My dad has a blockage in his bile duct? how bad is this?!

My dad has a blockage in his bile duct? how bad is this?

He went for an MRI after months of pain and this has been discovered, he has to go for more tests to check for malignancy

How bad could this be? or is it nothing to worry about

4 weeks ago
errr Jonesy? of course he has been to the doctors, do you think I have a MRI scanner in the garden?

My dad is not bothered by it all but I am

4 weeks ago
He already had gall stones ruled out with his first ultra sound?

There's a lot of missing information here that would be helpful. First of all, I would like to mention that although a total blockage of the bile duct can cause problems, most of the things that will cause a blockage in the first place do not involve cancer. I'm sure that's the big thing on your mind. There are other things that can cause it, number one thing obviously is gall stones. Gallstones are easy to miss on ultrasounds, as well. They may be extremely small, even mostly grit, and that's hard to see. The next logical step is to determine the exact cause of the blockage, and after that is done, there are several treatment options. If it is a mechanical blockage, then surgery is the logical treatment. If there is a tumor, it can be removed. Depending on the stage it is, the next thing may be chemotherapy. At this point, though, you are working yourself up for no particular need. As I said, the most common cause is simple gallstones, and that's easy remedied with removal of the gall bladder and duct. If the duct has been injured and scarred shut, it can possibly be dialated. Since the only symtom you mention is pain, and not jaundice, then from the sounds of it his liver is functioning fine. That would be the big thing to be concerned for. Your father seems to be calm, and I'm sure if it were something they really suspected was serious, they would have mentioned that to him. As it is, it sounds as if they are not sure and simply want to test things before they go cutting on him. If surgery can be avoided, I'm sure that would be for the best. So yes, it could be serious, but at the moment, it's mostly your fear of what you don't know. No point imagining the worst case scenarios until you have more reason to suspect them. At the moment, all you know is the duct is blocked. Don't go looking for unicorns just because you hear hoofbeats. It might be a zebra, then again, it may just be a plain old milk horse. Think positive. Think gallstones, and remind yourself that most all things are treatable.