Well, I'm home from the hospital with a story to tell
I awoke at 2:00 Monday morning with the worst stomach ache EVER. It hurt worse than birthing my 8 lb. son. I stayed in bed, waiting for the pain to subside, but it did not. I could barely move and could not get comfortable. Add to that severe nausea, causing me to vomit several times. I had no idea what was wrong, but I suspected maybe food poisoning. It wasn't that. My daughter took me to the hospital in Tacoma, where they did a CT scan and an ultrasound. The doctors determined that it was my gall bladder, and it needed to come out pronto. So, Wednesday morning I had the first surgery of my life. That went well, and the gall bladder is now history, bye bye birdie! I want to publicly thank the exceptional staff of St. Joseph's, from the doctors who made the right call, to the surgeon who removed the offending body part, to the nurses who took good care of me from start to finish, and even the maintenance man who plunged the toilet in my room. My undying respect and admiration for you dedicated health care people goes on and on. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 
= new reply since forum marked as read
I had my gallbladder removed while in my 30s,,,, The pain leading up to it was memorable,,,,
I feel for you.
AND good on you for thanking all the healthcare workers that helped you 
Take care and please feel better.
I read that, and the music and song ear worm for the Jardia commercial from TV went off in my head. I’m unwittingly be programmed. 
Firstly, glad you are doing well, that pain you endured is quite brutal, I endured three episodes and decided no more !
There are a few things you can do to help with the absence of the organ and its function:
You can no longer properly handle digesting over 5 grams of fat in one meal (and best to totally avoid the bad fats!!) WITHOUT any help of a bile salts supplement.
1. You'll get a tummy ache
2. You'll get the runs
3. You'll NOT get the full nutrition from the meal
After much Experiment, i take one of these after ingesting a fatty meal:
Beta Plus from Biotics Research (100 mg of Ox Bile extract, plus...)
There's likely other supplements that are good too.
I only wish someone had shared this with me sooner !
Best wishes
It's good to hear from someone who has gone through this shit. I'm already on a low fat diet because I have high cholesterol, but I've reduced my total cholesterol 50 points since September, from diet and not drugs. I'm going to continue with this diet for the foreseeable future, probably the rest of my life. I would rather not take the Ox Bile Extract, though, because I swore off beef and pork years ago, and I now eat a mostly vegetarian diet, supplemented occasionally with chicken and fish. Thank you for the best wishes.
And especially those who gave me hearts. It really lifted my mood, and made my day. To quote Aristus, "I love you all!" 
