I had my gall bladder removed one year ago today, and thought some of you out there might like to hear how I've been doing, because I know how alone and frightened you can feel with gallstone attacks. I am a female, and I was 48 at the time, and had been desperately trying to find a way to avoid having surgery, and had very much appreciated the support I'd found through this forum.

I'd tried a Liver Flush once, producing only greenish saponification lumps (no hard gallstones), but the before-and after- ultrasounds showed the calcified Gallstones were still there, and since I seemed to have upset digestion for weeks after the flush (rather sharp lower abdominal cramps and changed stool formation) I didn't want to try it again.

In the end I became so incredibly fatigued and was on such a restricted diet in terms of oils and protein (to avoid attacks) that I was losing weight and feeling constantly frightened of the ever-present risk of something going wrong, especially as I began to get some stong pain at the waist height, couldn't wear anything tight in the waist, and began to get a freqent liver itch.

Eventually I felt cornered and agreed to have the surgery. Here in Perth, Western Australia, you can wait up to 18 months or so to have the operation done free on the public health system, but I am lucky enough to be able (just) to afford private cover, and so the operation only cost me $200 for the theatre fees, and the specialist I saw was able to do it laparascopically within 2 weeks of my request. He even kindly agreed to put it onto CD for me to watch later.

The outcome? Well I awoke to find I could eat NORMALLY again straight after the op - even that evening. I waited for the pain on eating, but there was none, even when I ate icecream, only the soreness you get after any surgery, but that rapidly faded. I used to get a single sharp hiccup after each meal, but it was nothing really. For just the first week I'd also get a slightly sick feeling for a while in the afternoon. The only unpleasant sensation I sometimes get now that is anything to speak of is that if I sit slumped in a sofa for a while, I can get a burning sensation slowly build up on the right side in the area of the liver or bile duct. I also found that for the first few months I'd get this if I wore anything with a tight waist, but it's now much more faint.


What I don't like much is that my digestion and bowel had changed: it's strange, but I don't seem to get any stool formation; my bowel movement has become one long extrusion when I go to the loo (seemed to happen after the flush) - I guess that's the constant supply of bile. I do take digestive enzymes but I started those before the surgery when I had the stones. They still help a lot.

But to tell you the truth, it's no big deal - I don't think about it much at all, and I don't have any diarrhoea. I exercise often and I am a healthy eater - lots of fruit and veges and low fat diet, but on the occasions I do indulge, I can eat ANYTHING - fish and chips, hamburgers, creamy cake, coffee, wine, beer...in short I can go out again with friends and family and enjoy life!

And I have my ENERGY back!! That was the best thing of all.

I hope this information is helpful to those of you feeling backed into a corner. It's great if you succeed in flushing the stones out, but I write this especially for you if you feel sad and frightened and feel you have no choice because the flushing is not shifting the stones or stopping your pain.

Remember that most people who have surgery have a good outcome they are pleased with (e.g., my older sister, my partner's friend, my elderly neighbour, my other neighbour's friend, another aquaintance's elderly aunt, my radiologist's wife, etc).

It is when people have had a bad outcome that they tend to frequent a support group such as this very helpful website, looking for answers to their problems. Those of us who are happy enough with the results of the surgery forget about it and just get on with their life again, so you tend not to hear about us. If it is any consolation, the radiologist who did my last ultrasound told me that by about 20 years after a person has their gall bladder out, you can see on an ultrasound that the diameter of the bile duct near where it leaves the liver tends to gradually enlarge from its usual 3mm or so diameter to about 8 mm, forming a kind of natural reservoir that replaces the gall bladder to some extent.

Anyway, I hope that some of you find this info a bit comforting.

If you can flush the stones out, great! But if you feel surgery is your only remaining option, remember that the majority of people have a good outcome, and just think positively.

Good health and happiness to all of you, and thankyou to those of you that supported me through a very difficult time.

Love from Jania