Hello everyone...haven't posted in a while. I had AVR in October 2010. Since then been doing very well up until about a month ago. I started experiencing back pain and abdominal pain. This past weekend had an episode of extreme abdominal pain. I wasn't really sure what it was so after about four hours of pain, I decided to go to the emergency room. I wanted to make sure it wasn't related to my AVR surgery. Come to find out, it is my Gallbladder acting up. I was referred to a surgeon and had my consultation this past week. Well.....another surgery in my future to remove the Gallbladder.:eek2: The surgeon said that Gallbladder problems were very common for people who have had major surgery such as valve replacement. She said they see a lot of patients about 6 - 12 months post surgery. Was wondering if anyone else has experienced this or if I am just the only (un)lucky one?
AVR and Gallbladder
- Thread starter guyinva
- Start date
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ski girl
Well-known member
Hi there, I had exactly the same thing - 5 weeks post-AVR in October last year. My cardiologist told me that after OHS sometimes things just go nuts. I was held against my will in the hospital (slight dramatisation) and dosed with strong antibiotics every six hours for four days. The day after I went in to the hospital the pain went away and the surgeon wasn't keen to take the gall bladder out when I was on warfarin.
I'm now eight months post-op and I still have my gall bladder and have had no more pain! I'm no doctor, but if it's not bothering you any more, keep the little guy. No need for more surgery unless something's actually wrong!
Good luck from down under!!
I'm now eight months post-op and I still have my gall bladder and have had no more pain! I'm no doctor, but if it's not bothering you any more, keep the little guy. No need for more surgery unless something's actually wrong!
Good luck from down under!!
Jason
Always Assume Positive Intent
I am still under four months post-op, and haven't had the issue you are dealing with. I will now pay a bit more attention to any abdominal discomfort, though, rather than assuming it was something not settling right after dinner! Thanks for the heads up, and hope everything works out for you.
kfay
Well-known member
I had to have mine removed 2 years post op. Looking back, I probably had the pain before then, but just thought it was "normal" abdominal pain. I have to disagree with ski girl about not taking it out if it has quit hurting. My Dr. explained it to me this way, those stones aren't going away on their own, they will always be in there and getting stuck is what causes the pain. If you leave it, you can get Pancreatitis and you may find yourself in a situation where you have to have emergency surgery, so you don't get to choose your surgeon. I'm lucky that I have a tissue valve and didn't have to worry about bridging.
I'm just crossing my fingers. I've had latent gallbladder issues for over 25 years. In fact, we were getting ready to pull it out when my cardio stepped in and said he would not clear me for any surgery except heart surgery. With my "tight" stenotic valve, and with the drastic reductions in blood pressure common during anesthesia and surgery, he was afraid I would go into cardiac arrest. So. . . I still have my gallbladder. I know what to watch for, though, and so far (knock on wood) it is dormant and stable.
ski girl
Well-known member
Kfay - I didn't have gallstones, just an inflamed gall bladder. I agree, if there are stones, the gall bladder needs to go! Mine settled down within a couple days and has been fine now for about seven months. Fingers crossed it stays that way . . . .
I had mine removed 6 weeks post op. No problems before. The gall bladder just ceased functioning after the Ross procedure. I also had thyroid problems post op. My levels went all over the place.
Yikes! Doctor did abdominal ultrasound and found gallstones for me just yesterday. I've dealt with random morning nausea and other strange symptoms for years. I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist on Monday and have valve replacement surgery in 19 days. I will get a mechanical valve and be on coumadin. I hope the gastroenterologist says my stones are no big deal because I'm afraid I will have to undergo another surgery after heart surgery. Not a happy camper.
Warfarinking
Well-known member
I had my aortic valve replaced on July 12th of 2010 and around 7 months post-op I started getting gallbladder attacks, went to the ER the first time it happened but they just sent me back saying it was a muscle spasm. After diagnosing myself I came to the conclusion that I indeed have gallbladder attacks and after going on a low fat/cholesterol diet the attacks stopped occurring frequently but I still get them at least once a week which last a few hours at a time.
This is a great thread, I've talked to my gastroenterologist a couple of days ago. He asked the general surgeon about Gallbladder surgery on coumadin. The Surgeon said he does it all the time for people who have afib and mechanical valves and its no big deal if it has to be done post op. That was good to hear, but who wants to have any surgery while on coumadin if you don't have to, why rock the boat. Oh well.
As Warfarinking said control your diet and do what can be done to prevent attacks if you can.
As Warfarinking said control your diet and do what can be done to prevent attacks if you can.
Since my original post, I had my gallbladder removed last Monday. Sore for a couple days and bruised. Compared to the valve replacement surgery, this was a walk in the park. It was done as an outpatient procedure and I was back home by lunch!
I have a followup with the surgeon tomorrow and I'm hoping this is the last of the doctor's surgeries for a while. It's pretty bad when the staff at the hospital start recognizing you and know your name!
I have a followup with the surgeon tomorrow and I'm hoping this is the last of the doctor's surgeries for a while. It's pretty bad when the staff at the hospital start recognizing you and know your name!
I had open gallbladder surgery with stones in both my gallbladder and my bile duct. I had two stones that showed up in my bile duct two weeks after the gallbladder. To make a long story short I was 7 weeks with a drain in my bile duct before they were finally able to get them out. I had a lot of back pain for some time not realizing it was gallbladder. I had AVR three years ago.
Earline A/K/A Marie
Earline A/K/A Marie
