Like ""mLink"" I had hoped to hang on to my body parts - even after being diagnosed with Gallstones by a military hospital in Oman.
I didn't fancy the pre "periscope surgery" of those days & endured the occasional pain for another 10 years or so until a real emergency, life-threatening, incident caused me to "sort myself out" :=
Ten PLUS years ago I was admitted to Ruttonjee hospital - down in Wanchai - with one or more small gallstones that had succeeded in entering - and blocking my pancreatic duct - and causing agony. Luckily - a specialist in Central had diagnosed me correctly, and I was immediately admitted and was on "no food by mouth" for more than a week before I was fit enough to undergo "Inverted Periscope" surgery !
I still have a small bottle of extracted gallstones of sizes varying from grains of sand up to un-shelled peanut sized ones.
I too had suffered - for years - the terrible pains, and referred ones high in my back..... but afterwards, I've been much better, though I have to say that, having no gall bladder sac to store the gall means that I have no store of liquids to break down fatty compounds, the liquid is always leaking into the digestive system .... so I need to watch out for fatty foods and have as little as possible.
Co$t$ ??? Well as far as I can recall, I had a lot of change back from HK$500 - luckily I'm classified as a dependent of a HK Gov't Civil Servant - so that slashed my bill. <Grin>.
I'd say, get on to the operating table as soon as possible, the life you save may well be your own.
As to "where" ? The informed choice has to be yours, but don't expect to be up and running around for several days afterwards.
When my sister in law drove me home about a week after the operation, every bump in the road was an agony - & her car was a Merc.
And I needed another week or more before I drove my own car - very carefully around holes in the road.