Even if you've never had an attack of gallbladder trouble, a bunch of small gallstones is more of a problem than one or two big ones. They can lodge in the duct running from gallbladder to intestine (common bile duct),
I had two largish ones, one of which lodged in the duct. Funnily enough, I didn't have any of the pain that is common, but was nauseous and had some vomiting. I was sent in for an immediate 'minor' procedure to crush the stones, with planned later keyhole surgery to remove the gall bladder, after the surgeon returned from his holiday.
However, it all went wrong as the stone was too hard and damaged the 'crusher'. SWMBO received a call to get to the hospital immediately to sign the approval for me to have an op to remove the stones as they were now life-threatening. I finished up with a large scar under the ribs, a drain in my stomach and severe jaundice. Several weeks of antibiotics while in hospital, and a few more weeks at home with the drain saw me feeling pretty good. Went to the surgeon (not the one who went on holidays, the one who actually did the job) to have the drain removed, and collapsed in agony as soon as he did so. Back to hospital by ambulance - removing the drain had released a large infection - for another 3 weeks. By the end of this I felt well, and have never had any problems or limitation on diet. However, SWMBO and D2 have both also had gallstones, and now cannot face rich foods. Both their ops were keyhole surgery as described by LR, without any problems.