Cholecystectomy: what is it and why should I consider (or not consider) it?
It is a really big question...should I have my gallbladder removed? If you are reading this I am assuming your physician told you to have your gallbadder removed (called a cholecystectomy) and that it "won't matter" because you "don't really need your gallbladder" and can "live without it just fine". Do these statement sound familiar?
Is it true that you do not need your gallbladder?
Patients finds themselves facing this question usually after having some manner of chronic, seemingly unexplained abdominal pain. This pain can be constant, at a non- specific location (or located to the back/right upper abdomen), and be associated with nausea, vomititng, or an overall feeling of not feeling well. It can be hard to explain. They oftentimes find themselves in the ER with sudden abdominal pain which may or may not be associated with nausea or vomitting. They never seem to know what to eat "because everything bothers" them.
Sound like you?
I do not recommend patients have their gallbladder removed unless it is severely damaged (as from severe inflammation with or without gallstones, oftentimes reported as "sludge" on imaging results). A severely damaged gallbladder could cause sepsis (I have seen this and in this case, recommended the cholecystectomy). While this blog is not designed to give you direct medical advice, it is to educate you about the gallbladder and why it is important, as well as why/how it can become inflammed and/or filled with stones.
What the gallbladder maily does:
receive and store bile (made by the liver)
release bile back to the liver
There is an elegant flow of bile between the liver and gallbladder. Bile helps digest fats/cholesterols, and is released into the small intestine by the liver when you eat. The liver makes bile, shuttles it to the gallbladder for storage, and then the gallbadder sends it back to the liver for release into the small intestines. It is this flow of bile from liver-to gallbladder-back to the liver that actually maintains the homeostasis (balance) of the liver cells!
Our lifestyle choices can easily damage this bile flow, and in essence, the gallbladder. The gallbladder is very sensitive to specific foods and medicaitons. These are foods/meds I have seen cause inflammation to the gallbladder:
diets high in fats/cholesterol
diets too high in eggs (daily egg consumption often causes gallbladder problems)
diets high in processed sugars (cookies, candies, pastries)
high dose oral hormone therapy
birth control pills
The first self-care treatment you should do is reduce/eliminate eggs and high fat foods for a few months in the very least. Also examine your medication regimine. The gallbladder can heal quickly if the inflammatory process has not set in over-much. The idea is to take pressure off the liver and gallbladder's bile system for a while and let it rest. That all being said, if you do have your gallbladder removed, you will want to be careful thereafter on what you eat and take in terms of medications. You may still have issues to that upper right side of your abdomen--now with the liver. Since the bile flow was disrupted by the cholecystectomy, the liver takes the burden of bile maintenace on its own. This is a known variable that I have seen can lead (but some patients do fine without their gallbladder) to fatty liver and cirrhosis of the liver. As always, take everything into consideration including the uniqueness of your case, and discuss all treatment options with your physician. You are always welcome to schedule with me!
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