A simple gallstone can be your enemy

A simple gallstone can be your enemy

Mrs. PK was a young woman in her twenties, recently married, a happy mother of a cute boy. Nothing could go wrong, or so she thought, when she ignored that right sided pain troubling her after visits to restaurants. They blamed bad food, switched to "healthy" eating. But one fine day, the pain just would not go away even with painkiller tabs from the pharmacy. They visited us at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. She was found to have gallstones (stones in her gall bladder), and one had slipped into the bile duct, causing jaundice. Her eyes had turned yellow, she started throwing fever. We did a timely ERCP to remove the bile duct stone. The recovery was magical, the yellow eyes turned normal, she started eating normally.

Before discharge, they were asked to meet the surgeons and advised gall bladder removal (cholecystectomy). They had concerns about surgery at the outset, but the doctors at Deenanath were convincing and reassuring. Surgery took 15 minutes, at the hands of the best surgeons in town. She recovered completely and went home happy, good as new.

Gallstones are found in many people, especially females between 20-40 years of age, and even in males. Pain after oily and spicy foods should give you a hint of a gallstone. Visit a Gastroenterologist. Sometimes, you may not need an ERCP, but just a simple surgery. It's always covered in your mediclaim/insurance.

Let's not ignore that pain, it may not be "just acidity", it may be a gallstone.