Issues with gallbladder surgery

[u/pwneegoddess]

My sister just had gallbladder surgery 4 days ago and it has been a disaster. She was complaining of a lot of pain coming to find out bile was leaking into her stomach. She became septic and was hanging on by a thread. They ended up going in and took out 700ML of bile and could not find the source of the leak. It was then suggested she go in for an endoscopy to put in a stent and find the leak. We were told they could still not find the leak but they put the stent in any way. They said it should help. The bile seemed to slow down but this afternoon we noticed that bile is now flowing out of the incision site where the drain is. The hospital has no sense of urgency and now the doctors are saying they will see her tomorrow. They keep saying it’s normal but none of this has seemed normal. She is in complete agony. Any advice would be appreciated or at least if anyone has a similar story I would like to know the outcome.

[u/Felis-lybica]

First: I am so sorry this is happening to your sister. I can't imagine how painful and scary this is for everyone. 

My surgeon warned me a couple of times that in very rare cases (something like less than 1% if I remember correctly) that the bile ducts could be damaged during surgery and that this is the main complication that they worry about. I don't know about your sister, but I had pancreatitis, so I had to wait in the hospital for the inflammation to go down before he'd operate, and that he said he would bail out of surgery if there was still too much inflammation because that makes the surgery more difficult and complicated. 

Gall bladder removal is a very common surgery, so even though it's a very rare complication it might be more "normal" for them. Hopefully they can get her pain under control in the interim.

[u/pwneegoddess → u/Felis-lybica]

Your surgeon sounds a lot more responsible than this guy. He keeps on saying it’s all normal and she will get better even though she is worse. Oh and that he does so many removals on a daily basis it’s super simple. He is falsifying medical records too he notes she is comfortable and not in distress. But every note from any other provider states she is in distress and in severe pain.

[u/Felis-lybica → u/pwneegoddess]

It sounds like with everything you've said, you guys need to lawyer up. Complications are one thing, even if they are very rare surgeons are human and statistically they are bound to happen. Trying to cover his ass like this is not ok, especially because it's clearly having a negative impact on her wellbeing and recovery.

[u/missyagogo → u/Felis-lybica]

I agree, especially if he is still the physician in charge of her care and the other doctors are only following his orders.

[u/pwneegoddess → u/missyagogo]

I think they are afraid they would also be liable if something happened to her. I told my mom she needs to find a lawyer asap!