Gallbladder surgery

[eytonxav]

This was what happened to me. My pancreas and a good chunk of my liver and who knows what else, had been eaten up by pancreatic enzymes spilling into my blood. So, I almost died. I spent several days in the hospital before I was stabilized enough to withstand surgery.

But the surgery itself was a snap!

Sorry you had to go through that. I also forgot, when in the hospital there was no food or drink by mouth, as they feed me intravenously for 7 days before surgery. Before I entered the hospital, IIRC, I weighed a little below 200 lbs. When I came home from the hospital I was so full of fluids, my weight ballooned to 225 lbs and that made me pee almost hourly. After about 2 weeks time I was down to 175 lbs, and now after a year, I'm about 180 lbs. I would also say that my strength has gone down quite a bit and never fully recovered from that episode.

 

[W2R]

Sorry you had to go through that. I also forgot, when in the hospital there was no food or drink by mouth, as they feed me intravenously for 7 days before surgery. Before I entered the hospital, IIRC, I weighed a little below 200 lbs. When I came home from the hospital I was so full of fluids, my weight ballooned to 225 lbs and that made me pee almost hourly. After about 2 weeks time I was down to 175 lbs, and now after a year, I'm about 180 lbs. I would also say that my strength has gone down quite a bit and never fully recovered from that episode.

That's rugged.

I was only on IV also, but too drugged up on pain meds to think about food. I don't remember much from that week, TBH. Perhaps because I was just in my forties, I fully regained my strength after a while at home. My weight is always a problem and I doubt I weighed myself at all after surgery.... too discouraging! LOL

 

[DrRoy]

Most gallbladders are now removed by laprascope with 3 little incisions.

This is what I had 7 years ago. I was on pain meds for about 5 days, and was off work 2 weeks.

 

[6miths]

Ok well I'll give you the horror story version. Granted I'm still here to type it, and this was 18 years ago:

I had the laproscopic version (lap chole). Surgeon sliced the top of the intestine on the way out without realizing it. I didn't make it out of the hospital same day as expected, and the nurses were telling me to tough it up and get better. 2 days later they figured something was terribly wrong when I was vomiting bile, I was in ICU with 180 pulse and no BP.

Had emer surgery to cut me wide open (8 inch scar), drain me out from bile.... everywhere. Spent another 8 weeks in hosp with drains and more drains and more and more issues. Ice chips were a luxury. 13 cat scans.

Just make sure your doctor has great insurance and a great record, not lots of payout claims. I'm all better now but that was a bad year.

Sorry that you had complications and glad that you recovered well.

Sister of a good friend in Las Vegas had a more complicated course a month ago as well. Lap chole but the surgeon cut the common bile duct during the procedure. Fortunately recognized the injury at the time but couldn't repair it immediately. Had another scope the next day by a second surgeon and finally an open repair. Recovered quite quickly after that. Even the most minor medical encounters carry risks.

 

[Sue J]

I had mine out in 1983 at age 28. I had been diagnosed with stones at age 19 and managed to avoid surgery by eliminating fatty foods and things like onions, cabbage and broccoli. By age 27 I was back to having periodic problems and was advised to have it out before getting pregnant.

Mine was done before laparoscopy so I had the regular surgery, 5 days in the hospital, very restricted diet for a couple of weeks and six weeks off of work. Never had any problems after that and no food restrictions after recovering.

My son had his out at age 29. He had been having symptoms that I recognized and his doctor sent him for an xray. He had stones (and a family history!) so he had it taken out. His was outpatient, laparoscopy with no food restrictions and a long weekend to recover, mostly because he was on pain pills.

My sister was mid 50's and never had a symptom until she had sudden abdominal pain and almost passed out. Hers was an emergency, done by laparoscopy with a one night stay in the hospital and a very quick recovery.

Good luck with dealing with this. You'll feel much better and the procedure is much easier now than it used to be. And you'll get to join the gallbladder-free club.

 

[PERSonalTime]

24 hours after surgery, in pain, on pain pills, but walking around. Hopefully, each day will feel better than the day before. Glad I had the surgery though.

Thanks to everyone for their informative responses!!!

 

[Act2]

PERS, good for you getting it done. I know I have to do it, too. Have had attacks before and put it off because not currently a problem. But I don't want to have a crisis and emergency surgery.

 

[Sangiovese]

Adding my experience for those who may be having gallbladder surgery and wondering what to expect. I had mine out two days ago as an outpatient. Laparoscopy with four tiny slits and the surgery took about an hour. I refused narcotic pain meds (they make me sick) and was in a moderate amount of pain for a few hours after surgery. I went home six hours after the surgery and went to bed. The next day I was in less pain, ate a light diet and napped twice. Today, still sore but a bit less sore and I also ate more frequently but small amounts at each meal. No naps today. More energy than yesterday. BTW, I'm 60 years old. My dentist is in his 30's and went back to work 2 days after his surgery last year. Not sure I would go to work today if I had a job, but probably could if I had to. I hope this info helps anybody who is going to have this procedure done. It's not too bad overall, just take it easy and let your body heal.

 

[teejayevans]

I went home after 2 days but developed problems, back in hospital for 2 days to get IV. My surgeon said it was the toughest he’s ever had, almost had to split me open.
The difference is mine was unplanned, gallstones force emergency surgery.

 

[Kroeran]

Laproscopic is a piece of cake compared to a gall bladder attack, and it is your ticket out of the fear of eating.

Wish I had done it 10 years earlier.

Gum surgery is a bigger inconvenience.

A planned surgery by someone who does a lot of them is very very safe.

An unplanned surgery overnight on a weekend by whoever happens to be on duty where you are, not so much.

 

[SecretlyFI]

Fun fact...you can still get stones even after having your gallbladder removed. Learned that the hard way. Had mine out in 2003 after having attacks during and after my pregnancy. No problems till I started having very similar symptoms every few months starting in 2016. That same spot right under your ribs in the “upper right quadrant” of your abdomen as they call it.

I ignored it, mostly because it was infrequent and short lived. Till one day the pain lasted all day. Went to the ER. Bloodwork showed liver enzymes sky high. Both the nurse & doctor suspected stones in the common bile duct. CT scan confirmed it. I was dreading another surgery but wonderful surprise, they can get common bile duct stones out with an ERCP and just some sedation (like a colonoscopy - I love a good dose a propofol for a great nap while they do their work).

Anyway, sedation, endoscope with a camera down the throat, scoop out the stones, insert a temporary stent in the duct to keep it open while it heals and wake me up good as new. No pain whatsoever afterward, but I did stay in the hospital 1 more day to make sure the bloodwork improved, which it did, dramatically overnight.

I returned a few weeks later for another outpatient ERCP to remove the stent. So, just a word to the wise that if you ever get that old familiar pain again, get it checked. It’s even easier to fix than the gallbladder but if not fixed your liver and pancreas could be in danger. My liver #’s were in the 1,000’s for things that should normally be a value of like 10. I was also getting jaundiced.

 

[Yoheadden]

Most gallbladders are now removed by laprascope with 3 little incisions. But in some cases, the surgeons may have to do the old style surgery which puts you down a few weeks.

You might be down a week total.

I had mine out a few years ago. There wasn’t much too it as it was an outpatient. Just shower with the special wash the night before, show up early and out by ten. My Dr. actually found a hernia, that I had no idea about, during the operation and repaired that as well. I think I slept most of the first day, probably from the anesthesia. Once that wore off, I was pretty sore the first day, but not bad after that. One simple follow up to the Dr. and that was it.
Good Luck

 

[Katsmeow]

I did about 10 years ago. It was nothing. Went to the outpatient surgery center. They did the surgery (did not take long). Left. Was starving so DH stopped at fast food on the way home. I felt fine. Never had any problems from it. I did take the day off and didn't drive.

 

[marko]

Had mine removed 5 years ago.

I had had several attacks per year for a couple of years. Didn't know what it was. Finally, had a bad one, didn't go away, went to the ER; my BP went up to 250.

Surgery was the next day and stayed there for two more days but recovery was fairly easy.

Post Op: I can't eat pizza, clams/oysters or a lot of cheese anymore. C'est la vie. (In spite or my better judgement I tried a few slices of pizza last week after about two years...took me two days to get over it)

 

[kaudrey]

I had mine out about 6 years ago. The surgery itself was fine; I was in the hospital overnight afterwards. I had a slight complication and had to wear a drain for 2 1/2 weeks, which was uncomfortable and annoying. The first week I stayed home from work, the second week I secured it tightly under loose-fitting clothes and went to work. I was quite fatigued for the first week.

 

[CRLLS]

I had my Gallbladder removed via daVinci robotic last year. The removal itself was done with no issues. It was an outpatient operation. However, the intubation was an issue. Afterwards they told me it took the anesthesiologist about 20 minutes to perform what should have been completed in less than a minute. The surgeon and anesthesiologist both followed up and were concerned they broke my teeth. They literally tore my throat apart so badly that I couldn't eat for a couple of days. It didn't heal completely for at several months. Still, very happy it was removed. The gallbladder is not missed.

 

[Sangiovese]

Quick update at the 2-week post-op mark. Pain decreased each day until 7th day when it was only mild. In the past week the mild pain comes and goes. The surprising thing is how tired I'm still getting by mid-day. During the 7th to 10th day post-op period, I resumed normal daily activities and probably overdid it. Now I'm trying to pace myself and take a nap each afternoon. That seems to help. On the bright side, I'm hungry almost all of the time and eating like a horse, including stuff that made me quite sick before the surgery. It's great to eat and then digest food without any drama.

 

[Peter]

The surprising thing is how tired I'm still getting by mid-day.

I had some abdominal surgery about 6 months ago, and it took several weeks to get back to my previous energy level. And, yes, there were afternoon naps most days.

 

[SeattleRocks]

Had it out

Had my gallbladder out about 10 years ago via lapro. Went fine, just did about 2-3 days of pain pills after the surgery and then got off of them. I was up and about in a day or two and then was about 90% in a couple of weeks.

The only thing I noticed was that initially fatty foods went straight through me and I didnt tolerate them well. Took about 3-4 months before that went away.

All in all, went very well and I dont miss the gallbladder attacks at all and 10 years later dont have any lingering side effects from the surgery at all.

Get well soon.