Surgery gone awry

One of the classical reactions you get from a surgeon when you show you are afraid of gallbladder removal surgery is "Oh come on, its' the easiest and safest laparoscopic surgeries there are...".

Well, my answer to that has always been "There is no such thing as a 'safe' surgery".

A while back I was approached by a man who reminded me just how unsafe any surgery can be.

He told me that he went into surgery for gallbladder removal only to have his common bile duct removed by mistake... A specialist was called in to complete the gallbladder removal and then to "fix him up".

I will not go into the details in depth - I don't want laymen to feel uncomfortable but lets just say the reconnected him inside very differently.

Next thing he knows he is feeling awful and finds out there are stones inside the liver now onverging on the exit but cannot leave because the exit is narrowed down. Even his bile would not flow freely.

No problem say the surgeons and they go in through the liver and surgically try to widen the exit. Some success but not enough for the stones...

The story goes on but you get the gist.

Sure, there were people we sent to surgery for various reasons. 2 to be precise. One with a 4.5 centimeter "rock" that would not flush out and the other will a full load of stones so compressed we could not even relieve him of the pain for long enough to discuss a flush...

Thousands were more fortunate (Or timely/responsible - you can pick).

The reason I am sharing this is to counter the light handed practice of sending everyone with gallstones to this surgery. It should, in my experience, be saved as a last resort.

in health,

Chen

P.S.

Suffering from gallstones? (That is are you in pain?)

Check out our guide "Stop gallstones suffering" here