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Late start to posting today — 27 Comments

  1. I’m so glad that it resolved and you are feeling better. So many of us look forward to your posts. Hope you have a lovely, summer weekend.

  2. Oh my! My wife had such an attack 4 months after our oldest was born. I remember it vividly. She ended up having it removed the next day. Get it checked out next week. If there are multiple stones it needs to be taken care of. Take care of yourself.

  3. Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. Some years ago, I had what I believe was a gall bladder attack after an overly rich Thanksgiving dinner, and it was just awful. I had a houseful of company and felt the need to pretend everything was okay, so I didn’t seek medical help right away. By the time the company went home, things had eased, thank goodness. I’ve avoided the foods that I think set it off since then and have been lucky so far. I’m glad you are feeling better, and I hope it stays that way.

  4. Get an ultrasound!
    If it was a GB “attack”, it was a tiny stone that was passed into the duodenum. One such usually means many more are present. Or it was just “sludge” and you have chronic smoldering cholecystitis, which can suddenly become acute.

    Laparoscopic surgery is today’s standard: 3 one-inch incisions, very fast recovery.

    On the other hand, the pain, etc. may have another cause, Self-diagnosis based only on symptoms is fraught with error.
    Blessings!

  5. Just celebrated my 10th anniversary without my gall bladder. Had an extremely sudden attack on the 4th of July and refused to go to emergency room until the 5th. Had a few gall stones so out it came. Never missed it.

    And as Cicero says above laparoscopy with three little scars which have faded away. Only major problem was no golf for a month in the middle of summer.

  6. I’m hoping it was a really good salami sandwich!

    Otherwise, best wishes and some comments sound like good advice.

  7. I hope you’re feeling better. My MIL had an attack at age 90 when we were vacationing on Key West. When her pain started I thought she was having a heart attack, the symptoms are similar. They found gall stones at the ER and operated right away using laparoscopy. She was completely recovered two days later. Do yourself a favor and have your gall bladder removed. As people above have pointed out it’s not a big deal.

  8. The salami or the bread?

    I took my husband to the hospital in the wee hours a few years ago with what looked to us like a heart attack. It wasn’t. It was a near gangrenous gallbladder. Out it came by 10 a.m.; home that evening, and no further problems. They warn of dietary problems without it, but that has not happened to him.

  9. It’s almost like it never happened for me. It being gone has had zero impact on me.

  10. I suffered from undiagnosed gallbladder disease for about 6 months before it was finally nailed down (full of sand that didn’t show on the ultrasound). The one positive that came out of it was that, when I realized that if I ate any fat at all I was in for several hours of excruciating pain, I was able to lose a lot of weight. As others have said, the solution was laparoscopic surgery. No digestive/dietary problems since then.

  11. “Getting old ain’t a crime … but it sure is inconvenient.”
    – attributed to ‘Moms’ Mabley

  12. Warren Zevon, the singer-songwriter, got a surprise diagnosis of lung cancer with months to live. His advice:

    Enjoy every sandwich!

    He also said:

    I may have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.

    “Warren Zevon – His Last David Letterman Show on October 30, 2002”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Mirkd3CT4

    Not that anyone here needs Z’s advice, but he did put things succinctly.

  13. I had to have mine removed after a series of very painful attacks, which at first I attributed to simple indigestion — overdosing on avocado toast before it became the big foodie thing (I was ahead of the trend in 2005). Now that it’s gone, nothing seems to bother me, although I have cut back on fat for other reasons.
    Since timing is everything in life (!!), I had the surgery just a short while before having to drive from Colorado to Texas for a son’s wedding – took me about twice as long as usual because of stopping to rest. The surgery itself was as miniscule as mentioned above.

    A good friend had symptoms similar to mine a few years later, however, and her problem was something entirely different!
    See a doctor asap.

  14. 1. I agree. Get a doctor to be sure it’s the gall bladder.

    2. Get the surgery. I wish I’d had it earlier.

  15. I had the laparoscopic surgery and I went home that same day! Three roughly 3/4 inch incisions. Can’t even see the scars now.

  16. Sorry to hear about the pain. Perhaps even more sorry to hear you’ll have to drastically lessen your intake of salami sandwiches. Out of curiosity, what type of salami was it? I have an especial fondness for the kosher beef salami made by Hebrew National or sold by Katz’s.

  17. My gallbladder problems showed up after eating a cheesesteak. And then they reappeared at various times after that. The offending organ is gone now, but I really don’t have much interest in cheesesteaks anymore.

    Keep an eye on it and don’t hesitate to get it yanked if it causes problems

  18. I’m sorry about that, Neo.

    Since we’re all here telling our gall bladder stories 🙂 , my gallstone event is closely associated in my mind with an Arby’s sandwich and curly fries that I ate about 7 years ago, something like that. (I think it was more likely the fries that did it.) The attack lasted maybe 3 days, and I had the ultrasound done, which was also an interesting experience – I turned out to be very ticklish. Didn’t go through with the surgery, in the event; have had nothing like that happen since then. But I’ve never been back to an Arby’s since, which is a bit disappointing, because their basic roast-beef sandwiches were the only fast food that I’d unfailingly enjoyed.

  19. So here’s my health story that involves a salami sandwich. About five years ago I was feeling chest pains. Though I have never had a heart attack (nearing 70) my father had several so I’m always worried about it. My doctor felt it was serious enough to refer me to a cardiologist and he recommended what is called a “nuclear stress test”, a kind of CAT scan. The procedure was as follows:

    1. Inject me with dye
    2. Take a baseline scan
    3. Take a treadmill test for 9-10 minutes
    4. EAT SOMETHING REALLY FATTY LIKE A SALAMI AND CHEESE SANDWICH WITH MAYONNAISE!! Yes, they told me to bring one to the test.
    5. Take another scan and compare

    It was to measure how well my heart pumps blood and I passed with flying colors. I have had no heart issues since other than a mild case of high blood pressure diagnosed last year. But I think the real test was if I ate the sandwich and didn’t drop dead on the spot of a heart attack then my heart was in great shape. And I’m glad you are OK, neo.

  20. Yep, get it yanked.

    Had mine yanked via laparoscopic procedure a couple of decades ago. Perhaps two days of easy recovery.

  21. Ditto, my mother-in-law in her 80’s: she had an extraordinary number of unusually large gallstones when she was so weak from a variety of other things that it was amazing a surgeon would accept the risk. After laparoscopic surgery to remove the stones, she was in and out of the hospital in no time with complete relief from her prostrating fever, pain, and nausea. She lived on well into her 90s. Laparoscopic surgery these days is amazing.

  22. I just learned a neat trick for making cheese toastie sandwiches — spread mayo on one side of the bread and grill that side, while putting your cheese and whatever on the other side.

    The mayo has a higher smoking point than butter, so it works better plus it doesn’t impart a mayo taste. Nice and crisp.

    Didn’t realize I could be taking my life into my hands with the wrong meat!

  23. I had to cut back on a lot of the fatty stuff, but I drew the line at dropping my cheese sandwiches. I found a brand of synthetic-material bags that you put your bread & cheese inside of and drop into the toaster, assuming you have the wide bagel slots which just about everyone does.
    Works amazingly well, and good for 20-30 times. Can even wash if the cheese gooeys up the inside.

    https://www.planitproducts.co.uk/toastabags

    I checked out their website to see if they were still available (use Neo’s Amazon widget, but I found mine in the local grocery store).
    This is an really clever gardening accessory.
    https://www.planitproducts.co.uk/h2go-bag

    I would get one of these if I was still ironing work clothes.
    Gonna be a pain for lots of folks, getting dressed for the office again.
    https://www.planitproducts.co.uk/ironsafe

  24. The thing to remember if you get it removed: it’s been acting as a reservoir for bile, which is required to digest fats. If your gall bladder is gone, you now have a continuous drip of bile into your intestinal tract, and with no fat there, it acts as an irtitant. When you have a large fatty meal, there’s no extra bile available, so some of the fat just acts as a lubricant.

    IOW, small amount of fat with every meal, and trim the steaks.

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