I am having gallbladder surgery tomorrow. Anybody out there been thru this? What can I expect?

My daughter had her's out when she was 16. If they do it the same way you will only have 2 little incisions in your belly and it shouldn't take very long and will probably have to take it easy for a few days. Good luck with it.

I had my gallbladder removed in 1996. They did it laproscopically which is much better than the old way where you have a big wound. My gallbladder was infected, so I had to stay in the hospital 6 nights if I remember correctly -- 1-2 nites before surgery on IV antibiotics and then the rest after surgery. I remember waking up in the recovery room with the most god-awful backache -- I believe they pump air into your belly so they have room to work and that gave me the backache. They kept me pretty doped up for a few days afterwards on an IV where I could decide when to give myself pain meds -- that worked pretty well. I think I had pain meds afterwards too.

After I got out of the hospital, I think I had to stay out of work for 2 weeks. I was getting kind of bored, and I felt ok, so I went into work -- could only last 30 minutes -- it is amazing how much the surgery takes out of you.

But, now, more than 10 years later, I've had no problems and I'm glad I did it. I just wish I hadn't waited as long as I did because I was in a lot of pain off and on for several years before the surgery and then 2.5 days straight of no sleep due to pain before I went into the hospital.

Good luck and take care of yourself!

Are you having a Laparoscopic surgery? Hopefully, they require much less healing time. I had my gallbladder removed about 4 years ago. The surgery went okay, however, I did not have a good experience following the surgery. One thing to be aware of is chronic diarrhea for about a year or 2 after the surgery. It is very bothersome. I had this problem pretty bad, so did several heavier women I spoke with about it. You need to plan eating out around knowing you will be going straight home afterward. Within 30 minutes of every meal for 2 years I had massive stomach cramping and had to GO with little or no warning.

Hopefully you'll have no problems and breeze through it, but if you do, make sure you get in as much fiber daily as possible, it is the only thing that helps. Good luck.

i had it done two years ago DH had it done last week.

it's going to hurt for a few days to 2 weeks.....
stay on a low fat diet for at least a month
take it easy
take your pain pills every 4-6 hours...

Yes they do plan doing it Laparoscopic so hopefully everything will go well. Thanks for the info it makes me feel a little better.

Ga,

One of the things laproscopic surgery does is add sterile air so the surgeon can see what he/she is doing. The surgeons forget to tell the patient not to worry if you feel a sharp pain in your shoulder after surgery. It's just the air moving around and disappating. It'll go away in a day or so, one way or another!!

Hugs,
Ratkity

I had it done about 5 yrs ago. It was such a relief from pain. My gallbladder was extremely diseased and had a tear in it. The surgeon was able to bag it and remove it lap. I was lucky to have a good surgeon. I spent 23 hours after surgery in the hospital. I was really sore for a few days..but Nothing compared to the pain of a gallbladder attack!!!!!!!!!! I have 4 tiny scars.
If you have chronic stomach issues after eating ask your dr for librex..its an anti spasm pill and will help stop the cramping and dihrea.
good luck and let us know how it goes!!
debi

I had the same diahrrea for quite awhile afterward that Lori Bell described!!!! I still do if I eat a high in fat meal.....after about 6mths of this....the doctor explained it as .....
the gall bladder regulates how much & how often the liquid that makes up your bile in your stomach goes into your stomach......without the gallbladder it is constantlly "dripping" rather then regulated......When your gall bladder is first removed your body doesn't know what to do with the constant "drip" so it does what it is suppose to do breaks down what you just ate and sends it out......LOL the higher in fat the faster it pushes it out.....

you would think that w/o your gall bladder you would lose weight faster...........LOL it hasn't stopped me from putting on weight.......

as far as recovery from the surgery I wouldn't know.......at that time they also cleaned out my abdominal cavity of 3mths worth of MRSA and left me wide open for the wound to heal from the inside out.......LOL so couldn't tell you much on that part.........

Ask your doctor about increasing your fiber.....like citracel or whatever....if that might help after surgery........my home health nurse suggested that for my bowel problems after surgery.......since getting up every time I ate something HURT with an open wound....LOL

Girl---- if you don't mind me calling you that... Girl-- having that stupid thing out is a blessing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You may be slightly sore, depends on your pain tolerance.. I honestly only slept the day of and rested the day after and felt no real pain after that.

The diet thing *your food intake* is going to be something to watch- everyone sort of has something different- constipation, the opposite of constipation....... Low fat foods was GREAT advice... your body may go back to normal or you'll be 'forced' to deal with the bowel problems or eat a low-fat diet... I took this as motivation LOL

So just relax and let yourself be taken care of for the first little bit and your body will surely thank you

Rach

I had my removed 27 years ago. Obviously had the old surgery, much longer recovery. I had diarrhea until I cut out fried foods, high fat foods, especially in the morning. I used to get sick every morning because of putting whole milk on my cereal. Used to have to leave the same class every morning. The instructor thought I had morning sickness.

I have found artichokes and beets are important for bile regulation in the absence of the gall bladder.

I had my gallbladder removed in january this year. I had it done laproscopic sp? and i have 4 scars. three on my belly and one in my belly button 2 half inch long and one inch long on my belly... i was sooo gassy after surgery and couldnt get rid of it. I had to walk around a lot to work the gas out b/c they bloated me with gas so they can see what they were doing. I ended up in the hospital for 6 days b/c i have liver issues and b/c i had a stone lodged in my bile duct and i passed it the morning after surgery so i had to stay until my liver enzymes went down and my biliruben went down too... I didn't realize how sick i was for how long until i got it out. I had the chronic diarhea sp? for months after wards, and still do. If i eat high fat i'm screwed!! I'm so happy mine was removed I feel great compared to what i felt before! No worries-- the pain sucks. Especially when they make you sit up without help!! But i was on a pain medicine called Nubain and it was fantastic. Worked like a charm. good luck to you and hope you feel better soon!

Please Let us know how your surgery went and how you are feeling.
debi