Hi Zoie,
I feel so badly for you. I understand how it feels to be a patient who isn't taken seriously by their physicians with the result that we come to feel we're being labled as depressed or being told the pain is all in our heads. I have endometriosis and this, unfortunately, is not an uncommon occurrence for women like me.
I have had multiple surgeries for endo and adhesions. For a long time I complained of right upper quadrant pain. Gallbladder studies were negative but eventually the recommendation was to have my gallbladder removed with a 50/50 chance it would relieve my pain/pressure. The pathology from the gallbladder removal revealed chronic cholecystitis or, chronic inflammation of the gallbladder. This is something that would never show up on standard gallbladder studies.
I had the gallbladder removed in Nov. 1999. The surgery did relieve the pain and pressure I'd had. That was a relief. Then came the new pain, several months later. My pain is nowhere near the level you describe with your pain. Mine is a constant, nagging pain that flares occassionally. I had laparoscopic surgery January of this year for other reasons but the doc took a good look at the area to determine if there was something he could see that might be causing the pain. The op report states "there is an area of visible attachment near the liver" which sounds an awful lot like adhesions to me. There is a video tape of the surgery so I guess I could take it to another doctor for review and second opinion. I've had a really rough year this year medically and haven't pursued that problem, it's been on the back burner.
I just wanted you to know you're not alone, that there are others that understand.
All my best,
Debbie
At Fri, 5 Dec 2003, Zoie wrote:
>
>Hi to all,
>
>I have noticed several people have posted about possible post op
>gallbladder adhesions. I have come to the conclusion that adhesions may
>be my problem. I have been through so much testing over the past year
>or so. My liver enzymes are normal, ERCP showed no residual stones,
>etc...........