Re: gall bladder surgery iminent? YOU NEED BLOOD TESTS ASAP

[Guest guest]

I'm siding with Dave. The " infected GB " diagnosis/theory is often sort of a

blanket scare

statement (used along with 1-2 good scare stories about former patients who

should have

had surgery earlier) to bully everyone into surgical removal.

By surgerizing everyone with suspicious symptoms, the doctor looks good, the

surgeon,

looks good, the hospital looks good BUT it could all be at the patient's

expense. In today's

litigenous world " better safe than sorry " takes on new meaning in " modern

medicine " .

CUT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER, is not necessarily safe and it's no guarantee

you won't

be sorry.

(probably 90% of all surgery of this type, like the infamous biopsies, are

totally

unnecessary and reflect a POOR ability to diagnose and/or a GREEDY medical

team). Again,

all at the patient's expense, and 99% of these poor bastards never find out the

crime!

GET MORE DATA...(NOW). If the GB is infected (cholecystitis) there WILL be a

strongly

elevated white count, usually with lots of PMNs, juveniles (bands), and

lymphocytes.

Normal count would be 5000-10000 and your count could rise to 20K to 80K with an

active infection. Check it DAILY to see if it's rising or dropping, and what the

cell ratios

are, you need more data as to whether you are getting worse or better. This is

just basic

good medicine and good " insurance " .

It still doesn't pinpoint liver, GB or pancreas though. For that you need some

enzyme tests.

Check 1) liver enzymes in the blood, 2) the bilirubin levels (conjugated and

unconjugated),

and 3) the pancreatic enzymes. If you are in crisis, and you may well be,

especially if you

are contemplating surgery, you need to have these tests done DAILY so you can

track the

counts for rises and decreases. It paints a very definitive picture. If your

bile ducts are

obstructed, your liver enzymes and bilirubin WILL be off the chart. If you have

any degree

of pancreatitis at all your lipase and amylase WILL be off the chart.

If you have a high fever and an elevated white count, you are a good candidate

for

prophylactic antibiotic coverage. It's true that some people have let it go too

far and need

surgery. The blood tests will give you a very accurate picture of whether you

are too far

gone or not. If your doctor is not cooperating 100% (with you in the driver's

seat) go for a

SECOND OPINION or merely switch doctors. Don't mess around if you have a pompous

uncaring jerk for a doctor.

Get active, get results, get better!

Will in Minnesota

[Guest guest]

Tandra, this is very good news and quite interesting.

> Had those tests last Wed.-all came back normal. Called doc today to get

tested again

See, NOW you know you have some " working room " to clear your problems sans

surgery.

Here's what comes up for me:

1) Ask the doc to explain all that Rush To Surgery, given NO laboratory

indications!

2) Find out the EXACT NUMBERS of your liver/pancreas/white counts-get a hard

copy of

them for study and for future reference (I'd be glad to review them for you or

others here

could too). Most docs are too dumbed-down to really know what " normal " means. I

like to

look for more depth, not good-bad, normal-abnormal, high-low. The labs

nowadays

even print an A for abnormal (or H for high and L for low) for all values off of

" book " levels.

It's all the shades of gray that tell the real story going on inside your body.

3) Chart your BODY TEMP several times a day for this period of time

4) GET CRACKIN' on a serious plan for your

nutrition/stress/breathing/exercies/wt. loss

(if needed) and medical-herb program. Make a laundry list of all the reasons why

you got

this. Don't rest on your laurals any time soon (if ever) God has apparently

given you an

opportunity to heal yourself. Don't blow it.

Will in Minneapolis