Gall Bladder Attack (xray, pain, bleeding, surgery)

[Chris M]

Two months ago, I had the worst of several Gall Bladder attacks and went to the emergency room. They took two xrays, and ultra sound, and gave me two I.V. antibiotics for a bill of just under $3,000.

An hour ago my mother made shrimp, and as soon the pain started, I new what it was. I checked the package of the food, and it said 160mg per serving. I haven't had an attack in two months until today.

I called the Catholic hospital and asked the doctor if I should come in because I don't have another $3k, and he got all huffy and said that he cannot diagnose me over the phone. I can understand that for liability reasons why he might not discuss a condition over the phone, but he was just plain rude.

He had a tone and level of defensiveness like he was having his house invaded. I just wanted to know what risks are present by not seeking treatment. No compassion for my excrutating pain. He didn't say please come in, it is better to be safe than sorry. I was in shock by his coldness. You would think after paying for services in the amount of a few grand, that I would be entitled to some follow up questions advising me if further treatment was necessary if I had any more pain. No mention if I should or should not come in only that if I wanted advice, I would have to come in.

Last visit I was diagnosed with gall bladder disease. I have no medical insurance, and if a emergency room visit costs $3k for a few hours, I can only imagine that the gall bladder removal will be 20 times that.

Unless I am on the floor on death's door, I can't afford to seek medical treatment.

If anyone could tell me if I will need more antibiotics for this attack (inflamation and swelling of the gall bladder cause by a high cholestrol intake)?

And in the worst case scenario, is there a sign that would indicate to me that emergency surgury is absolutely necessary?

Thank you

[tao]

I suffered for months with horrific nightly gallbladder attacks thinking it was an ulcer. it took me throwing up blood and (sorry to be gross and graphic here) "pooing" blood until I finally went to a doctor. My gallbladder was full of stones and was extremely inflamed and I was told I would need surgery the next week (it was a couple days before Christmas and so the surgery was going to be just after Christmas which is why it wasn't scheduled immediately). Then the day after getting diagnosed, I almost died from the worst gallbladder attack I'd ever experienced - it was like a heart attack but in my gallbladder, the spasms were so intense I literally thought my gallbladder was going to explode. What happened was a gallstone was passing and got stuck in my bile duct but luckily it dislodged and passed. I ended up with jaundice and went to the closest emergency room - they did all the same expensive tests I already had done - and this ER wasn't in my insurance plan so it was all out of pocket- then the stupid ER doctor sent me home because it was the day before Christmas and he said no one would do the surgery until after Christmas and I would just be sitting in a hospital bed waiting for a couple of days for nothing. I went home and threw up black blood, a sign of internal bleeding, but I wasn't about to go back to that hospital. Christmas came and went and I went to my appointment with the surgeon two days later. He looked at my ER test results, freaked out, saying the doctor there was crazy and almost killed me then he immediately admitted me to a different hospital (which luckily was in my insurance plan). I was in for three days, because they had to do two seperate procedures - first, an exploratory procedure to see if there were any more stones stuck in my bile duct then second, emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder.

This can be a life-threatening situation. No matter what it costs, it can't cost more than your life. I was in for three days because they had to do the two procedures and the first day they wanted to observe me overnight and give me IVs of saline and antibiotics. The surgery was a snap and I went home the morning after. If you're not in crisis mode like I was you can get it done with only an overnight stay which is much less expensive. No matter what it costs, you can always set up a payment plan. Perhaps you have family who can help?

[Chris M]

Thank you, Tao, for your response. I am feeling better now, as the pain lasted for about 6 hours and passed. I am just going to be especially cautious in minimizing my cholestrol and fat intake until I can get a job with health insurance.

I wish you the best of health. Take care.

[pandorasbox]

take it from me I know what it feels like.
First of all you can' eat anything fatty like oil,butter,sausage,ect. A good rule of thumb eat smaller portions cause once you fill up the attack is next. the bad thing is if you don't have your gall bladder removed, it can cause pancritise(SP) which will put posion in your blood. and damage your esphagus. If you can't afford cheap health ins. go online to affordable health care to see what you can get just to get you by. Stay way from fried food, caffine, fatty meats even nuts like peanut butter that is not natural. good luck. I had mine out 14 years ago and it cost me over $26,000

Originally Posted by Chris M

Two months ago, I had the worst of several Gall Bladder attacks and went to the emergency room. They took two xrays, and ultra sound, and gave me two I.V. antibiotics for a bill of just under $3,000.

An hour ago my mother made shrimp, and as soon the pain started, I new what it was. I checked the package of the food, and it said 160mg per serving. I haven't had an attack in two months until today.

I called the Catholic hospital and asked the doctor if I should come in because I don't have another $3k, and he got all huffy and said that he cannot diagnose me over the phone. I can understand that for liability reasons why he might not discuss a condition over the phone, but he was just plain rude.

He had a tone and level of defensiveness like he was having his house invaded. I just wanted to know what risks are present by not seeking treatment. No compassion for my excrutating pain. He didn't say please come in, it is better to be safe than sorry. I was in shock by his coldness. You would think after paying for services in the amount of a few grand, that I would be entitled to some follow up questions advising me if further treatment was necessary if I had any more pain. No mention if I should or should not come in only that if I wanted advice, I would have to come in.

Last visit I was diagnosed with gall bladder disease. I have no medical insurance, and if a emergency room visit costs $3k for a few hours, I can only imagine that the gall bladder removal will be 20 times that.

Unless I am on the floor on death's door, I can't afford to seek medical treatment.

If anyone could tell me if I will need more antibiotics for this attack (inflamation and swelling of the gall bladder cause by a high cholestrol intake)?

And in the worst case scenario, is there a sign that would indicate to me that emergency surgury is absolutely necessary?

Thank you

[Chris M]

Thank you, Pandorasbox, I appreciate your advice.