Gallbladder Pain

C., I am sorry to hear about the pain you are in I know exactly what you are facing. I had my gall bladder removed about 10 years ago and before I had it removed I was in so much pain it hurt to breathe.

I honestly do not know of a home treatment for gall stones. You could do an internet search but I would caution you to talk to your doctor first before starting any home treatment.

When I had the surgery we lived far away from family and my older sons were only 2 and 3 so I understand your frustration and fears of leaving your daughter with someone other then yourself or your husband. Do you have family nearby? Or can you look into a daycare or private care for a few hours of the day?

As far as your school is concerned I think their policies are for those who just do not go to school for mundane reasons, before worrying about losing credits etc I would have a talk with your school counselor and see if there is a way you can keep up with classes in your home after surgery. Maybe he/she can email you the lessons and you email back the homework? Its just a thought.

I hope I was of some help to you, keep us updated on what is happening.

I haven't heard of anyone dying from gallstones, I'm not sure if it's possible but it seems a little extreme to me to say that you couldn't put it off a little while...that said, I had gallbladder pain while I was pregnant and so they couldn't do anything to fix it, but an alternative medicine doctor I went to said they usually do an olive oil and lemon juice "cleanse." I never had it done so I can't tell you much about it, but maybe there's info on the internet. This would be instead of surgery--I think it forces your body to clear out the stones. I think it makes you feel sick at first, though, so it's probably something you're going to need a day off for, but less time off and quicker recovery than surgery would be.
Again, I'm not an expert but could be something you look into. If you are in the Cleveland area, the doctor's name is Tenpenny (she's in Strongsville)...(luckily mine cleared up after delivery so I never had anything done)
Blessings,
Lynn

MOst schools are pretty understanding if you have proof that you are out for medical reasons. You can probably work on scheduling with your teachers, and they can suggest a less stress period of the semester. They can't fail you for being sick, they CAN fail you for not completing your schoolwork, so school as an excuse is pretty much out. If left untreated, gallstone disease CAN be life threatening. How would your daughter deal if you ignored this problem because she's a 'mommies girl?' and then you died? She will be okay not being picked up for a week or two while you recover. Because SERIOUSLY which one is better, a mommy recovering from surgery (who is breifly unably to pick you up,) or a dead mommy? When you are a mom you have to think LONG TERM.

You may or may not be able to find alternative treatments on the net, go ahead and try them if you want to, but remember that there are no guarantees, and while you are trying them out, your gallstones may be getting worse.

I had to have my gallbladder out after giving birth to my son. almost everyone in my family has had to do this. Unfortunately there is no way to fix it without the surgery. The pain will continue to get worse. By the time I went to the doctor I was vomiting all the time and in severe pain. My dad waited even longer than I did and he ended up in the hospital with a 8in incision because his had ruptured and become infected and was leaking into his abdomen. This problem just continues to get worse over time. If they can get it out early enough they can do it laproscopically and the healing time is much quicker. That is how they did mine. If you leave it alone the gallstones can travel into your liver and ,over time, into your pancreas causing pancreatitis. That is what happened to my dad and he ended up back in the hospital 2 months after he had his gallbladder removed. I know it is hard to find the time and the help but in the long run it will be much better because you could possibly have even worse problems derive from this. Good luck.

Done for two weeks? Laproscoic surgery you can be back home that afternoon, and at least walking around. Could you have a mother or mother in law come stay with you at the house for a few days? Or a sister or just people coming over to help for a few hours at a time? If you are there, and can help a little bit but have someone to do the heavy stuff you will be fine. There is no home remedies to gallstones. You can limit the amount of pain by eating an extremely low fat diet. The gallbladder enzymes are used to digest the fat, and if you don't eat fat then they are not needed, therefore reducing the amount of pain some. You have made it three years with this pain, you may be able to make it a little longer, but you are going to need surgery. You may be surprised how your daughter acts around others. Just because she is wild with you does not mean she will be that way with others. My doctor told me, when we thought I had gallstones, that I could have the surgery on a Friday and be back to school on the following Tuesday as long as there were no complications. (We didn't have class on Friday or Monday, so I wouldn't have missed anything at all). That's not saying that I wouldn't be in pain during my daily events, but I didn't have to miss them.
Have you gone and talked to the school about what is going on? A lot of times they make rules and state them, but if you go in and discuss what is going on at home, outside of school, and that you have to have this surgery for your own health they may understand. I was in an excellerated graduate nursing program, and the director told me that I could take as much time off as needed and come back and finsih up on my own because health issues take priority to school. We were not allowed to miss more than one class From June through Aug. but after talking to her she was willing to help me out. I wish you the best of luck! Be thinking about you!

C.,

Not to sound heartless, but you will simply HAVE to find someone who is patient with your daughter. You have delayed this surgery significantly, and for your own health you really need to get it taken care of--it will not get better by itself, and there are not really any home remedies for such severe stones.

I will suggest, though, that you talk to the Administration and your instructors, because I teach at a college with this policy and know for a fact in cases of required medical need, you can get prior approval, miss class, make up the work, and still complete the quarter.

Best wishes, and keep us informed!
K.

I don't know if you can avoid surgery but I went through the same thing! You can cut down on FATS,and sometimes dairy hurts people with gallbladder problems. The only things that seemed to bother me was macaroni and cheese and peanut butter shakes that were large:) Good luck, sounds like you have your hands full. I'd for sure being saying some prayers!!

Like the other ladies have said on here THERE IS NO REMEDY OTHER THAN SURGERY! I had mine done about 7 years ago and they just made 3-4 small holes and removed it through my belly button. I was only in the hospital for less than 24 hours. The next day I was up and cleaning and taking care of my kids. Yes I was uncomfortable but not in any sort of pain. I think you should be ok to get it done and remain in school. Good Luck with everything!

YOU MUST HAVE THE SURGERY! I had mine out when I was 4 weeks pregnant with my 3rd baby. It had to come out because I was in so much pain, and it caused such an infection that I was taken in for emergency surgery. You will only be down for a week or two if there are not any complications. It is done via a lapriscope, so there are only 2-3 small holes that they go in through. You will be sore, but you can still function. You will feel so much better afterward and you, your daughter, and husband will be better for it. You cannot treat it via home remedies! I had a high school friend that died from trying to treat his gallbladder disease hollistically (he was afraid to have the surgery.) He got an infection from the ruptured gallbladder.
Your school will require a note from the surgeon. They cannot drop you due to a medical condition.

Hi C., I am a registered nurse and I can tell you that there is no home remedy or cure for gallstones. Even though you are going through a tough time, you need to find a way or make time for the surgery. The stones have potential to move and get stuck, causing you to become very ill. Sometimes you just have to trust others to help you. I had my gallbladder removed laparoscopically and I really felt great within a few days.

a strict lowfat diet has been the only way for me to relieve pain. I wouldn't necessarily recomend getting your gallbladder taken out instead ultrasound therapy or somethin to get rid of the stones (do a search online for alternatives to surgery...)
I still have pain where my gallbladder was and i wish i wouldn't have listened to the docs and had them take an organ. It didn't resove anything. Sorry i know this doesn't help. But a lowfat diet did wonders for me!!

Personnaly I don't know of a home remedy... I had to have mine removed last spring. I was also told that my pains were do to a pregnacy. By the time I actually went back in - I was unable to tend to my two little ones (then 23 mo and 8 mo.). I spent most of my time laying on the couch or in bed - crying in the fetal position. I do take pain rather well... I have had 4 little one completely natural.

After removing the galstones from the duct - they did remove the galbladder. It bursted as they were removing it, so they had to vacume me out to get rid of all the bio. My Dr. told me that if I would have continuted to put off my treatment - that it would have ruptured and I would have been in deep trouble. Out of all the galbatters he had removed he had never seen one as bad as mine, and he didn't know how I had gone so long without treatment.

I understand that you are scard to leave your little one and that there are a lot of other issues around you. But I had to learn - that I can't take care of my little ones if I'm not healthy myself.

Sometimes they will not act up if you eat very low fat items... but mine dot to the point where it didn't matter what I would eat, even water caused it to act up, that is if I could hold the water down. Try not to get to the point I got to... sorry I couldn't help with a home remedy!!! Good luck!!!

i was reading what the others wrote. Yes modifying your diet will help but thats only temporary relief. I had my gallbladder out a year and a half ago. Sometimes I still experience some pain of where it was but NOTHING to the extent of what it was when it was there. Also you have ALOT of gallstones! There is probably no alternative for you at this point. Also, although you may modify your diet into a lowfat diet, still the stresses of going to school, your husband being off work sick, will also cause your gallstones to flare up. Not to scare you. Also you may have gallstones lodged in the neck of the gallbladder and thats what causing the serious pain. I had to spend 3 prior to surgery in the hospital on IV antibiotics because my gallstones where so bad, and there were some lodged in the neck of the gallbladder that both my liver and spleen were inflammed.
I am unsure if the others had the laparoscopy procedure done to remove theres but I did. It consists of 3 small cuts about 1/2 inch long maybe a bit shorter, up the right side of the belly and one cut about 1/2 inch along the bottom of the belly button. My recovery time was nice short and sweet. I know that you worry about your daughters and your baby especially as far as picking her up, but it will get better. My son was 2 when I had mine out. While I was on a weight restriction I use to sit down and let him crawl up my legs and pick him up that way.
You should really consider all of your option and make what you think is the best decision. Keep everyone posted on what you decided to do and good luck

First of all, You as the mother, your health has to come first. Because without you around, what will happen to your fchildren?
So, and this is just my opinon, You should have the surgery, also maybe now isn't the time for you to be in school, especially fulltime. Just put it off until YOU are healthy, and your husband is better, and your kids will be little older. Your family has to come first, right after you. Sadly, most mothers have to sacrifice for their family. I hope this helps.
Kathy

There are no remedies for this... you have to get the surgery done. It's better to take the time now to get it removed than to put it off and risk it rupturing and causing you to be in the hospital longer. Gall-bladder removal is outpatient surgery. I had mine out when my son was 6months old... I was in the hospital for maybe 6 hours then went home with pain meds. My then boyfriend (major ex now) didn't help me AT ALL and I can tell you it is still possible to function through the pain. I ended up allergic to the pain killers, so I did it w/o them and I took care of my son on my own.

The only thing you can do at home is a bland diet.. no fats, etc... but it's risky to put it off. The later attacks will get worse and you're putting your health into jeopardy. :(