Horrible stomach pain has sent me to the emergency room twice. At 6:30 in the morning, I got a diagnosis. Gallstones…GALLSTONES! I am 22! I’m too young to have gallstones! Auuurrgghh! Now I have to have surgery soon but I don’t know how I am going to manage to pay for it considering I’m uninsured.
::grumble grumble::
Gall stones are a pain, and rare for young people. Have you lost a lot of weight recently, that can cause them in young people. Trust me though you do want them getting seen too. Not only is the pain very bad, but they can lead to pancreatitis if one gets caught in your pancreas duct. You don’t want to damage your pancreas coz that hurts loads and has a chance of buggering up your life expectancy.
Is it ever possible to get insured and then get the gall bladder removed under insurance? Or would prior gall stone attacks mean this is impossible.
I had my gallbladder removed a year ago, after an attack like the ones you mention. Included was a stone about the size of a golf ball.
The operation was done laparoscopically (“keyhole” surgery), which I highly recommend: Recovery was quick; aftereffects were minor.
Cost? I was in eastern Europe, and the bill came to $680. I think I’ll go back next time I need surgery.
I have lost almost 50 pounds in almost three months. My doctor seems to think my birth control pills are contributing to the problem.
Oh, and even if I did get insured now, it is a pre-existing condition, so no dice. In the meantime, I have been told not to eat cabbage, lettuce, onions, anything fried, anything fatty, so on and so on.
What a ridiculous pain in the ass.
I have lost almost 50 pounds in almost three months. My doctor seems to think my birth control pills are contributing to the problem.
Oh, and even if I did get insured now, it is a pre-existing condition, so no dice. In the meantime, I have been told not to eat cabbage, lettuce, onions, anything fried, anything fatty, so on and so on. I also have a perscription for Zantac and Lortab to control the attacks. I just want the damn thing out.
What a ridiculous pain in the ass.
I beg to differ. I was 30 when I had my gallbladder removed. My hospital room-mate was 21 and had the same surgery.
I was only 26 when I had my gall bladder removed. Unfortunately, the laparascopic surgery wasn’t in common use yet. I have a huge scar. As far as not having insurance, talk to the hospital about this. Many will work with you to set up a payment plan.
Not at all. I mean that they’re not at all rare for young people. A pain? That they are.
I had mine out 2 years ago when I was 31. I don’t know about the payment thing, but at least I can tell you that the laproscopic surgery was no big deal.
Good luck.
Gallstones can cause hellacious pain and can lead to permanent damage. At least you won’t have to be in the hospital very long if you have it done with a laproscopic procedure (which is generally almost painless).
Pay as much as you can afford to pay every month. And let the hospital know that you will be paying every month and what the amount will be. I think that most hospitals will accept your circumstances. But, IANA attorney.
Of course, I like what happened to Xema. What you save could pay for your trip to Europe! I was injured in Paris in the spring. The ambulance, emergency room and doctor fees came to a total of 20 Euros, about $25 dollars.
Had mine out at 30 and it took them a year to figure out that it was my gallbladder, because they kept telling me I was too young.
I think it used to be a rarity in younger people but is becoming more common with the different garbage and stress that we put into our bodies.
Good luck!
I ended up with six little holes poked in my body, and lots of bruising, but for the most part it was a breeze and I felt tons better afterwards.
I had mine out a few years back, in my mid-20s, due to recurrent pancreatitis. Didn’t solve the problem, though. Luckily, I DO have good insurance.
Wow! Lortab works!
My doctor is concerned because my gallbladder may be inflamed. He wants to do further ultrasounds because the pain is becoming constant rather than a few sharp pangs every now and then.
My gallbladder was removed last year (I am 33 now). Many people have gallstones and never notice. Women have them more frequently, being overweight is another contributing factor, just as genetic predisposition (“it runs in the family”).
I now have a jar with 13 gallstones at home, all of them the size of M&Ms.
torie check with your local Medicaid office and see if your state has coverage for a class called MAO (Medical Assistance Only) and if you could qualify. I don’t know the circumstances of your “uninsuredness” but this might be an option. Would not hurt to check.
Good luck 
Practically everyone gets gallstones. But they are usually small and pass without notice.
My wife had problems with gallstones. But she couldn’t be sedated and responded poorly to anesthesia.
We were told she would have to have her bladder removed more than likely. We had about a month to wait until the doctor was sure etc…
I started her on a diet, low fat and had her drink lots of apple juice. Apple juice will soften the stones and will dissolve them in some cases to where they’ll pass. That is exactly what happened with her. The doc said keep up the diet and let him know what happens. A couple of times she had a little pain but after that…no more. They did NOT remove her gall bladder and she quit getting stones.
of course as usual YMMV.
These things aren’t rare in young people at all. My wife had to have her gall bladder removed when she was 23 because of gall stones. Turns out that three other folks we knew at the time had had the same surgery - all of them were within a few years of her age.
I stand corrected about the rarity. When I had Pancreatitis and later my Gall Bladder removed in my late 20s. I was told that Gall Bladder problems were rare in people under the age of 60, and in the young associated with rapid weight loss or very high fat diets. (I had lost a lot of weight when I had appendicitis a few years before).
I stand corrected about the rarity. When I had Pancreatitis and later my Gall Bladder removed in my late 20s. I was told that Gall Bladder problems were rare in people under the age of 60, and in the young associated with rapid weight loss or very high fat diets. (I had lost a lot of weight when I had appendicitis a few years before).
You’re not too far off about the age thing, Bippy. I’ve heard many doctors use the 3F theory of gallstone prediction when presented with abdominal pain, Fat Female and Forty. While there are of course exceptions and it may indeed be true that rule of thumb is becoming outdated, there was a long time it was true enough anyway.
One of my cousins was put in the psych ward at the tender age of sixteen because of gallbladder attacks! Her mother had suffered a nervous breakdown the year before and one of the symptoms was phantom pain, she’d go around screaming people were knifing her in the belly. When my cousin started having horrible pains from her gallbladder, she immediately thought she must be having a nervous breakdown too and was scared to pieces.
An ER intern didn’t do a very thourough exam, given the family history presented he figured she was either imagining the pain or tripping on drugs and ordered her locked down for 72 hours. Luckily, when my uncle got to the hospital he raised all sorts of holy hell, she was properly examined and the offending gallbladder full of stones was removed posthaste.
That’s when we first heard the 3F diagnosis criteria, which has been remarkably accurate for the rest of my family. I’ve still got all my organs and no problems yet at 34, but my mother, aunts and grandmothers all wound up having their gallbladders removed by age fifty.
I was 22 when my gallbladder started acting up. I’d just had a baby.
I quit having attacks after a few months and haven’t had one in, oh, about 4 years. Looking back I’m glad I didn’t have it yanked considering it quit bothering me after a bit. (Not that I am recommending this approach for you or anyone else, I’m just saying that apparently sometimes the flare-ups stop.)