Women and their gallbladders

[Micro]

Sounds like a silly topic.  But it's serious.  

My wife lost her mother last night, and I lost a very dear friend.  64 years old.

It started one month ago today.  She was doing some early Christmas shopping and had a gall bladder attack.  She drove herself to the hospital but couldn't get out of the car.  She passed out and a bystander called 911.  They got her into the ER and diagnosed her with an acute gall bladder attack.  The took it out that night.  The next day, she had pancreatitis.  Over the course of the following month, that pancreas infection caused by the gallbladder attack shut down her kidneys, digestive tract and lungs.

My father in law was going to retire from his job next year after 46 years.  They just got their last son out of the house and away to college.  A nice retirement together - gone.

Man.  I hear it all the time, especially from older women.  "My gall bladder is acting up."  If you know a woman with gall bladder problems, encourage her to take it seriously.  It can turn deadly in a minute.

Sighhhhhhh.

[grimlin]

My Mom recently had her's checked out.Doctor told her good thing she did.She ended up having to get surgery.

[.dsaavedra.]

my gall bladder is acting up

i dont even know where mine is... :-?

[Micro]

Its under your right lower ribs.  You're too young to have problems.  It's usually a problem for older people whose matabolism is such that meals high in fat can cause it to flare up.  It can form stones.  A stone can pass from the gallbladder and get stuck in a panreatic duct.  Once that happens, it forms a life treatening situation.  Even if the stone is flushed out, the pancreas may have already become inflamed.  Once that happens, hospitalization is required, usually in an ICU.  

I never gave it any thought until this happened.  Once acute pancreatitis sets in, mortality can be has high as 50%, higher if other systems become affected.  It just throws everything out of whack.  

[Muddy]

Hey Micro: sorry for your family's loss

[TopDog]

Sorry to hear it Micro! :'(

[MALTESE FALCON]

I'm so sorry for your loss. You and your wife will be in my prayers.

In the last year, three women in my family have had to have their gallbladder removed. My mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my daughter-in-law. I had no idea it could be so serious.

Falcon

[mattm]

Micro, I'm very sorry to hear that.  Thanks for taking the time to let everyone know what a serious issue this can be.  Says a lot about you that you think of others in your time of crisis.

[slomoe]

Very sorry to hear of your loss. My mother just had a stone removed, I had no idea how serious it was.......

[bigdog]

sorry for your loss but young people can have problems too. my son had his removed at 13 yrs old.

[Micro]

Thanks for the sentiments, folks.

Bigdog, I always associated it with older people. I guess just about anything that can happen to an older person can happen to a child.

[jax]

I am very sorry to here of you loss. It is a shame.

One reason women seem to have more gallbladder attacks is due to pregnancy. When they are carrying it squishes all of there organs up. It really affects the gallbladder when they carry high. My wife was 26 when we had our daughter. 2 weeks later she had her gallbladder removed. Her doctor told us it is becoming very common for women to have to have their gallbladder removed after pregnancy. It isn't so much a matter of "if" any more as to "when". Quite of few of her friends went through this same thing.

Her doctor removes about an average of 3000 gallbladder per year. That number just seems insane to me. That is just one doctor...