Gallbladder removal - recovery after surgery?

Reluctant_spender

I forgot to say that the wife felt so well after the op that she started to plan our wedding - op to wedding four months.

If you having doubts don't. You will feel better after

shykins

i had mine out in june this year and can truly say i felt SO ill before i didnt care what they did.... mine was actually stuck to my liver but i still had keyhole.... mine went undiagnosed for over a year beforehand hence it getting do bad

i did come out the same day but i had to go back in again due to complications (bear in mind they cut my liver as well tho) .. there was a lot of pain in my shoulder as they pump u full of gas which seems to dissipate round the shoulder area and make it ache worse then where u have been cut

i now feel a load better and can eat again (shame cos now i am gaining back what i lost lol) and dont really have too many problems, the main thing i read was that some people suffer with diarrhoea if they eat too much fat but i havent got that problem in fact i am more likely to be the opposite (typical me lol)

what i would say if u are having attacks they get more and more frequent and more and more severe so go for it and u will feel so much better... good luck
x

alba37

Thanks again for the replies.

I am trying to keep in my mind that it will only get worse if I don't have the op! Can anyone tell me before getting the gallbladder removed how they felt day to day. (not the severe attacks) Did you feel yucky which felt like it was coming from your stomach? I'm hoping what feels like my stomach is actually from my galllbladder and this feeling gets better after recovery.

I found a thread about a diet for gallstones and have read again about the gallbladder flush. Think I'm a bit late for that now, did anyone try it? Cricky, I think I'd do anything to avoid an op.

The forum I read before asking here must have been purely people with post op complications... it wasn't good to read!

I'm wondering why inkie advises open to lap, but maybe I'm better off not knowing!! All I can think about is cuts and recovery, small ones and a easier recovery look like a better option to me.

Reluctant_spender

Reluctant_spender wrote: »

I forgot to say that the wife felt so well after the op that she started to plan our wedding - op to wedding four months.

If you having doubts don't. You will feel better after

The wife killed me as the time from the op to our wedding was less than four weeks not months. Boy am I in the doghouse:rolleyes:

shykins

i read about the gallbladder flush and it sounded horrible but also depending on what sort of stones u have it could be dangerous (well that was my understanding)

before the op i just felt sick all the time, i couldnt eat hardly anything and lost so much weight i looked awful, i was surviving on a small yoghurt a day and sometimes not even that... i had lots of pain in my sides and just laid around all day without the energy to even switch on the tv, read etc

after 6 weeks of that i didnt care what they did to me .. luckily i had a fab surgeon who was true to his word and i feel brilliant now..

good luck

moo842

I had my gall bladder removed as an emergency 3 weeks ago, i'd only found out that i had galls stones two weeks before, went to see the consultant on tuesday evening, was sent straight to the ward and went for surgery the next morning, they had told me i could go home by the evening but i had a large amount of gallstones and some of them had gone into the bile duct, so surgery had been more complicated. Three weeks later i couldn't feel better!

svmitche

If they want to do it within the next 2 - 3 weeks, I'd listen to them and go ahead - understanding of course your nervousness - surgery is always daunting. I know quite a few people who have had their gallbladders removed and one who is currently waiting to have it done and I can say in all cases the chenge in these people when they are pain free has been remarkable! I've luckily not suffered through gallbladder problems, but given what some of my firends have gone through I'd go wholeheartedly for the surgery!

All surgeries carry risks, but this procedure does seem to be quite common and mostly successful.

Good luck!

JCR

My mother's attacks only came on in the evenings too, does anyone know the reason why this should be. She would be fine all day and then about 6pm onwards would start to have pain and feel sick, and was sick a few times.

anewman

Not read the other threads but I'm 27 and had this done a few months ago. I got recurrent pain in my abdomen. When I went to GP's they thought it was excess acid/indigestion/stomach ulcer and prescribed Omeprazole. The third GP I saw recognised something more serious was wrong and I was sent to hospital as an emergency. The pain was intense and persistent and pain killers did not help. I found that I only had the occasional attack (maybe only 5 in total), but that the next time, the duration was longer (a good few days in the last case, night and day). As I understand it the stones get bigger as they grow, so take more time to pass causing more pain.

Basically there's two ways it can be done. Laporoscopically (key hole) or open. Laporoscopically, you get a small handful of short thin scars (I have 4 in total, one at the belly button, one on my chest (those about 1 inch long) and then 2 about 1cm wide at the side of my belly. The scar at the belly button went a funny blue colour, which has now gone away, as far as I know this is usual.

They will explain that sometimes they'll find they can't do it laporoscopically and convert it to an open procedure, this means that you'll take longer to recover.

In my case, after the op I was laid down later and felt like I couldn't push myself up. I was helped up and there was a bit of pain. Apparently after the op (at least key hole) they like you to be moving rather than laid in bed. I am guessing the reason is that if you lay still you'll end up feeling like not moving, and recovery will take longer. I found I only needed pain killers perhaps for two days after the Op. If I remember right I was out two days after the Op and in some cases people go home the same day. I found I developed a chesty cough post op.

If it goes as planned you should be able to live your normal life about a week or two after I'd say, but don't be making holiday plans. I found I could drive a week after the OP. I think the advice is so long as you an do an emergency stop and not be in pain with the wounds, although I had to find this out on the internet as the doctors in hospital didn't bother to explain anything before I left (too busy).

All I can say is what's said above, it's a common procedure. Also I'm glad they figured out what's up and you didn't have to go through unnecessary pain due to misdiagnosis.

If it's causing you problems I would recommend the removal Op. If all goes to plan it's not all that bad + no more nasty pains.

anewman

JCR wrote: »

My mother's attacks only came on in the evenings too, does anyone know the reason why this should be. She would be fine all day and then about 6pm onwards would start to have pain and feel sick, and was sick a few times.

Something I have read suggests certain foods, fatty foods, trigger the mechanism to release bile from the bile duct, which can cause a stone to become stuck. I have read something like bitter tastes and coffee can help alleviate the attack. I'm not a doctor though so if this info is critical please seek proper medical advice