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Geez; this could work out all for the better for her. Leave the gall bladder in there to perform it's magic and she'll lose weight and probably live longer and better for it.
Most gall bladder removals are done through arthroscopic surgery now in any case. The normal routine is to make small incision, inflate her abdominal cavity with an inert gas to make room to poke around in there and usually they take a good look at all other organs in the neighbourhood while in there. Nip off the bladder and pull it out through the hole they've made.
In her case I can see where that whole routine would be complicated a great deal by her crushing weight.
So very sad people get this far gone with simply indulging themselves without any control at all. Family have probably found it easier to enable her than to fight with her constantly over her food addiction.
Arthroscopic surgery is done on joints. What you're talking about is laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
The people who are in the best position to weigh the risks of surgery vs no surgery are her doctors. If they chose to operate, liability for malpractice wouldn't be an issue if she were willing to sign a detailed document showing her informed consent and waiver of liability.
If waivers were worth the paper they are written on then liability premiums wouldn't be so expensive.
My beginning symptoms of gall bladder problems was not being able to eat or drink when I was having an attack. I would throw up if I tried. Later on, that wasnt so much of an issue during an attack, just pain. Then I had an 11 day attack which felt very different and I thought I had bruised a rib. Got my gall bladder out in emergency surgery.
I don't know about this story, but I do know vomiting and not being able to eat or drink is one of the types of symptoms one can get with gall bladder problems.
OK, I'll concede that point without argument.
I didn't have a problem with eating and keeping stuff down. I had no trouble at all eating, which is what would bring on the attacks, especially after eating stuff like knockwurst. A few hours after eating, I would get an intense pain in my chest, not the worst pain I've had, but close to it. The first time, I thought I was having a heart attack and was going to die...but when I didn't croak after ten minutes I figured that I probably wouldn't...after an hour, I was wishing that I *would* die so that it would stop.
I ignored it for a long time, trying to figure out what was causing it, and eventually linked it to meats with a high fat content. So, I tried avoiding the stuff that would trigger an attack, but it got worse, and eventually I was in constant pain and after a few weeks I finally went to see a Doc. The Doc was a Harvard grad, lots of papers published. She sent me to get some very expensive heart tests (about $75k worth) which all turned up nothing. She told me to take Ibuprofen, because I just had some pulled muscles.
I know what pulled muscles feel like, and that was in no way my problem, and I told her so. But, oh no, she was a high-and-mighty Harvard Doc, she couldn't be wrong, so we argued. She eventually tossed me out, still insisting that it was just pulled muscles.
I got to talking with a friend, who told me that it sounded like I had a gallbladder problem...he was a drywall contractor. He told me that a $400 ultrasound test would confirm. So, I called my Harvard doc for a referral, that she refused to give, still insisting that I just had some pulled muscles. Then I made an appointment on my own and went for the test.
I asked the ultrasound tech what the result was, and the tech said he wasn't permitted to tell me, the surgeon would review it and get back to me in a couple of days. I said "OK" and went home. By the time I got home (about a 15 mile drive) there was a message on my answering machine- it was the surgeon, he said "CALL ME NOW!".
I called the surgeon back, and he told me that he had an operating room already reserved and that I needed to get to the hospital *immediately*. My gallbladder was swollen to 4 times the normal size and he was afraid that it could rupture at any time.
After the operation, while I was there in the hospital, I say my oh-so-smart Harvard Doc who couldn't possibly be wrong. She wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't even look at me, I think she was afraid that I was going to sue her...I probably should have.
I didn't have a problem with eating and keeping stuff down. I had no trouble at all eating, which is what would bring on the attacks, especially after eating stuff like knockwurst. A few hours after eating, I would get an intense pain in my chest, not the worst pain I've had, but close to it. The first time, I thought I was having a heart attack and was going to die...but when I didn't croak after ten minutes I figured that I probably wouldn't...after an hour, I was wishing that I *would* die so that it would stop.
I ignored it for a long time, trying to figure out what was causing it, and eventually linked it to meats with a high fat content. So, I tried avoiding the stuff that would trigger an attack, but it got worse, and eventually I was in constant pain and after a few weeks I finally went to see a Doc. The Doc was a Harvard grad, lots of papers published. She sent me to get some very expensive heart tests (about $75k worth) which all turned up nothing. She told me to take Ibuprofen, because I just had some pulled muscles.
I know what pulled muscles feel like, and that was in no way my problem, and I told her so. But, oh no, she was a high-and-mighty Harvard Doc, she couldn't be wrong, so we argued. She eventually tossed me out, still insisting that it was just pulled muscles.
I got to talking with a friend, who told me that it sounded like I had a gallbladder problem...he was a drywall contractor. He told me that a $400 ultrasound test would confirm. So, I called my Harvard doc for a referral, that she refused to give, still insisting that I just had some pulled muscles. Then I made an appointment on my own and went for the test.
I asked the ultrasound tech what the result was, and the tech said he wasn't permitted to tell me, the surgeon would review it and get back to me in a couple of days. I said "OK" and went home. By the time I got home (about a 15 mile drive) there was a message on my answering machine- it was the surgeon, he said "CALL ME NOW!".
I called the surgeon back, and he told me that he had an operating room already reserved and that I needed to get to the hospital *immediately*. My gallbladder was swollen to 4 times the normal size and he was afraid that it could rupture at any time.
After the operation, while I was there in the hospital, I say my oh-so-smart Harvard Doc who couldn't possibly be wrong. She wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't even look at me, I think she was afraid that I was going to sue her...I probably should have.
That is funny (not "haha" funny). I had a family member who is a doctor tell me my 11 day attack was a pulled muscle. But on the 11th day he recognized I was going into shock or something and sent me to the ER. So he redeemed himself. I tell people if he says something is a pulled muscle, you should go to the ER.
She should have caught it as gall bladder pain, it often looks like a heart attack. Its a common differential for chest pain.
I think attacks can give a lot of different symptoms depending on what is going on. A stone passing feels like one thing, where it getting angry after eating feels very differently.
I was reading about gallbladder stones the other day. I thought there were possibly a couple of other options for removing stones that would at least help the woman temporarily until she lost some weight. One way was to take some medication that helped to dissolve the stones although more stones usually develop. Another method was some shock wave type method that helped break up stones. I'm assuming the gallbladder stones are the problem. You may correct me if I'm wrong.
These things might help some, but they take quite a bit of time and aren't very effective. I suppose with her they could try it, but I don't know that it would give her any relief. I know when I had stones, I just wanted the stupid thing OUT. If they'd denied me, I would have been tempted to cut myself open and take it out. Those attacks were the most painful thing I've ever felt.
And to those saying her family should have helped her... perhaps they did? There's only so much they can do. She has to choose to change.
And to those saying her family should have helped her... perhaps they did? There's only so much they can do. She has to choose to change.
True, but at her weight I highly doubt she's mobile. Which means someone is feeding her. These cases of extreme morbid obesity almost always involve an unhealthy codependent relationship between the obese person and a "feeder" who gets some sort of psychological benefit (either direct or indirect) from helping the obese person get heavier. Without a "feeder," this woman's weight would have stabilized at a level where she still had some mobility (or she wouldn't be able to keep herself fed) - and at that weight, surgery for her gallbladder problems would be much less risky.
These cases of extreme morbid obesity almost always involve an unhealthy codependent relationship between the obese person and a "feeder" who gets some sort of psychological benefit (either direct or indirect) from helping the obese person get heavier.
What kind of differently twisted person derives a benefit?
What kind of differently twisted person derives a benefit?
There can be all kinds of motivations at work: equating providing food with love, a desire to control the other person (who has become completely dependent on the "feeder" for basic needs, like an overgrown infant), fear of abandonment (which becomes less likely as the obese person becomes fatter, and less physically atttractive to others as well as less mobile), to name just a few. Needless to say, it's not an emotionally healthy relationship for either party.
In this day of "Body Shaming" rants and the percentage of obese people in our country, doctors better get used to this. We're allowed gluttony, right? If that's what we want to do. Wait. You're not limiting it, are you? We don't do that in this country. Take it as far as you want. If it feels good, do it.
If her gall bladder ruptured and she died, wouldn't that leave them in just as much risk for law suit?
I have a friend who was morbidly obese. She'd been to the ER a couple of times and didn't get help. She died on the way back to the ER. She had pneumonia. Doctors just don't treat the obese as well.
Good reason not to be obese but there's no excuse for doctors not treating them. Treat them differently, maybe, but not treat them at all? I'm not for that.
If I had a pet who was obese and the vet refused to do a life-saving procedure I'd be furious.
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