I'm gallbladder-less now...

RitaZ.

Move on don't hesitate, break out.
Joined
Sep 20, 2000
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I had my gallabladder removed yesterday. :bitelip: It was totally unexpected for me, as I never had any problems with it before. I watch what I eat and I'm still trying to figure out what could have caused this... :confused3 When the ER doctor said, "Well, today's the day! The surgeon is on his way to see you." At that point, I still thought I'd get to come home. :rolleyes1

This surgery was a walk in the park compared to having a c-section. I did have general anesthesia, I was nervous about that because I had it for one of my c-sections and it wasn't a good experience for me. Anyway, I told the anesthesiologist (woman) about it and she said that it would be different this time, as most of my reaction was related to the pregnancy, not the anesthesia. I have 4 small incisions on my tummy and have been taking Advil for the discomfort. The biggest problem is the gas trapped in my abdomen. :bitelip: My tummy was inflated with air while the surgery was performed to isolate the gallbladder and to prevent injury to the other organs.

Yesterday was the kids' first day of school, I wasn't home for that :guilty: , but DH took care of it. I was upset about the lousy timing, but that's how it works. :guilty: DH brought our kids to see me at the hospital and they were nervous and worried about me. They kept asking me if I was ok and when I'd return home. I don't think I've ever gotten so many kisses, hugs and rubs on my head at one time. :teeth: I have good kids. :love: It made me feel really good. :love: :love: I was discharged this morning and I couldn't wait to get home. I'm in my soft and comfy bed now, I'm happy. :cloud9: :thumbsup2

So, goodbye gallbladder (I've left out some details to protect the squeamish) ;), it was nice to have had you for 41 trouble-free years. :wave2: But in Raven's words,"Gallbladder, gotta go!" :teeth: Ok, she doesn't really say that, but I did. :teeth:
 
Awww, I'm glad you're home. :)
 
Awww Rita :hug: So sorry about the surgery... and I am really sorry that it kept you from seeing your kids off to school.

Take it easy and I hope the recovery won't be too rough on you!
 

Rita,

I had my out last week. I guess it's the new thing..... dumping organs we don't need anymore!

I never had trouble and watch what I eat (drink plenty of water, etc.) and my doc found stones.

Mine hurt like heck. The stomach contractions were killer. The gas actually seeped out of my skin so that wasn't so bad. Doc gave me percocet but I'm impervious to percocet. Took Tylenol instead. I could not sleep (only on my side ((which got tender)) and on my back - which I can't do.)

Glad you are feeling great.
 
Rita, hope you're on the mend soon! Sorry you missed your kids first day of school.

My mom had very serious complications with hers most of her adult live and unfortunately she was not able to get hers removed because it developed into cancer. It seems like such a harmless little organ but it can become very serious over time. Glad to hear you got it removed and it sounds as if the surgery went very well.

Enjoy being home and rest up!
 
I had my gallbladder out last year. Welcome to the Gallbladderless Club!

I hope you feel better soon. Try not to lift anything for a couple of weeks. Take care of yourself.
 
I'm also gall-bladderless. Welcome to the club! I never had an attack either until the one that put me in the hospital to get it out.

The surgeon said to me there's 4 signs that someone is prone to having gallstones- Forty, Female, Fertile and Fecund. He kindly said I only fit two of the profiles (I was 31 when I had it out....I think I fit into the fecund catagory, but he was nice enough to say I was just a tad overweight... :rolleyes: ).

I hope you mend very soon!
 
Hillbeans said:
Rita, hope you're on the mend soon! Sorry you missed your kids first day of school.

My mom had very serious complications with hers most of her adult live and unfortunately she was not able to get hers removed because it developed into cancer. It seems like such a harmless little organ but it can become very serious over time. Glad to hear you got it removed and it sounds as if the surgery went very well.

Enjoy being home and rest up!

I'm sorry about your mom. I didn't know it could get that serious. :sad2: After reading this, I'm even more glad it's out.

Laura~ I'm 41 yrs. old. I asked one of the nurses if everything goes to heck when one turns 40, she said it does and it gets worse when one turns 50. :teeth: Needless to say, I'm very optimistic and already looking forward to 50! ;) :rolleyes:

It all happened so fast... We're about 5 minutes from the hospital. DH had to pull over 2 times for me to vomit. By the time we reached the hospital, I could barely walk. A nurse brought out a wheelchair and I vomited again. :bitelip: I kept apologizing for it. :blush: I was taken in right away. The nausea, pain and vomiting... OMG, I thought I'd go :crazy: :crazy:

Ladies, thank you all for the good wishes. :goodvibes

My mom is here helping us out. :goodvibes When I got home from the hospital, she asked me what I wanted to eat. I told her that I wanted to eat chicken drumsticks (I never eat them, I have no idea where the craving came from) and mashed potatoes. :teeth:
 
Glad to hear that you are home and doing well. :grouphug: Like others have said, welcome to the gall-bladderless club. :teeth: I had mine out laproscopically 7 years ago.

Take it easy and rest as much as you can.
 
Well count me in the "Gallbladder-less" Club!!! I had mine removed 3 years ago(I was 34), pretty close to this time of year too!!

Mine had bothered me for years, but I chose to ignore it. I decided that it was what I ate!!! Little did I know what I would go through to finally get me to the hospital. Needless to say, I had stones and a couple of them had gotten out and were trapped in the bile duct. I also had pancreatitis.

During the follow up visit with the surgeon, he explained that the pathology report on the organ showed it was a prime candidate for cancer!

Talk about an eye-opener!! My advice to anyone would be, if it doesn't feel right, go to the doctor!!!

Anyway, you will feel better in no time Rita. Sending some pixie dust your way to help with your recovery!! :grouphug:
 
Another proud member of the Gallbladder-less Club!!

Best of luck on your recovery. Take it easy on the fatty foods for awhile. And make sure you have some Imodium AD handy. Don't mean to scare you, but there were times for a few months after I got mine out I was scared to eat unless there was a bathroom close by. I had mine out in April of this year, and things are much "calmer" now, but it was a rough May and June. :crazy:
 
Well, it's official! We have a Gallbladder-less Clique! :woohoo: :woohoo: :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

There are a lot of us here... I didn't know that there was a risk of cancer if left alone. :sad2: I honestly didn't want to have surgery, but who does? The thought of having another painful episode like I did Saturday night was enough for me. I have been warned about the possible side effects. ;) ;) Oh joy! :woohoo: :woohoo:

Luvpooh~ It's a good thing that you did have it removed. :thumbsup2

Thank you all! :goodvibes
 
RitaZ. said:
My mom is here helping us out. :goodvibes When I got home from the hospital, she asked me what I wanted to eat. I told her that I wanted to eat chicken drumsticks (I never eat them, I have no idea where the craving came from) and mashed potatoes. :teeth:

Rita, don't eat stuff like mashed potatoes too soon. It'll go right through and make you sick as a dog..... They should have told you liquids only for a couple days and after that a very bland, low fat diet... (no read meats or hotdogs or spaghetti)

My gallbladder never made it to 40... (but neither have i yet ;) ) It went on me all of a sudden last year..... but the pain was horrible... It took the docs three weeks to figure out what was wrong with me and by that time my body was becoming jaundiced.... Needless to say i got my surgery the next day after my first surgeon's consult. (had to be admitted that night even)

I was back to normal activities in about 4 weeks but i couldn't eat certain above mentioned foods until a few months later.....
 
For those of us still with a gallbladder, what are the symptoms you ladies experienced that sent you to the ER?
 
I'm in the club too. I had mine out when I was 27. Man that seem so long ago. I'm 33 now. My DS was born in November 2000 and I had mine removed in May 2001. The doctor said it was common for women to have problems sometime after giving birth.

I had been experiencing a burning sensation in the chest area most every morning before eating breakfast. When I would eat it would generally go away. I finally spoke to the Dr. about it, they ran test and I had it out laproscopicly. Recovery was fairly easy, but I definately couldn't handle certain foods for quite a while afterwards.

Good luck with your recovery!
 
Jenn said:
For those of us still with a gallbladder, what are the symptoms you ladies experienced that sent you to the ER?

I didn't go to the ER...but i was really close to it.

I had been kinda achy (my middle back) one night. I thought it was my back so when i went to bed i brought a hot pack with me. (bad idea) About 15 minutes after applying the heat i got really really bad back pains. (not lowerbut middle back and the pain kinda shot through to the front of my stomach.)

We two days later the pain didn't go away, (even with painkillers) i knew something with really wrong. (and not to be gross but everything i ate was going right through.) some people vomit. i didn't but the pain was bad enough, i thought i was going to. Then one day it was so bad, i didn't even remember my commute home. (i drive 45 minutes.)
 
Jenn said:
For those of us still with a gallbladder, what are the symptoms you ladies experienced that sent you to the ER?


The only way I could describe it to the doctor, was "I think there is an elephant sitting on my chest". It was a horrible tightening feeling in my chest (which made me think I was having a heart attack at 33), combined with horrible back pain, throw in some vomiting----voila! a gallbladder attack.

Some of my worst attacks were worse than labor pains.
 


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