Gallstones affect as many as 1 in 12 Americans. Many people who have gallstones never experience any symptoms, but if you do, chances are you won't forget it.

During his free time Ken Jacobs loves to fly airplanes. But recently he was grounded because of an unexpected diagnosis. "I was sitting down and all of a sudden I started feeling pain in my back. Then all of a sudden it moved to my stomach. And this started about 9:30 at night. And the pain just kept worse and worse."

By 5:00 a.m. Ken finally went to the emergency room. He says "When I got there they did an ultrasound and x-ray and found out that I had a gallstone and an inflamed gallbladder."

General surgeon Dr. Jose Manibo says symptoms of gallstones are often called a gallstone "attack" because they occur suddenly. "Pain, abdominal pain and it's usually located in the right upper quadrant, which is where the gallbladder sits, and classically they'll present with pain after eating fatty meals. It's pretty severe pain"

Dr. Manibo says that by removing the gallbladder laproscopically is the preferred treatment for most people who have gallbladder attacks like the one Ken described.

Dr. Manibo also says that "Laproscopic surgery does not use lasers, all it is, is making small incisions and making small incisions and performs surgery using small incisions. And with small incisions patients have less pain and their recovery period is quicker."

Ken says "You need to listen to your body, I kind of ignored it at first but then finally I did listen to it and the surgery, I was out in one day and back doing all the stuff. I'm able to get back now and I can go fly an airplane like I love to do."

Once gallstone symptoms appear, they usually reoccur in the majority of patients, which is why it's really important to get help right away as soon as you feel any symptoms coming on, to avoid that unbearable pain.

Gallstones are actually solid deposits of cholesterol or calcium salts. You're at greater risk of developing gallstones if you're older, female or overweight; and rapid weight loss or eating a very low calorie diet also can increase your risk.