Gall bladder problems anyone?

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cindybob
cindybob Member Posts: 61
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
OK, here's my story. When I had my re-section done in 2003 my surgeon told me that he was going to take my gall bladder out at the same time because it was in his experience that the gall bladder goes bad with the colon cancer or maybe just because of the surgery. I really don't remember I was pretty out of it back then. Anyway, when I woke up, he said that my gall bladder was fine, so he left it in. With my original cancer, the only symptom that I had was severe anemia. Now i have all kinds of tummy troubles. (Including bleeding)
So, my oncologist isn't worried, but my primary doc is. He wanted a colonoscopy. I had a clean one, one year after surgery. So, I go back to the surgeon. He doesn't want to do the colonoscopy because he "knows" that I do not have more cancer. He thinks that my symptoms are due to my gall bladder. Have any of you semi-colons experienced gall bladder problems after bowel resections? I would much rather deal with gall stones or a diseased gall bladder as long as it doesn't mean more cancer. Just wondering if this is a common thing. Thanks for any help.
Cindy Bob
PS. Someone wrote something about going to Austin. Is there a semi-colon convention or something? I live near Austin.
Thanks again everyone!

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  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #2
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    Hi Cindy,
    After my colon resection I suffered from r/h side mid to upper back pain that at times went right thru to the front. For 5 years I was told that it was mild pain from a fatty liver so stop sooking. Then I had an accute attack of pancreatitis. The surgeon who saw me went back thru years of liver function tests and said there was strong evidence of gallbladder disease why had it never been checked. He didn't bother to check ,just removed it complete with 150 little black stones. Although there is little research on it he believes there is a link between colon ca surgery and or 5fu chemo. My gallbladder was removed via keyhole surgery and I was off work for only two days(had surgery on Friday ,back at work Wed)Cheers Ron.
  • cindybob
    cindybob Member Posts: 61
    #3
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    ron50 said:

    Hi Cindy,
    After my colon resection I suffered from r/h side mid to upper back pain that at times went right thru to the front. For 5 years I was told that it was mild pain from a fatty liver so stop sooking. Then I had an accute attack of pancreatitis. The surgeon who saw me went back thru years of liver function tests and said there was strong evidence of gallbladder disease why had it never been checked. He didn't bother to check ,just removed it complete with 150 little black stones. Although there is little research on it he believes there is a link between colon ca surgery and or 5fu chemo. My gallbladder was removed via keyhole surgery and I was off work for only two days(had surgery on Friday ,back at work Wed)Cheers Ron.

    Thanks Ron. Tomorrow I'm doing the PET scan for my liver and HIDA for the gall bladder. I have pain, but it's not terrible like I hear from people who have either a diseased gall bladder or gall stones. I guess I just have IBS, but I'll know more tomorrow. Well, I'm sure they will make me wait a couple of weeks to tell me, but I'm doing the tests tomorrow. One thing that's sure strange and bothersome is that minutes after I consume any solid food, I blow up like a balloon and look 6 months pregnant. And it doesn't matter what I eat, I BLOAT! I'm a skinny gal, less than 100 lbs, but as soon as I eat a few bites I am huge, TITANIC! Then a couple of hours later I'm skinny again. It's hard to wear clothes and eat. :-)
    Cindy
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #4
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    cindybob said:

    Thanks Ron. Tomorrow I'm doing the PET scan for my liver and HIDA for the gall bladder. I have pain, but it's not terrible like I hear from people who have either a diseased gall bladder or gall stones. I guess I just have IBS, but I'll know more tomorrow. Well, I'm sure they will make me wait a couple of weeks to tell me, but I'm doing the tests tomorrow. One thing that's sure strange and bothersome is that minutes after I consume any solid food, I blow up like a balloon and look 6 months pregnant. And it doesn't matter what I eat, I BLOAT! I'm a skinny gal, less than 100 lbs, but as soon as I eat a few bites I am huge, TITANIC! Then a couple of hours later I'm skinny again. It's hard to wear clothes and eat. :-)
    Cindy

    Hi Cindy,
    My pain was annoying but not severe. I guess the worst part of it was knowing that it was coming from the area of my liver which is bound to worry any stage three ca sufferer. Un fortunately the same nerves serve as pain receptors for a whole bunch of things in that area so I've had the same deal with duodenal and peptic ulcers. I sympathise wholeheartedly with your bloating problem I think maybe you need to get some tests done to check for intolerence E.g. Gluten ,lactose,carbohydrate ect. I have real trouble if I eat cereal. I blow up like a ballon ,then much much worse things happen specially when I'm in a factory trying to fix sewing machines. Good luck with the tests,Ron.

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