Anyone have Gallbladder surgery????!

[Boston Tea Party]

I had mine out in 1988, back when it was still major abdominal surgery. I spent about a week in the hospital and it took about six weeks to recover completely.

This was after several nights of waking in the middle of the night thinking I needed a new mattress because my back hurt so bad in the right side.

The final episode occurred throughout the day while i was working retail. I distinctly remember someone complaining because I was smiling. Well, I guess not, huh?

Later that evening I was crawling on the floor, crying, in excruciating pain. I was 19 years old at the time, still at home, and my mom decided that was the end of that - we were on the way to the emergency room NOW.

I wanted to wait until I was done with finals that semester in college but the surgeon said, "No way. And if you have another attack before your surgery, get to an ER, you will be going in right then. You could have a rupture."

The first time I ate regular food was a disaster. This was long before the internet and I had NO idea. Yipes.

Things are much easier now for patients. I would not delay. You could end up in a emergency situation that might not end well…

Take care.

 

[DebbieB]

I am now 10 days post surgery and feel pretty much back to normal. No gastro problems. Returned to work last Wednesday, one week after surgery.

The problem I had this week is skin irritation from the strips, I took them off on about day 10, probably waited too long. The incisions are all scabbed over, I had some blisters from the strips, I think water got underneath from the shower.

 

[lauradis]

Dont ignore this. I was having mild back pain for a year.

One day I couldn't get off the living room floor in dec 1999, I crawled to the phone to call my husband at work, to take me to the emergency room.

I was in toxic shock, one of the stones got stuck in tube to stomach.

The only thing I remember of 5 days in the hospital was dreaming of flying roast beef, because I was starving. Husband crying at my bed side.

Recover wise, I was sore for about 2 weeks and couldn't eat full meals for about 3 months.

Long term no food issues, but my stomach giggles sometimes (that's what my youngest calls it) no matter if its full or empty.

I'm very lucky I didn't die. Please don't ignore this.

 

[MickeysBuckeye]

I woke up one night in excruciating pain about 6 years or so ago. To my surprise my gallbladder had 'died' on me and I had emergency surgery the next day to get it taken out. I'm lucky in that I had laparoscopic surgery and was released about two hours after.

Recovery was easy for me and I was back to work in 3 days time. I'm also lucky because I rarely suffer the potential side-effects of lacking a gallbladder. When I do? Its after a meal full of fat (and only occasionally). It's an instant gotta go feeling and believe me, I have to go immediately but feel just fine after. Otherwise? I often forget I even have had the surgery!

 

[Magic Stars19]

My intestinal troubles are also random, but pretty much daily. My doctor said that some people's intestines get irritated by the constant bile passing through. Fasting (including overnight) can make it worse. Welchol has been so helpful. I have also had postcholecystectomy syndrome and needed to have some additional procedures and occasionally I need an anti-spasmotic. That all sounds scary, but living with gallbladder pain was intolerable. I really had no choice but to get it out.

@Calliaz How are you doing today? Are you still on the Welchol?

 

[jacksmom]

I had mine removed via lap 3 years ago in July. I had hardly been able to eat or drink for a couple of weeks prior. I had the surgery on a Friday morning, went home a couple of hours later. The following Friday I left for a 7 night cruise. I was still a little sore, but didn’t want to give up a trip I had been so looking for to. I took it easy, but had a great time. Now though I still have to go to the bathroom very quickly at times. I don’t eat fried greasy food ever anymore because it just goes straight through me. I have also had a harder time losing weight. After all the pain prior to having it removed though, I would certainly do it all over again.

 

[Magic Stars19]

Are you able to tolerate healthy fats? A bit of avocado? healthy cooking oils?

 

[DharmaLou]

I'm the exception to every rule.
It's supposed to be an outpatient procedure, and I spent 5 days in the hospital.
My surgery went well but there were stones stuck in the bile duct, so I had to have an ERCP the following day to remove them. It was successful, except it triggered pancreatitis. They wouldn't discharge me until it was under control, so I had 3 extra days after the ERCP. I was on a liquid diet for all 5 days. It was awesome.

Also, sure, gallstones pass, but you'll just keep getting more.

ETA - I eat a Keto diet, so high fat, and I have never had any issues.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I had mine removed via lap 3 years ago in July. I had hardly been able to eat or drink for a couple of weeks prior. I had the surgery on a Friday morning, went home a couple of hours later. The following Friday I left for a 7 night cruise. I was still a little sore, but didn’t want to give up a trip I had been so looking for to. I took it easy, but had a great time. Now though I still have to go to the bathroom very quickly at times. I don’t eat fried greasy food ever anymore because it just goes straight through me. I have also had a harder time losing weight. After all the pain prior to having it removed though, I would certainly do it all over again.

Yep, that's me, too. I also rarely eat fatty food, unless I'm making it (so I can monitor what fat and how much and have it in very limited quantities).

The more annoying thing is that 10 years after the fact, I have now developed a severe dairy intolerance, probably partly due to my missing gallbladder and partly due to my current hormone changes (my gallbladder going haywire was a result of crappy pregnancy hormone changes, so it's no surprise peri-menopause would get me with another major digestive issue). My gastro (who diagnosed me last month) says this happens pretty often, but my intolerance is so severe (and my family has a strong history of colon cancer) that I now have to avoid dairy and dairy components at all costs, vs doing the Lactaid thing (he wants zero chance of digestive track inflammation or misinterpreting future symptoms)...I thought going dairy-free would be hard, but it's not as hard as I thought...and the missing inflammation and gas/stomach pain has caused my system to get back on track and drop 20 lbs in 2 months, so I guess getting in a healthier state is worth it.

 

[Dakota731]

I had mine out years ago and have never had an issue with fatty foods healthy or unhealthy, so don’t worry about something that may never happen to you.

 

[bdcp]

I posted to this thread in 2014 about my DH having had his out several years back. Well, I ended up sick last year, no appetite, losing weight, nauseous, little pokes around my liver area (not painful really but they were getting worse), digestion issues (wasn't digesting everything I was eating) tachycardia, exhaustion-zero energy and elevated liver enzymes. I had what I now know were gallbladder attacks about 10 years ago that went away after a few months (gassy pain which I really thought was just gas). I had a very easy surgery on August 9th, 2018, great recovery and was eating anything I wanted within a week. I've since noticed that a lot of mayo, fried chicken and whole milk occasionally bother me (goes through me within an hour) but otherwise I feel really good and still eat everything. I literally woke up from surgery (as soon as they were done, in the operating room) and felt great. My Dr sent me for an ultrasound since my liver enzymes were slightly elevated and they found gallstones and a contracted gallbladder. When she took it out, not only were there gallstones, but I had some adhesions from previous attacks and the gallbladder was pink and red. A healthy gallbladder is green and yellow. She told me as I came to and DH when she went to talk to him that it needed to come out as it was in bad shape. I was very sick and lost 24 lbs in 4 months, which I have since gained back plus a few more since I can eat and feel like eating again. I will never regret having it removed. We have some really cool pictures of the gallbladder, stones and my liver and stomach area. She told my DH that everything else looked good (she looked around while she was in there).

I went to the hospital at 630 am and had surgery at 730 which lasted an hour and a half (also had a umbilical hernia repair) and was on my way home by 10:15. It was a piece of cake.