Hi Barry,

I had a couple other thoughts I thought I'd share with you. I think you already know that I started doing the liver cleanse because I continued to have pain after surgery. I haven't had any pain since the 2nd cleanse. I know that Debra has posted that she has no problems whatsoever as a result of having her GB removed, but I can tell you that I do notice a difference. It's nothing major, but when I eat more fat than I usually would, and more often than not, it's the wrong kind of fat, i.e. butter or ice cream for example, I notice that I'm gassy and sometimes experience gas pain. It's just an irritating symptom I guess, but it does serve to remind me that I haven't been eating as well as I should. I do continue to drink organic apple juice and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice on a regular basis....which is good for your liver. And I've upped my water intake. Other than the forementioned symptoms, I feel so good that I'd really never know I'd had surgery....except for the memories and scars! A bit part

Adrienne

To: gallstones@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 14:58:19 -0000
Subject: [gallstones] Re: SURGERY-STONEFREE
Reply-To: gallstones@yahoogroups.com


Hi Ira,


Thanks you for the best wishes. I'll try and answer all your
questions. Some people may not like the answers but it is only the
opinion of one.


I didn't get laprascopic because the equipment was not available here
in Cancun at this time. I had 'open' surgery which meant 3 days in
the hospital instead of only 1 day. They want to keep you there to
check for infection and feed you medication. I left after 2 days.
Oh, the operation was performed by a middle aged general surgeon who
had done over 200 open gallbladder removals. Excellent doc.


I was very surprised that the operation was so easy. They put me out
for 2 hours and I don't remember a thing. I woke up in the recovery
room. The scar is the most amazing thing. I was expecting a long,
wormy, ugly scar and it is exactly the opposite. It's a small 6 cm
hairline looking cut with only one long-ways stitch holding it
together. It looks like the scar will totally dissappear within 1
year. Amazing what they can do with cutting and stitching now. One
reason my cut was only 6 cm instead of the doctors normal 8 cm was
because I am thin and he could work with a smaller incision. Lapro is
still the choice but the open surgery worked out just fine. I have
very minimal discomfort in the scar area. Like an slight aching
bruise. Only 1% of the pain caused by colic Gallstones and a
different feeling of pain altogether. I'd call it discomfort instead
of pain.


I didn't have a BM for 3 days after the surgery because of my
personal stress factors and I was eating very lightly also. Was a
little worried but now all is working fine down there. After surgery
it takes about 3 to 7 days for the body to adjust to the change of
cholesterol and flow of bile from the liver. 6 days is still too
early to tell but I have been eating cheeses, popcorn, cake, etc in
small amounts with no problems. I have to beef back up my weight and
will be eating a lot more next week. I'll report any problems that
may happen then.


What was found in the gallbladder after surgery could not really be
seen on ultrasound. Ultrasound showed the walls were 4mm instead of
2mm which turned out to be correct. Ultrasound showed the stone also.
The grainy stuff only shows black on ultrasound and the doctor didn't
expect to see anything except the stone when he opened the
gallbladder.


Why did I decide surgery? After 8 flushes, and still having the colic
stone, I decided to take the lesser of the two evils. I can live
without my gallbladder but I can't live with the pain anymore. I had
lost too much weight as well and wanted to just get this gallstone
stuff past me. I also wanted to have the freedom of choice with food.
I want to eat what and whenever I want without pain or worrying about
pain coming in the night. That is important for my own personal
happiness. I have learned a lot about proper dieting here and will
definitely watch my intake but I also want to have the freedom to
choose.


Surprises? The surgery was easier than I thought.


Conclusions about cleanse methods...
(This is the part some people may not like).


I feel a lot different now about the whole flushing process. I think
it works in the fact that it can help to cleanse the liver but I also
believe that the liver is normally doing that on it's own in most
cases anyway. As far as the gallbladder, I think the flush can help
there also but for people with big, hard, colic stones it is a much
lesser success rate. Maybe only 10% if that. I feel this is why
people are flushing for months and years and still have the colic
pain. Those hard stones just don't squeeze out easily.
The hundreds of 'soft' stones that come out of the liver in a flush
is not (in my opinion) the true definition of a gallstone. Gallstones
are hard as rocks. The soft globs or balls of bile (mixed with oil or
not) is not a stone or a potential problem in most ceses.
Those 'balls' will normally exit the body through regular bodily
function. Fasting and flushing only excellerates that process and the
results can be viewed more quickly and visualably.
Does the cleanse help? Sure it does. It helps eliminate toxins in the
liver and ducts, sludge buildup, grainy duct sand, and potential
stones. The flush is an extra boost and strength to what the body is
normally doing.
Will the flush get out hard, big gallstones. In my case no. In
someone elses I'm sure it can. In most cases I think that is a harder
battle to win by flushing. By all means it should be attempted to
avoid surgery but if it doesn't work it is actually more potentially
harmful to have a sluggish gallbladder or grainy sand forming more
stones inside the gallbladder and should be dealt with before disease
makes it worse.


Maintanance. I will probably flush twice a year to help keep my
common duct clear of any stagnant bile that could be forming sludge
or sand. Tightness in the centralized duct area will alert me of that
if needed. I don't expect that to ever happen because of the
testimonies I've heard in the majority of cases but I could be
another exception to that norm. Dieting well will help my liver to
produce healthy bile.


Hope my opinion helps in some ways. It is not meant to sway you in
either direction on the debate of alternative cleansings or stones or
whatever. Everyone must learn by experience, knowledge, and
testimonies of others so that they can each make the right decisions
and choices for their own personal health situations. I wish you
great success on yours.


Be Health and Happy.
Barry.

So then, going back to the ultrasound picture that
we looked at some time back that you said looked
like your stone...that was described as a cholesterol
stone, not calcium...shows that cholesterol can get
very hard, I guess. Interesting. Can you send a pic
of the stone to claudiameydrech@ccsisp.com ??


Claudia L. Meydrech, CN
http://nutritionist.tripod.com/gallbladder.html ~ My Flushes
http://nutritionist.tripod.com ~ Journey to Health & Auctions
"A cheerful heart is good medicine" Prov. 17:22a