Regretful of gallbladder removal

[SweetTangerine]

About a week ago I had my gallbladder removed. I had been trying to pass a stone for a week and the pain was horrible. I had no idea what I was suffering from so I went to ER afraid that I had messed up something in my body from all of the fasting I had been doing. They told me that I had a gallstone that was blocking my opening in my gallbladder and the only option was to have it and my gallbladder removed at this point. Being scared and alone, I took their advice and had the surgery that day. They made it seem like it was an emergency, like if I didn't do it now I could get even sicker or maybe even die. I assumed that my gallbladder had been effected from my years of SAD eating and the cleansing maybe just brought the problem to the surface.

Now that I look around on here and through out the internet, I get the feeling that I could have solved this problem on my own with out having one of my organs ripped out of my body. I guess I feel cheated and lied to and wish I could have fixed this on my own. I am afraid that the surgery is going to make things worse in the long run for my digestion. I have been eating vegetarian for three years, vegan for ten months and back and forth with raw for six months. I want to return to high raw, but I want to know what to look out for if anything. I am not looking for medical advice, but if anyone else has been through something similar I would like to hear your story.

[Zaphirah]

You made the best decision you could with the info you had at that time. You did your very best, I'm sure. No point in Monday Morning Quarterbacking it. I speak from exp with some very scarey medical births. I made the best decisions with the info I had. What more could anyone expect from me? Right? isn't that what you would say to me? So be gentle on yourself. You are only human, my dear one. :)

[MelissaO]

I was 12 years old when I had gallbladder removed. I had 2 huge stones in there that were the size of those global grapes - there was no hope in them passing on their own. Mine were so bad that it cause my gallbladder to rupture and cause some other problems with othe organs around it.

I am in my late 30's and have no problems with digestion of healthy foods - the problem comes in when I used to eat red meats, rich foods, or greasy stuff.

Really I do not miss my gallbladder at all

[SweetTangerine]

Thanks to both of you. I think all I really needed to hear were some kind words.

[Emma-Liza]

Hi Allison, I had my gall bladder removed 4 years ago. I'd been doing a vegan low fat diet, had fatty meal and a gall bladder attack the same evening. It was a terrifying amount of pain. I had no idea just eating one meal like that could trigger an attack. Same thing as you, at the hospital they made it sound like removal was the best, if not only, option.

I really didn't realize how UN-optional it was until recently. And, yeah, I had to deal with some regrets about it. But I am at a point now where I think that regrets are a kind of dis-ease, too, and I can release myself from worrying about it.

If it's any help, I have pretty much no digestive problems on raw. I did with SAD, and they had been increasing swiftly. As soon as I started eating raw meals, even before 100%, the problems decreased dramatically. Reading / researching about what the gall bladder does was actually reassuring to me. If I continue to eat well, I'll probably not have problems from its removal.

[RawKnitster]

If the stone(s) were blocking a duct that is serious. That happened to my husband last year. It was an emergency. He had suffered for several days thinking it was back pain and indigestion. Usually it's a one day hospital stay. He had to stay in the hospital for 4 days because the blockage had compromised his pancreas and liver functions. He was in pretty bad shape. If untreated, he would have died.

Don't regret what you had to do. You can't change the past, but your here now, and you do have the power to change the future.

[HolyGuacamole]

You made the best decision you could with the info you had at that time. You did your very best, I'm sure. No point in Monday Morning Quarterbacking it. I speak from exp with some very scarey medical births. I made the best decisions with the info I had. What more could anyone expect from me? Right? isn't that what you would say to me? So be gentle on yourself. You are only human, my dear one. :)

Exactly.
*hugs*

[Lady Green Jeans]

Please be gentle with yourself. No need to fall in the trap and do the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" scenario. Accept where you are and move forward in health and know peace and happiness really is already there.

You are on the right path of raw.

[RawHeaven]

Dear Allison, you made the best possible choice for yourself given the circumstances and the information you had in the moment. From what you described there was a lot of fear placed in your space in the ER and I don't think anyone of us can say we would do anything differently, even though we understand the alternatives. You just never know until you're there and dealing with it. Now you know what it feels like to experience something like this and I bet at one or more times in your life it will be come in handy when you perhaps have to console someone else - your compassionate heart is opened much wider. I'm glad you're doing okay now - this is what's important. And perhaps it was the very best choice for you afterall. Be regretful for a minute and feel your feelings, but don't expend too much of your energy worrying about what could've been. You're healthy and vibrant and alive right now. You're blessed. :D

[OneBite@aTime]

There's no good that can come from crying over spilled green smoothies, you did what you had to do. From what I've heard from other people (including my mom who is two months out) as long as you eat well,you should have little or no digestion problems.
Wishing you perfect health!

[SweetTangerine]

Thanks again to everyone for your sympathy and kind words. It seriously warmed my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I can be a little hard on myself and at times, I step back into the self-attack mode that I used to be very comfortable and familiar with. I have been eating raw for three days and doing a lot of juicing and feel much more optimistic about my situation. I'm not at 100% but every day I'm one step closer.