Thanks everyone - I'm better today. It's blown over and I'm no longer upset. I'd say more but I can't really talk about it here - there are several members of the forum here on minimins and while I completely trust them, it just isn't something I can discuss publically, in case it reflects on the mod team.
I had another gallstone attack this morning - one of the worst I've had, and the longets by far (the initial attack took 3 hours but I spent the next 3 hours with it coming and going if I wasn't careful moving about or taking too big a mouthful of a drink.
Too much information follows:
I don't know why, but vomiting helps a lot. When the pain became excrutiating again, I drank 5 glasses of water, which immediately brought the pain back down to a manageable level (after I had vomited). It5's not like there was really anything but water coming back (I suspect bile?).
Anyway, I now have to be very careful so as not to trigger it all off again and hopefully no more before I hadit removed on the 21st.