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Question: Hi!
Yesterday, I started my day perfectly fine. I slowly started developing some discomfort in my abdomen area, specifically towards the right side. It became worse. I thought it was a sprain of some sort, so tried doing some stretches. But this did not help and I headed to the hospital. I was given some pain killers and said that I must undergo a sonography to test for kidney stones. I did ... there were no kidney stones but they found gallstones.
The doctor on site was a surgeion and more or less instantly wanted to operate on me. It's been almost 24 hours since the incident and I experience no pain or discomfort. It is almost as if the problem never existed. I was asked to do several tests. And I did ... most of them are pretty normal. I am confused what to to do. I feel very normal. And I do believe surgeries should be avoided as far as possible. Been finding a lot of contradictory advice all over the internet. Thought I'd give a try here.
Yesterday, I started my day perfectly fine. I slowly started developing some discomfort in my abdomen area, specifically towards the right side. It became worse. I thought it was a sprain of some sort, so tried doing some stretches. But this did not help and I headed to the hospital. I was given some pain killers and said that I must undergo a sonography to test for kidney stones. I did ... there were no kidney stones but they found gallstones.
The doctor on site was a surgeion and more or less instantly wanted to operate on me. It's been almost 24 hours since the incident and I experience no pain or discomfort. It is almost as if the problem never existed. I was asked to do several tests. And I did ... most of them are pretty normal. I am confused what to to do. I feel very normal. And I do believe surgeries should be avoided as far as possible. Been finding a lot of contradictory advice all over the internet. Thought I'd give a try here.
Brief Answer:
Surgery might be required
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting in HCM.
I went through your query and reports you posted.
Except for your ultrasound report other things looks Ok.
As the report said you have a 1.2cms gall stone that too in the lumen and that is the reason for the pain.
If the stone would have been in the gall bladder then pain would not have occurred. As the stone is stretching the lumen, the pain is there.
Usually the lumen size is approx 6 to 7mm. And as you know the stone is 1.2cms hence its streched.
I would also recommend that surgery will be required to remove the stone manually as it won't pass on its own because of the size.
Hence surgery will be a better option for you.
I hope I have answered your question well.
If you have any questions kindly ask me back.
Thank you
Surgery might be required
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting in HCM.
I went through your query and reports you posted.
Except for your ultrasound report other things looks Ok.
As the report said you have a 1.2cms gall stone that too in the lumen and that is the reason for the pain.
If the stone would have been in the gall bladder then pain would not have occurred. As the stone is stretching the lumen, the pain is there.
Usually the lumen size is approx 6 to 7mm. And as you know the stone is 1.2cms hence its streched.
I would also recommend that surgery will be required to remove the stone manually as it won't pass on its own because of the size.
Hence surgery will be a better option for you.
I hope I have answered your question well.
If you have any questions kindly ask me back.
Thank you
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Hi.
Thanks for the reply. I have some follow-up questions
Q1: If the lumen is already stretched as I write this, should I be experiencing pain? What should be the intensity? Because I am not on any pain-killer and I have absolutely not the slightest of discomfort.
Q2: If there is no pain, can I assume that non-surgical alternatives still have a chance of helping out? I have been advised by many to drink apple juice with apple cider, mint leaves in hot water, eat lot of fruits etc. Are cleansing routines like these - http://www.worldwidehealthcenter.net/article/flush-gall-stones-naturally ' worth trying? Are they harmful?
Q3: In a world without invasive surgery, what happened to people with these problems? Are we undermining value of diet based or natural treatments because we live in a world with invasive surgery and targets for surgeons to do N surgeries per month?
Q4: What kind of diet restrictions should I follow while I am in the process of making a decision?
Q5: Is it okay to walk around, do Yoga and some other exercise routines which I am otherwise trying to do?
Thanks for the reply. I have some follow-up questions
Q1: If the lumen is already stretched as I write this, should I be experiencing pain? What should be the intensity? Because I am not on any pain-killer and I have absolutely not the slightest of discomfort.
Q2: If there is no pain, can I assume that non-surgical alternatives still have a chance of helping out? I have been advised by many to drink apple juice with apple cider, mint leaves in hot water, eat lot of fruits etc. Are cleansing routines like these - http://www.worldwidehealthcenter.net/article/flush-gall-stones-naturally ' worth trying? Are they harmful?
Q3: In a world without invasive surgery, what happened to people with these problems? Are we undermining value of diet based or natural treatments because we live in a world with invasive surgery and targets for surgeons to do N surgeries per month?
Q4: What kind of diet restrictions should I follow while I am in the process of making a decision?
Q5: Is it okay to walk around, do Yoga and some other exercise routines which I am otherwise trying to do?
Brief Answer:
Kindly read ahead
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for following up.
You have asked quite good questions there. But human body has a very complicated mechanism and the effects of a certain event are different for different people.
For example another person with same stone will have immense pain which is unbearable whearas like you it could be mild or none.
So according to the surgical protocol which is followed if someone has stone and also have symptoms like pain or jaundice then surgery is mandatory.
But if stones are found incidentally and patient is asymptomatic then some school of thoughts say to leave it alone and some say to operate it as it will cause problem in future. But we have seen many cases which live fully and die of natural causes with stones in gall bladder.
So all your questions answer I can give it is, seeing the circumstances that stone is 1.2 cms which is quite big and it is in the lumen which might be obstructing the outflow of bile, it can cause problem in near future and you might land in obstructive jaundice. So to avoid this surgery will only be helpful.
Yes there are medications and diet helps in preventing it but they are mostly preventive medications which reduce formation of stones or stone dissolving medications will help for stones which are in gall bladder itself and not in the lumen.
I am a physician myself and not helping out any surgeon here to reach any targets but advicing here to you which will be helpful to you. There are still many conditions today that only surgery can help.
One advice I can give you here is you can consult a gastroenterologist who can perform ERCP and might be able to resect the stone by putting endoscope from mouth. It will avoid the need of undergoing surgery and the stone could be removed and you could go home the same day. But it will be again a call to be taken by the gastroenterologist as the position of the stone should be exactly known and other factors.
That is the best alternative I can give you against direct surgery.
Hope this satisfies your query.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Thank you
Kindly read ahead
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for following up.
You have asked quite good questions there. But human body has a very complicated mechanism and the effects of a certain event are different for different people.
For example another person with same stone will have immense pain which is unbearable whearas like you it could be mild or none.
So according to the surgical protocol which is followed if someone has stone and also have symptoms like pain or jaundice then surgery is mandatory.
But if stones are found incidentally and patient is asymptomatic then some school of thoughts say to leave it alone and some say to operate it as it will cause problem in future. But we have seen many cases which live fully and die of natural causes with stones in gall bladder.
So all your questions answer I can give it is, seeing the circumstances that stone is 1.2 cms which is quite big and it is in the lumen which might be obstructing the outflow of bile, it can cause problem in near future and you might land in obstructive jaundice. So to avoid this surgery will only be helpful.
Yes there are medications and diet helps in preventing it but they are mostly preventive medications which reduce formation of stones or stone dissolving medications will help for stones which are in gall bladder itself and not in the lumen.
I am a physician myself and not helping out any surgeon here to reach any targets but advicing here to you which will be helpful to you. There are still many conditions today that only surgery can help.
One advice I can give you here is you can consult a gastroenterologist who can perform ERCP and might be able to resect the stone by putting endoscope from mouth. It will avoid the need of undergoing surgery and the stone could be removed and you could go home the same day. But it will be again a call to be taken by the gastroenterologist as the position of the stone should be exactly known and other factors.
That is the best alternative I can give you against direct surgery.
Hope this satisfies your query.
If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Thank you
Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Answered by
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