Gallbladders and Children

[Trekhawk]

Hello, I need some advice please.
My daughter who is 11 years old has been having stomach pain off and on for about a year. We tried eliminating nuts, milk products, and treating her as if she had an ulcer. Finally, we relented and went to the pediatrician.
DD had an upper GI - negative, an ultrasound - negative (NO gallstones), and a chem 14 - perfect.
A little over a week ago she had a gallbladder scan. Her gallbladder is not emptying. Any empty rate of 35% or less is an indication for surgery, her empty rate was 0%.
Since the scan we have eliminated fat entirely from her diet which has helped immensely. She still has an episode of pain nightly around 11:00, but other than that has been doing well. (She was in so much pain before this that she was throwing up occasionally and has missed about 12 days of school; the pain so bad she couldn't get to sleep).
She is not obese by any stretch of the imagination - in fact she is in the 110th percentile on height and 40th percentile for weight. I consider us pretty healthy eaters compared to the general population. None of us are above our BMI range.
We have a surgical consult on Monday at 3:45. I have so many questions before we proceed with surgery.
Herein lies where I would like some advice -
Have any of you been diagnosed by a physician with a gallbladder that is not functioning and tried remedies other than surgery? Cleanses, etc. How successful or unsuccessful? Any other advice?
I absolutely hate the thought of putting her through surgery if there is another remedy. I also am not optimistic that if her gallbladder is not functioning that it can start working again. She is in so much pain.

Thanks for your input.

Flybye I hope your daughter will be feeling better soon. Two of my sons had surgery for Hernias (apparently boys can be born with them) at the end of last year and it was a scary thing for us all. What I did notice was that children seem to bounce back quickly from operations and my boys were no different. The hardest part was keeping them from doing too much for the required time after the operations. My boys were 11 and 9 years of age when they had their surgery. Sending healthy vibes your way.

[Flybye]

I thank everyone for the advice so far.
We are headed to a pediatric doc of internal medicine (Tokie you may know him - Dr. McInturff, and yes, Blackfoot is a small town) for a second opinion and from there hope to be referred to a gastro doc.
DD is exhausted from dealing with the pain. We are too. Fortunately she has the advantage of being able to sleep in - we don't have that luxury and are EXHAUSTED.
I am going to run the cleanse idea by the doc tomorrow, following suggestions that all of you have offered. Also I will include suggestions for things to ask the doc that were offered.
Again, thanks and I will keep you posted.

[AnnieBikes]

I am also a great believer in the 2nd opinion route and a believer in that going to a surgeon nets you surgery. One of the questions my husband, a physician, would have you ask. "If this was YOUR _____ (child, mother, husband, father etc...insert proper person), what would you do?" He often recommends that to people who ask him, as a friend, what to do in a certain medical situation (no particular situation). If there is any hesitation, then get ANOTHER opinion. I think the suggestion to go to a pediatric gastroenterologist was very good. This seems to be a problem that needs further work-up and expertise.

Good luck and I send good karma and healing thoughts your way.

[Flybye]

Just wanted to take a second and update everyone.
DD goes in tomorrow, Wednesday am, for surgery to have her gallbladder removed.
We have had more doctors visits than I can count but we have ruled out so many other things that we are now comfortable (okay that is a lie, really, how can you be comfortable with surgery on a kid) with the surgery.
Thanks for all your imput.
Now I covet your prayers.....

[salsabike]

You got it, Flybye. In 24 hours, you all will be coming out the other side and this and starting to get better.

[shootingstar]

Best wishes for good recovery for DD!

[Tuckervill]

Vibing it up for good outcome over here!

Karen

[Trekhawk]

Sending wishes for a speedy recovery.