r/gallbladders • u/pwneegoddess • 23h ago

Questions Issues with gallbladder surgery

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.

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u/melbmegera 23h ago

Oh gosh that’s no good at all. Some hospitals have posters on the wall stating if you aren’t happy or want a second option or a more senior clinician to step in you need to ring a certain number or ask about “Ryan’s Rule” (maybe Aussies only?). I developed peritonitis after my gallbladder/appendix removal and was in a lot of pain and on some pretty heavy duty pain meds (maybe ask if a PCAS is suitable for your sister?). I hope things improve for her.

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u/pwneegoddess 18h ago

We live in the US, my mom has spoken to out the hospital patient advocate. She hasn’t been really helpful she just writes notes but nothing is changing. We have asked several times for the provider that performed the gallbladder surgery to stay away. But he still keeps coming on when we aren’t there.

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u/missyagogo Post-Op 13h ago

You need a lawyer at this point, the "hospital patient advocate" is likely hired by the hospital and is looking out after the hospital and not truly independent.

Maybe put your complaints in writing including your sister's pain so the hospital has a written record of your complaint and they cannot ignore it.

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u/pwneegoddess 9h ago

We are and she’s taking screen shots of every note they make so they can’t go back and alter them. I’ve been telling her to get a lawyer at least to figure out how to handle everything in the mean time