<p>I had blood drawn and an ultrasound. After those results is when they’re going to tell me whether or not I need any more. She didn’t elaborate on any new ones. </p>
<p>And actually now that I think about it- I wonder who is going to contact me. The ER? I don’t have a primary care doctor for the first time in my life. </p>
<p>Yeah, in hindsight it was dumb, but I’ve had bad stomach issues for all of my life so it gets to the point that you kinda get used to it and putting it off a few more weeks to save a few hundred bucks didn’t seem like a big deal. I’m probably lucky and lesson learned.</p>
<p>Let me get this straight-----You went to the ER for pain. They did an ultrasound and blood work and released you? Didn’t the ER doctor see the sonogram/blood results before releasing you? It doesn’t make sense that the ER would release you before getting the test results. When I went to the ER, they did the blood work and ultrasound and admitted me right away.</p>
<p>If they release you and the tests aren’t complete I think they send the results to your primary doctor. Did you give them a doctor’s name and number?</p>
<p>Yup. She gave me meds, told me to change my diet, and said I’d get the results back in a few days. </p>
<p>I have no idea whether or not the doctor looked at the blood work and the ultrasound. I assume she did but they released me when the pain went away.</p>
<p>MIGA, I don’t have a primary. I told her I didn’t have a primary. I actually didn’t even think about where the results would go until a few hours ago when I had that realization on here. I was on about 3 hours of sleep and on pain meds so I wasn’t thinking clearly. My mom was with me and just trusted the doctor.</p>
<p>I think you are going to have to call. Otherwise your results may end up in limbo with nowhere to go. Did she give you the name of a surgeon or specialist to see?</p>
<p>That sounds weird to me. Around here, the ER gets STAT test results before releasing a patient. I think there would be too much of a chance of some serious liability if they released an ER patient before reading test results.</p>
<p>I suppose you should call the ER and ask them about how to follow up.</p>
<p>The gallbladder’s function is to store bile made by the liver until it is needed for digestion. In the absence of a gallbladder, the liver just sends bile directly to the small intestine. Bile is used to emulsify fats so that they and fat soluble vitamins can be absorbed. In the absence of a gallbladder that can send a large amount of stored bile in to the small intestine at once, eating a high fat meal may cause digestive upset.</p>
<p>So a gallbladder is not an essential organ, but someone who has it removed may want to be more careful about eating high fat meals.</p>
<p>ny, she never gave me a diagnosis either now that I think about it. She said it was gallbladder pain… but I actually don’t remember her saying a word about gallstones or any other kind of issue. Perhaps the reason she released me was because it wasn’t anything detectible on the tests but since I’m having so many problems, they want it removed anyway? </p>
<p>I didn’t think much of it at the time because I didn’t know you normally get sent right to surgery due to this type of pain. I’ve been discharged from the ER before without conclusive results so I didn’t give it a second thought. </p>
<p>I will have to call my mom in the morning and see if she said anything else that I’m somehow forgetting.</p>
<p>^ sounds like a good idea to call your mom. Depending on what pain meds you are on and how much pain you are in ,you may not be able to remember everything.</p>
<p>Even if you can’t find it, you can call the hospital that discharged you. They can look up your chart and give you the info you need. You could even ask them to provide you with a duplicate, explaining it was misplaced.</p>
<p>Ok, well, that is just silly. So if she has an inflamed, diseased appendix, she should just leave it in because it’s an organ and she is young? </p>
<p>Because we don’t know the OPs medical situation, we cannot tell her what to do or what not to do. This is something she does need to consider carefully; she needs to listen to her options, she needs to ask the surgeon about potential complications of the surgery, as well as potential consequences of putting off the surgery. She needs to read the results of the sonogram or have someone who understands the terminology go over it with her. She needs to carefully weight risks vs. benefit of either action she takes. She needs to know all of the financials before she moves forward.</p>
<p>My very first patient in the ICU was a man who had refused to have his gallbladder removed in spite of strong recommendations to have the surgery. It eventually became necrotic and ruptured, sending out all kinds of bacteria into his body. When I had him, he was on multiple IV antibiotics, a ventilator, and all kinds of other IV medications. He DIED as a result of his refusal to have the surgery, only after suffering greatly and costing his family a fortune in medical bills. But, well, the important thing is he got to keep his organ, right?</p>
<p>That is an extreme example. No one should have surgery lightly, particularly if they have time to examine all of the options. But neither should one just cling to some notion that if we have an organ, we must “need it,” to the exclusion of common sense.</p>
<p>I consider myself lucky. I had my gallbladder out after suffering with it an entire summer. I haven’t missed it for a moment. Whether I eat a meal high in fat, or whether I don’t, it’s all the same to me. I have had absolutely no problems and I feel exactly the same as before I had it out.</p>
<p>Just because we were born with it, doesn’t mean it has to stay with us. </p>
<p>Like, say, the appendix. If my H would have kept his ruptured appendix when he was a teen and experiencing a life threatening infection, he could have died.</p>
<p>The good news is that Romani is seeking treatment and hopefully, getting relief, soon.</p>
<p>Ok, I called both the hospital and my mom this morning and this is what I’ve gathered:</p>
<p>I do not have gallstones, but my gallbladder is almost certainly what is causing the pain. The doctor is not sure what specifically is causing the pain but recommending I get it out because of the recurrence of the issue and the severity. They have already treated me for GERD- the only other possibility- and it did nothing to help my symptoms. The blood results were not back when I was discharged from the hospital- they discharged me based on the ultrasound. </p>
<p>As the ultrasound came back clean, and the fact that I would be alone most of this week, the doctor said I should contact the specialist ASAP and he/she’ll probably recommend me to schedule the surgery soon and that they would contact me if there was anything unusual with my blood. They said the specialist might send me for a hida (sp?) scan before recommending surgery. </p>
<p>The sad thing is, I remembered almost nothing of that.</p>
<p>Re: posts 20 and 25. I would suggest you listen to your doctor. Gall bladder removal is not confined to the older population. DD had hers removed at age 21, and she did NOT fit the profile of those with GB problems. She was not fat, or over 40. And she was a vegetarian…so not much fat in her diet.</p>
<p>Romani, you have been suffering with this for a while. If this can bring you relief, so be it!</p>
<p>I am a vegetarian, young, thin, and eat a really low-fat diet (except my butter). The only real risk factor I have is that my dad had gallbladder disease and apparently it runs really strongly in families. </p>
<p>I have every intention of listening to the doctor rather than someone on the internet :). I’m not the kind to overreact about my health. I don’t go to the doctor for colds nor do I ever demand meds. But nothing works for this so I’m willing to try a very safe and proven procedure :).</p>