Gall Bladder – What is it? Can we live without it?

It’s an ugly green organ! But what does it do?

Bile is produced in the liver and secreted into the small intestine. The enzymes in the bile is used to aid in the digestion process of fatty foods.

The Gall Bladder is a storage bag for excess bile that is produced. When you eat something that is extremely fatty, your body calls upon the reserve bile that is stored in the Gall Bladder.

As always, God makes no mistakes. We use our Gall Bladders!

But things can go wrong. Bile can thicken and even harden into stones within the Gall Bladder. When this happens, a blockage or partial blockage can occur. Then when your body needs that extra bile, it can’t get out or not enough of it can get out.

When you need that extra bile and can’t get it, you’ll know it! For me, about 6 hours after a larger meal that contained more fat that I am currently used to, I thought I was dreaming I was in gut pain. Then I woke up. No dream! The pain was in my lower abdomen. I felt sick, like I had eaten bad food. I felt very bloated and had some indigestion. That pain remained and spread to my lower right side, around my back to the center. Then it spread farther up to my mid-back.

This pain lasted for hours. This was the second time in a week so it was time to go to the Emergency Room for tests. From 1 am to 8 am, I underwent various tests – a wide blood screen for various things, a CT scan of my Kidneys and Ultrasound of my Gall Bladder. Nothing out of order in my Kidneys but Gall Stones found in/near my Gall Bladder. Uh-oh!

So, can you live without a Gall Bladder? Yes. The biles ducts are re-plumbed once the Gall Bladder is removed. The down-side: You just won’t have that reserve bile in case you need it.

Lifestyle changes? Yep, lower fat diet. Good news is that Nancy and I have been doing Jenny Craig for 2 months. We’ve lost a lot of weight already so we’re on the right diet plan. Guess now I’ll have to stay with it… Forever!

To my Christian friends, please pray for my medical team for my surgery this Thursday evening (subject to change). Pray for God’s hand to be in their work.

Jim