Unfortunately, my gallbladder was at the "104 fever and hydromorphone for pain" level when I landed in the emergency room--choices weren't on the table at that point.
I had been watching my gallbladder for years and I absolutely couldn't pry ursodeoxycholic acid out of any of my doctors as my gallstones "weren't that big". No, they didn't LOOK that big on ultrasound--when my gallbladder was removed they were more than an inch across.
Part of the problem with the modern medical establishment is that anything with a component of more than twice a day or longer than 3 months has an abysmal compliance rate and so they won't give those treatments to anybody--even someone who can demonstrate that they can follow a disciplined schedule for years. And a gallstone treatment regimen takes 12 months before you can even start to see a change.
I think I lucked out in that everything calmed down as soon as the infection was knocked on a bit. That and my doctor was understanding, but I had located an overseas source of Ursodiol if he wouldn't come through.
I've been getting periodic ultrasounds and also some enzyme level checks.
I agree: even the establishment is looking for either a quick fix or a lifetime prescription, but almost nothing between the two extremes. Either, I think, require as little physical time as you can get away with, it's the middle course that is tedious for them.
About a year after, I had to see a different physician for insurance purposes. He mentioned that he had, in twenty-eight years of practice, never seen anyone who had gone ahead and spent the time trying to dissolve the stones. I suspect, because removal is the "tonsillectomy of abdominal surgeries," they just all default to yanking it out.