Dad and his gall bladder
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Dad and his gall bladder
| Tue, 02-06-2007 - 6:36pm |
My dad has been having pain in stomach for 6 months off and on. The first visit to Dr they couldn't find anyting wrong. Pain went away then it came back a few months later. Lasted a few days and went away. A few weeks ago it came back worse then before took him to ER and they told him he was constipated. Told him to make appt with VA Clinic in 2 days. The day of VA appt he called me in tears and couldn't stand the pain. Called VA clinc and got him in earlier. He was extremely jundaice. The sent him for ultra sound, cat scan and mri and found out that his gall bladder and the duct are full of stones. Gastro Dr. said that they have to get stones out of the duct before can take gall bladder . Had that done last week with a scope. They said that they could not get them all and would have to do it again. So they went in yesterday and took out 12 more and said he has one the size of a marble. Now they want him to go to bigger hospital about 75 mile away to have this marble size stone taken out them come back and have gall bladder taken out. Does this make sense? Thanks

Your poor Dad, thank goodness he has you looking after him. Here is some information about gallstones that may help you. There is a lot of good info within this area, so be sure to check all of it out!
http://digestive.health.ivillage.com/liverpancreasbiliary/gallstones.cfm
So they went in yesterday and took out 12 more and said he has one the size of a marble. Now they want him to go to bigger hospital about 75 mile away to have this marble size stone taken out them come back and have gall bladder taken out. Does this make sense?
It does make sense because they are admitting that this last stone is problematic and your Dad needs to be taken care of at a larger facility, one that is better equipped to do this surgery. Have you asked anyone if it is feasible for him to have the entire surgery done at the other hospital? I know that with VA coverage, there might be an issue with having it all done elsewhere, but you should be able to call and get answers through VA. Since your Dad needs to travel so far for 'part' of the procedure, possibly he can be allowed to have it all done there...you won't know unless you ask. Let us know what is decided, OK?
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<over 40 and tired