Trutanich has gallstone pancreatitis

Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich has been diagnosed with gallstone pancreatitis and said Monday he will probably have an operation to remove his gallbladder.

Trutanich was admitted to Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in San Pedro on Nov. 28 after what he described as “excruciating” stomach pains that began the Friday night after Thanksgiving.

During his six-day hospital stay, doctors ran a battery of tests, including an ultrasound and two CT scans.

But they were unable to immediately diagnose the cause of his pain, which he said was unnerving.

“For a guy who has been relatively healthy all his life, when you don’t have control over your own existence . . . it’s kind of scary,” he said.

Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center discovered last week that Trutanich had two gallstones, which had not shown up in earlier tests.

“It’s just bad luck, I’ve got two gallstones, so on a going-forward basis I’m probably going to have my gallbladder removed and then I should be as good as new,” said Trutanich, who described himself as “healthy as an ox.”

Doctors ruled out cancer, he said.

The city attorney, who returned to work a day after being released from the hospital, said he is not planning to slow his pace in the new year: “I’ll be a little more careful about what I eat, but other than that I’m going to do my job.”

maeve.reston@latimes.com