gall bladder attack- maybe?

[cjbart]

Ok, first off, a little background info-
We are expecting our second child (a girl) in June, and we couldn't be happier.
So the other night, my wife comes home tired as usual, but I have pulled out some stops to make her favorite meal. This is a chicken dish with a buttery mustard suace. I use a whole stick of butter every time I make it. Mashed potatoes (loads of butter for her, almost none for me) green beans (again loads of butter for her, none for me)
Of course, she eats too much, and tells me she's been eating junk all day, so she feels really full.
About an hour after dinner, we put the 2 year old to bed, and Wife is complaining of upset stomach. About a half hour after that, she is lying on the bathroom floor crying in pain and comparing it to labor pains. She can barely speak at this point, and I call the OB/GYN (half crazed that we are losing the baby) who calmly says, take some Tums or Mylanta and see if it gets any better, if it's not better in half and hour go to the ER.
20 minutes later, she can speak again and is in progressively less pain.
Meanwhile, the boy is up again, trying to figure out what is going on and nearly as scared as we are.
She sees the OB/GYN the next day, he says this sometimes happen in pregnant women when they eat a lot of fatty food at once. Now she's afraid to eat almost anything, and I have no idea what to make for dinner anymore.

She will see a gatro-intestinologist on Monday for a look-see at her gall bladder.

Has any thing like this ever happened to anyone out there?

[SGTDad]

My wife had her Gall-bladder removed after her first pregnancy. It's fairly common in women after they get pregnant, and fatty foods can trigger attacks. For my wife, the pain wrapped around her abdomen right below her ribcage - it was painfull and like a labor contraction, but labor pains are much lower in the abodomen.

They can often be mistaken for gas pains.

It's good you have an appointment already - they'll probably do an ultrasound to see if there is a problem.

In the meantime, avoid fatty foods altogether. Anything with a lot of fat should be avoided - stuff like french fries, etc. but it's impractical to eliminate all fat - just cut down as much as possible until you get the all-clear.

[cjbart]

For my wife, the pain wrapped around her abdomen right below her ribcage - it was painfull and like a labor contraction, but labor pains are much lower in the abodomen.

They can often be mistaken for gas pains.



Yeah, that sounds exactly like what happened to my wife, upper abdomen pain comparable in intensity to labor contracton. No mistaking it for gas once it hit that hard.

I hope she doesn't need it removed. What is life like without a gall bladder? Do you have to continue being very careful about what you eat?

[SGTDad]

The removal isn't too bad. It's an orthoscopic surgery, so she could have the surgery and get released the same day, with several days recovery at home.

My wife was pretty sensitive to fat for a few weeks afterward. But over time, her GI tract adjusted and she now notices no difference from before the surgery. We're not huge fat-eaters, but she doesn't have problems with your typical high-fat burger and fries meal, for example.

Of course everyone is different, but from what I understand, once your body adjusts, you're pretty much back to normal. If you have a really high fat diet, then you might need to cut back, but your doctor will be able to tell you specifics.

EDIT: After further consultation with my wife, she says that eating a lot of fat will make her stools "loose." So, that is something to be aware of.

Good luck and hope everything turns out well!

[tt3]

My wife also had hers removed after two kids. Same kind of think, really REALLY bad heartburn she said it almost felt like a heart attack it hurt so bad "very acute". It didn't matter what she ate, it just came on out of the blue.
She'd lay down for ten minutes and be ok again until the next time.
They did an ultrasound to confirm the gallbladder problem, if I remember the surgeons words it looked like a shell full of double aught buck...
G'luck to your wife...

[cjbart]

Sure enough- she saw the doctor this week after an ultrasound and the gall bladder is full of "bilious sludge" and small stones and will have to come out. Not right away unless there is an emergency (knock on wood), but sometime after the baby is born.
Since the shock has worn off, she is more annoyed at the inconvenience of the thing than frightened of the procedure.
Anybody know why this seems to be fairly common in pregnant women?
Thanks for the support guys.

[Jackson's Dad]

"bilious sludge"

Weren't they a punk band in the 80s? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[SGTDad]

Here's a quote from some doctor on a pregnancy site:

"The hormonal milieu, circulating estrogen and progesterone levels, affect the gallbladder's ability to contract and excrete bile," says Dibble. "Higher levels of these hormones result in a slowdown of the gallbladder wall and promote gallstone formation. When these gallstones leave the gallbladder and become lodged in the ducts of the gallbladder or pancreas, they can be [extremely] painful."

My wife had to wait 6 six weeks after birth before she could have the surgery. That gives time for all her organs to get back to their normal positions, not to mention giving your wife time to heal.

Good luck!

[cjbart]

Off we go tomorrow. 2 months ago, we went to the hospital and came home a few days later with a beautiful baby girl, tomorrow we go and come back minus one gall bladder. Wish us luck.

[jeffus]

Ew, umm, urr - Good Luck! Hope everything comes out OK!

[dad305]

We wish you the best!

[cjbart]

Well, everything went just the way it was supposed to. A bit of post-op nausea, but no surgical complications. It's a laproscopic procedure, no big incision, they just poke some holes for instruments and lights and a camera and pull out the gall bladder through the belly button. Wife is resting, Kids are asleep (they spent the day with my parents)and I read an entire book in the waiting room.
Thanks for the good thoughts everybody!

[jeffus]

Whoo Hoo! Some good news! Yay!

[Patrickz]

Hope everything went well.

[SGTDad]

Glad everything went well. My wife had the same procedure. She'll have to go easy on the really greasy food, but other than that, she won't miss it at all!