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Posted 7/19/2013 10:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hello,its me once again,I have a question and no better place to go for answers then this forum!

On May 1st my sister had emergency gallbladder surgery,they tried to do laproscopic but ended up cutting her from the front of her stomach over to her right side. Needless to say she was very sick,Dr said 1000's of stones,had to cut open her bile duct to retrieve some that wouldn't come out.

After a few days in hospital she was sent home,very sore but feeling tons better.
about a week ago,she started getting pains in her belly just like before,but not as bad,then this Tuesday she went to see her family Dr,he had no clue but did blood work.

She got up Wed,and fell to the ground,pain so bad,called her surgeon this time,told her to come see him,he thought maybe some stones were left behind somehow.While at that Dr,the other Dr office called her and told her she needed repeat blood work that they felt she had HEP C,her liver enzyme were terrible,and bilirubin was up.

Surgeon set up CT-SCAN for yesterday and more blood work, long story short,she ended up in the hospital last night,her Ast and Alt are off the charts,and now she is very very yellow,bilirubin very bad.

They are doing a scope on her in the morning to check for more stones and retrieve them if possible,has anyone heard of this before? Why would stones attack her liver like this? None of this sounds good to me at all and I am very worried about her. Her blood count shows no infection.

When my husband(deceased now) was very sick,after spending 2 1/2 months in ICU,after he came home,his gallbladder ruptured,he actually died while they tried to save him,thankfully got him back,he wore a bag on the side of his belly for drainage for 3 months until he was well enough to have his gallbladder removed. He was septic,the whole 9 yards and I dont ever remember him being yellow !

Anything anyone has to say to reassure me that things will be ok,please help,I hate this !

Robin shakehead
Posted 7/19/2013 10:22 PM (GMT 0)
I posted once already but it seems to have disappeared. It sounds like a bile duct stricture to me. Given the surgical history and duct resection, the obstructive jaundice and the increasing enzymes, this would seem worthy of consideration. Left untreated it can lead to ascending cholangitis (life threatening) and secondary biliary cirrhosis. A rapid onset presentation like this would normally be indicative of a benign,iatrogenic stricture (caused by surgery - all sorts of things from diathermy to contusional influences can influence the luminal narrowing), and the surgeon may be reluctant to admit to it. It requires swift, honest intervention. I hope I'm wrong, but this was definitely the first thing I thought of - not that I'm an expert!
Posted 7/19/2013 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Robin, very sorry to hear of this. I know you must be worried. I have no knowledge or experience regarding gall bladder or duct issues, but hope that she receives quick intervention.

Hugs,
Connie
Posted 7/19/2013 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
This is very very common with gallbladder removal. Stones that are left over from the gallbladder removal can prevent bile from getting ____ the stomach. If it completely cuts off the bile duct the symptoms are severe pain, jaundice and elevated AST/ALT levels.

Treatment is to go in and do a EUS and then an ERCP. Just an endoscopy, they will expand with a balloon and drag the bile duct clean. There is a good chance stents will be put in to help reduce the inflammation.

If caught early it should not be a problem. As nicechap said, this can lead to secondary biliary cirrhosis which is why my liver is in such rough shape. Stones from my gallbladder removal in 2006 partially blocked my bile duct and the bile was slowly eating away at my liver from what they can tell. I have stents in mine for the past 6 months to allow time for it to heal, I am hoping to not have stents put back in on July 31st.

When my duct finally got closed off from the cholangitis, I presented with jaundice, AST and ALT levels in the 300 to 400 range. I never had pain, but I have a very high pain tolerance and except for my nerve being pinched in my back rarely have issues.

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 7/19/2013 7:40:26 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/19/2013 11:48 PM (GMT 0)
As an FYI, stones are not just made in the gall bladder. Your liver can produce them too and they can get snagged up in the bile duct. I see stents in your sister's future for a bit. Other than the liquid diet for a few days, the procedure for me is rather easy. Just groggy from the general.

Good luck and I hope they get it all cleaned up.

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 7/19/2013 7:41:15 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/20/2013 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much for your quick responses ! My sister sounds like you did SyXx. I sure hope they find out tomorrow whats wrong before she gets any worse !
Posted 7/20/2013 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck to your sister tomorrow! Keep us updated.

I assume she is having an EUS tomorrow.
Posted 7/21/2013 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
Good Morning All,
My sister had Laposcopic done yesterday. They ended up using general because it took so long,she was under for 3 1/12 hrs. They did find more stones and her bile duct was closed shut so they ended up putting in a stent,she says for 6 weeks and then goes back in and they take it out if it all looks good.

She told me her blood counts had already started to come back down last night. She sounded so much better even through her grogginess!

Now I can only hope she gets much better from here !

Robin

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 7/21/2013 8:13:19 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/21/2013 11:46 AM (GMT 0)
Excellent news! Glad that stenting has sorted the stricture and that enzymes are trending down!

Post Edited By Moderator (hep93) : 7/22/2013 8:14:18 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/21/2013 4:11 PM (GMT 0)
glad for good news!  C
Posted 7/21/2013 4:12 PM (GMT 0)
Wow Robin

So happy for you and your family that sis is doing well. I was beginning to think that Connie and MamaLama's dark cloud was visiting you;(

All the best,

Hugs
Posted 7/21/2013 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
The stents clog so max is 2 months. If the use 2 stents then they can go 3 months. They put 2 in me so I can go further between stenting.

Great news about blood work. from what I read this is common.
Posted 7/21/2013 8:02 PM (GMT 0)
Mae,that Black cloud just loves to follow me,I think I am the one sharing it with everyone else !

Sis called me to let me know that shes been sprung from the hospital,still doesn't feel to good,but hopes she on the mend now.
This also affected her pancreas ? Didn't know that it was all tied in to one.
They gave her some sort of medication to help dissolve the rest of the stones,and she will pass them hopefully,if not she will have to have surgery again,so I am praying that the meds work!
On Friday night,her AST was 777 her Alt was 557 and her bilirubin was 2.2. Said she was peeing orange.Counts are still coming down and says her eyes are back to white and near normal pee color.So I hope this continues also !

Robin
Posted 7/21/2013 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
So you're the one with that dubious distinction!

Yeah pancreas problems can be really serious and painful. They are all tied together somehow. Hope sis continues to improve.

My doctor said my brother's liver was full of sludge, ewwww.

Let'a hope that cloud turns silver for everyone :)
Posted 7/21/2013 10:03 PM (GMT 0)
They share the common bile duct. Also having stents can cause pancreatitis. Urisodiol is probably what they gave her, its a normally occuring acid and taking it thins bile and breaks stones up.
Posted 7/23/2013 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
How is your sister doing Robin? When I had my stents put in it took about 4 days for me to really notice the difference. That is when I started feeling better. For me since they think it started as a partial blockage that had been there for 6 years it took 6 months for my levels to start to normalize, but I was wondering since it was caught so quickly how fast the turn around will be for her? I am going to ask to see if I can get one of my stents this time, I will take a picture if I can and post it.
Posted 7/25/2013 12:56 PM (GMT 0)
Morning SyXx,
Talked to sis yesterday,she is still not feeling up to par yet ! She wont eat anything because she is so afraid of getting another attack! I told her she cant live on plain bagels and Gatorade forever!
Last blood work her Ast and Alt were down to 533 and 320 so she is getting better,she sees the surgeon next week,and I think goes back for the scope in about 5 weeks to get the stents out if all is good !
Thank you so much for asking !
Robin
Posted 7/25/2013 4:34 PM (GMT 0)
It could take 3 months or more to fully recover. as long as she sees downward trend she is doing good.

Not eating is not good, fasting can increase bili in blood to so she needs to eat lean healthy foods.

I am glad she is getting better though. keep us informed.
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