Gallstones?!
Question: Today I went to the doctor to have an ultrasoud for possible appendicitis. He didn't see my appendix on the screen wich means nothing could be wrong with it.
But he did find someting.
He showed me my gallbladder, and he said it looked like I had about 25 gallstones. He explained some things to me and asked my all these questions and I had all the symptoms for gallstones.
He plans on sending the pictures to a radiologist. And he said it was very likely that I would need an operation to have my gallbladder out.
I told my parents this and they were in shock because I am only 14. I know it is pretty rare to have this problem at my age, what do you think?
Answers: Today I went to the doctor to have an ultrasoud for possible appendicitis. He didn't see my appendix on the screen wich means nothing could be wrong with it.
But he did find someting.
He showed me my gallbladder, and he said it looked like I had about 25 gallstones. He explained some things to me and asked my all these questions and I had all the symptoms for gallstones.
He plans on sending the pictures to a radiologist. And he said it was very likely that I would need an operation to have my gallbladder out.
I told my parents this and they were in shock because I am only 14. I know it is pretty rare to have this problem at my age, what do you think?
I had mine out a couple of years ago, but they couldn't do it laproscopically because it was infected so they had to open. I don't remember it of course, but the recovery was really painful and long. I have an 8 inch or so long scar across my gut where they had to open it.
It is rare to have gallstones at your age and there most likely is an underlying issue behind it. Family history will help to figure out what this is. Contrary to a lot of public belief, diet is not that major a contributor to the disease. Gallstones are either made up of excess uric acid (like mine were) or cholestoral.
At 14, unless you're extremely overweight, you shouldn't have enough cholestoral in your system to develop these. Fast food by itself won't cause it unless you have a metabolic disorder as well. If that is the case, then something else will come along related to that.
Removing the gall bladder is the simplest way to get rid fo the stones. From experience it is really really painful when a gallstone gets stuck in the mouth of the gall bladder. It is excruciating when the gall bladder gets infected. Moreover, it could be life threatening if a gall stone escapes into the main bile duct because it can block up the liver or the pancreas and cause failure of either.
For me, since it got basically non-functional, I've had problems digesting certain fats and they just flow right on through me. The gall bladder holds bile which helps your body to digest and absorb fats from food so you may see that certain foods are uncomfortable.
that is normal. I had mine removed a year and a half ago. The surgery is really no big deal. I took a week off work and was up and about after a couple days. It really wasn't bad at all. You really need tohave it removed because it can cause crazy painful gall bladder attacks. Seriously, I have never felt anything worse than that. Just do what the doctor says.
It just happens sometimes. It seems to run in my family about 6 or 7 of us have had ours out. Its not a very painful procedure really. They will put you to sleep and poke some holes in your belly to put the camera and stuff thru to see inside. Then they will take out the gallbladder thru a slit about 1.5 inches long...or at least mine was anyway.
My ex-husband could have used that advice, as it was undetected gallstones which caused years of pain & pancreatitis, the removal of half of his pancreas(which had been blocked by gallstones), and many other problems, until he was correctly diagnosed, and had his gallbladder taken out.
Not a big deal any more. Your gallbladder problem is unusually for your age, but not unheard of. The surgery is really simple and quite fast, don't worry about that. I would suggest getting a physical on a regular basis due to the rareness of this problem, to keep an eye on any other problems that may occur. Don't panic about it, just be thankful that your getting it out early... most people don't get theirs out till later in life (30-50). And yes they probably had problems earlier in life, but it was never caught.