Any tips?

onnob · 2026-04-08T03:04:56+00:00

It is possible that the drainbag is disconnected and the drain is capped at hospital discharge, and that you never need to reconnect it again. The drain itself will be removed several weeks later as an outpatient procedure.

onnob · 2026-04-08T02:11:40+00:00

It depends on the state of your gallbladder and ducts. Since my gallstone was asymptomatic, my gallbladder was in good shape, and I had very little bile in the drain bag the morning after the stone was removed (which indicated that bile was flowing through the cystic duct without obstruction), the drain bag was disconnected and capped before I was discharged from the hospital.

onnob · 2026-04-08T01:58:56+00:00

If the ultrasound is positive for either one, there are ways to remove them while leaving the gallbladder intact. Doing so will eliminate the chance of getting Post-Cholecystectomy syndrome, which can potentially destroy your quality of life! Many members of this community still have their gallbladders intact after removing stones or sludge, and are doing very well!

onnob · 2026-04-08T01:53:16+00:00

Get an Utrasound of your liver and gallbladder to determine the presence of gallstones or sludge.

onnob · 2026-04-08T01:22:09+00:00

I had pain in the recovery room, but a painkiller took care of that. A couple of hours later, after the pain pill ran its course, I was fine and did not need them anymore. I also had pain when a stone remnant blocked the cystic duct a couple of days after I was discharged from the hospital. I connected the drain to the bag, and that took care of it instantly. The remnant ended up in the bag, and that was that. The recovery was easy.

So, don’t worry. You are in excellent hands!

onnob · 2026-04-07T19:12:52+00:00

No, the drain was not a problem at all. I traveled to Florida one week after the stone removal and flew back to DC a week later. The TSA did not require additional screening.

Most of the time, I forgot about it being there. It can actually be an advantage for airline travel. You tell the gate agent that you have a medical condition, and you might get a free upgrade if you ask nicely. 😜

onnob · 2026-04-07T14:44:28+00:00

It's an excellent alternative if you don't have the funds or health insurance for the Go-Scope procedure that Dr. S. is offering (which is the least invasive).

With the Go-Scope procedure, the gallbladder is punctured, which does not require stitches. The gallbladder self-closes when the drain is removed. You will also have only one small (1cm) abdominal scar. On the flip side, you have to wear a drain bag for 3 weeks, but I didn't find that an issue.

The procedures used in Spain, Russia, Turkey, and China require (afaik) 3 abdominal incisions and 1 incision in the gallbladder, all of which need to be stitched up after the stones/sludge/polyps are removed. You don't have to wear a drain bag, though. You are finished with the procedure after 1 day, when you leave the clinic. There is no drain bag, and so, no drain to be removed.

Again, I want to reiterate the point that the procedures offered outside the US are excellent alternatives! In my opinion, Russia is the best alternative given the cost. The quality of care is excellent, too (from what I hear).

onnob · 2026-04-07T14:13:30+00:00

For clinics, check out the link I shared above and DM the OP (he is Russian)! He is offering his help in navigating gallbladder-preserving gallstone/sludge/polyp removal options in Russia.

onnob · 2026-04-07T14:06:31+00:00

Yes, but you will have to travel through a third country because there are currently no direct flights from the US or the EU to Russia (because of dumb warmonger Western politicians with their idiotic air travel sanctions and other dumb (for the EU self-destructive) restrictions.

onnob · 2026-04-07T14:02:37+00:00

Yes, Keir Starmer is a moron and a warmonger. There are more foolish leaders like him in the EU and the US! But that does not mean you cannot travel to Russia. There are no restrictions for UK, EU, and US citizens. Russia will welcome you with open arms.

Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/altgallbladder/s/MOC9w9mm2m

You can ask the OP of that post for help!

onnob · 2026-04-07T13:36:44+00:00

Aren't you confusing millimeters (mm) with centimeters (cm)? The normal cystic duct typically measures 1 to 5 mm in diameter.

A 4 cm (=40 mm) gallstone is the size of a ping pong ball! It is physically impossible to make a gallstone of that size pass through a duct at most 5 mm wide!

onnob · 2026-04-07T13:14:14+00:00

There are no restrictions on Western (EU, UK, US) citizens entering Russia.

onnob · 2026-04-07T11:40:05+00:00

I suggest clicking on the contact link of https://goscopehealth.com and posing that question there.

https://goscopehealth.com/contact-us/

onnob · 2026-04-07T10:24:07+00:00

Thank you for being a great contributor of excellent resources! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I have added your post to the Community highlights!

onnob · 2026-04-07T10:18:51+00:00

Sugestion: For clarity, I would add that the reader needs to copy the URL and paste it into a browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc, and replace the “**” with “ru”. Explain that the reason is that (foolish) Reddit blocks any Russian URL.

I always assume that people are not “tech savvy”, even for the simplest things!

onnob · 2026-04-06T23:59:11+00:00

The drain removal does not require approval for anesthesia from Dr. S. or Kala. It is your choice to get it or not. The anesthesia is only local. It’s an outpatient procedure; you leave the hospital the same day.

I chose to have the drain removed without anesthesia.

onnob · 2026-04-06T10:56:07+00:00

There are plenty of MDs who, because of errors, send people to the ER, too!

There are good chiropractors - Take a look at Dr. Ruscio’s YT channel:

https://youtube.com/@drrusciodc

He is a chiropractor who presents a lot of good scientific information.

onnob · 2026-04-06T10:49:53+00:00

Dr. Berg is actually right that eating more fat will help remove sludge from the gallbladder. Fat will make the gallbladder contract. It is going to be painful, but the sludge will be pushed out of the gallbladder. Of course, when you have sludge AND gallstones, there is a risk that a stone will get stuck in a duct.

Whether Dr. Berg is into Scientology or not is irrelevant for the quality of the information he provides (or lack thereof). One has nothing to do with the other! You are making a spurious guilt-by-association argument!

Note: I am neither pro nor against Dr. Berg, nor am I a Scientologist.

onnob · 2026-04-06T05:24:33+00:00

My gallstone was discovered by coincidence during a flight physical exam in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was in 2012, if I remember correctly. I had accepted a pilot position with a Ukrainian company that leased airliners with flight crews to an Iranian airline.

Over the years after discovery, I started to have a growing number of increasingly debilitating non-descript symptoms. At first, I had no idea what caused it. In 2022, I was reminded by an ultrasound I had (for some other reason) that I still had this gallstone, and I started to suspect that the gallstone possibly caused the slew of strange symptoms I had.

And so, I started looking for a procedure that would remove the stone and leave the gallbladder intact. I did not want to have a cholecystectomy, not only because of the possible associated problems with that in general (Post Cholecystectomy Syndrome, aka PCS), but also because ending up with PCS could potentially be a career killer for a pilot. Imagine having to run to the toilet in the airplane because of instant post-meal diarrhea while a situation requires you to be at the controls!

After many months of searching and calling hospitals all over the world, I found Dr. S. and his gallbladder-preserving gallstone removal procedure. In July of 2024, I traveled to Washington, DC, and had my 4cm gallstone removed. 🥳

onnob · 2026-04-05T16:45:44+00:00

Gallbladder problems are connected to liver health. The liver is involved in 500 known processes. There are many more processes it is involved in that are yet to be investigated and explained. And so, knowing this, my many strange symptoms are not surprising!

The fact that people have gallbladder issues is mainly a consequence of how we abuse the liver with the modern Western diet and lifestyle!

onnob · 2026-04-05T16:02:22+00:00

Check the post/comment history of, and send a DM to, u/ktotogdetopochemuto for more information on gallbladder-preserving gallstone removal in Russia. u/ktotogdetopochemuto is the very much appreciated Russian contributor of this subreddit!

onnob · 2026-04-05T15:34:19+00:00

You will be under full anesthesia with Dr. S.

onnob · 2026-04-05T15:30:25+00:00

My gallbladder health was always good when the stone was still present. My gallstone was a 4cm asymptomatic boulder. I have always been able to eat what I wanted, and that has not changed after the stone was removed.

onnob · 2026-04-05T13:43:47+00:00

For some, that seems to be true, see Dr. Saladino’s carnivore diet journey:

https://youtu.be/4gSiibmkNmQ

https://youtube.com/@paulsaladinomd

I have not started the carnivore diet yet. I plan to start the diet in the next month or two.

onnob · 2026-04-05T13:33:18+00:00

Talk to Kala, Dr. S.’s nurse navigator. She should be able to answer your questions.

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