was the Sepsis thread a few years ago. In addition, some AA patients have reported having their gall bladder checked but without finding problems. Researchers and medical institutions might have statistics about how often aplastic anemia and gall bladder problems coincide, so that's a question you could ask your doctor.

Glad it worked out for you. I have had gall bladder pain for about a year, not horrible but nagging ach just the same. Platlets run around 13 to 20 pretty consistantly so obvious fear about bleeding. I have had a couple bouts with ulcerative colitis in the last year both required hospitalization. After each bout I ended up with severe arthritis symtoms that required loss of work, prednisone and even extended hospital time. My local Dr. called it reactive arthritis (Reiter's Syndrome) Dr. Alan List at Moffitt who I see about every 60 days agreed but it has been managable. Both recomend ATG as soon as I can probably early January. Hopefully over time my counts will improve enough to deal with the gall bladder, colen ect a little more agressivly. I am blessed to live in a place where so many quality specialist practice. Good luck and wish you the best.

Harvey, diagnosed May 2010, MDS @ age 45
Former Oli field worker and Army Veteran. Ormond Beach Florida

Harvey

Wow! I hope you can get your levels up so you can work on the other issues. I am thankfull to hear from someone else in the same boat- more or less. Bone marrow failure truely makes everything more difficult. I think I read one of your posts and you travel extensively if I remember correctly. My job did require travel and I don't know how I would do it. How are you managing? I was born and raised in Orlando and lived in Jacksonville for the last 15 yrs prior to moving to Atlanta. I hope your ATG treatment goes well!

Hey Scott,

I too lived in Jax from 98 to 2002. Good times decent city. I am in property managment and I drive about 1000 miles a week. Usually in hotel about four days. I have to be very carefull about washing hands and all of that eating out all the time can be very challanging. I try to stay were I can have my own kitchen and cook for my self but it dosent always end up that way. I have a hotel in Highlands NC that I run a couple hours north of Atlanta, I only get there about once a month but I do enjoy the area. Anyway back to the matter at hand. Having lived with this thing for a bit I have come to find out alot about what my body tells me. When I am tired I sleep, when I am weak I rest so on and so forth, Biggest thing to overcome is wanting to do activities that could be harmfull. I try to stay away from anything that could cause direct or inderect bleeding. Which pretty much means anything fun (Biking, Softball, Jet Skies) But I am greatfull to be alive and have came to the conclusion that as horrible as bone marrow failier is, It can be managed to a certain extent. I am greatfull for this web site because it is good to be able to vent to people that understand the challanges we go through daily. And no one nags me about being a poor speller.

I am also a poor speller. The things that I miss the most at this point are camping motorcycle riding and working in the yard. I think when I am off cyclosporine that the Dr will be satisfied that my immunity to fungi will be satisfactory and I can the get back to yard work. I have my follow up witht he surgeon so I hope that I will be cleared to go back to work for Monday.