MK after gallbladder surgery

[moralesdavis]

OP, you have received a lot of excellent advice from PP. My Ex DH was a general surgeon and I ran his practice for many years. Results vary and your surgery may need to be converted to an open cholecystectomy for stones, bile duct enlargement/obstruction or other reasons involving your general health and reaction to anesthesia. Most of these are RARE!!! Many tests have already checked for these possibilities I suspect.

I have seen many patients resume normal functioning in no time. There is NO substitute for your Surgeon’s advice. Remember, he or she was there for you when you were asleep.

My DH is a retired general surgeon, and I too, ran his office. I agree with @agavegirl1 100%!

The only thing I would add is to get up and get moving as soon as you can. While rest is important and needed, so is movement.

OK, I'd add two things.. take your pain meds for at least the first day or two. Don't try to be a hero.

 

[camper06]

I think you will be fine if everything goes as scheduled. with only one park day, I think it will be doable as long as you rest when needed. the other thing I wanted to mention is that after my gall bladder was removed, I couldn't be far from the bathroom after I ate (if you know what I mean). this continued for a few years, so something you may have to get used to anyway. at the time, my doc recommended I eat a banana EVERY morning and it actually seemed to help. just wanted to give a heads up, in case you have those issues too.

 

[Dis703]

I had my gallbladder out 4 years ago and it took me longer to recover than I had anticipated. I was told I'd be back to normal and working a week later but it was more like 2 weeks for work and honestly took me a few months to feel normal. My doctor also told me I would have no dietary restrictions, but I had GI issues for about 6 months afterwards. Given my own recovery, a Disney trip wouldn't have been in the works for me, but everyone is different so it's hard to predict.

 

[sommergirl25]

I just had gallbladder removed a year ago. Laparoscopic. They told me I should be good in 5-7 days. It took my a little over 2 weeks to feel anywhere near normal. I don’t know that I could have ridden in a car that long or walked around Disney at all.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I had my gallbladder removed by emergency surgery exactly one week before our 8 day Disney trip. I was not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs (so my 35lb 2.5yo DS was out of luck) but I was fine. I was a bit worn out with the extra walking. We did 5 day tickets with a day off and long travel days (coming from Calgary, Alberta) on either end. My surgeon and family doctor told me to ride anything I was comfortable on so I rode everything. I wish I had been able to pick up my son as he is a momma's boy and was looking for a bit of reassurance from me meeting the first few characters but it was a fun trip. As a mom I'm glad I was traveling with my whole family (my DH, mom dad, my DSister and DBiL) to help with luggage and things. If it was a girl's weekend I would have been fine if one of my friends would have helped me with my luggage.

 

[KPeterso]

I had my gall bladder out 7 years ago. There is NO way I could have gone on a trip to Disney 9 days post surgery. I was off work for 2 weeks, on lifting restrictions for a month, and just overall exhausted for a good month. Oh and I think one of the above posters is right that a pool and hot tub would be a big no-no at that point. And I am surprised you will be able to take a shower the night of the surgery --- my surgery was a Friday morning and I could not shower until Sunday.

And that does not mention what several others have alluded to. The bathroom situation was really rough for awhile. Doctor told me a month or 2 for that to normalize as you have a new digestive track. After about 6 months, I finally understood my new digestive system, but to this day I have a lot of bathroom urgency --- if I have to go, I have to go NOW.

I went to disneyland about 5 weeks post op for an evening since I live locally and can go over for an evening for dinner and a couple rides and that was all we did before I was too exhausted to continue.

 

[Hopefully]

I wouldn't do it

 

[clm10308]

I think that it is too hard to predict how you will do in advance. I felt so sick before my gallbladder surgery, and so much better after, that I would have been fine going to Disney in 9 days as long as I had loose fitting clothing (no rubbing waist bands). It took me about 2-3 weeks to be able to wear my regular clothes comfortably, but I had 0 digestive problems post surgery.

 

[Wild4Walt]

When I had my gallbladder surgery ( also laparoscopically ) it took me a few days to feel 'better' - by 7 days I was sore around the stitches but felt fine other than that. The problem I had was the stitches are in a spot that makes it a bit tough to stand up straight for long periods of time.

If you're up to the walking you should be fine but I also vote if you start to fatigue get a chair or scooter or take some breaks. As far as driving I'd follow the doctor's instructions. They will have some tips for long trips.

As far as swimming, check in with your doctor on that too. Water from the shower was OK but I remember there was a time period I had to avoid chlorine, bath salts and the like.

 

[nikkita]

I've had my gall bladder removed maybe 9-10yrs ago via key hole surgery.
Didn't go to a theme park

But from memory after about a week I could move around myself mostly, still a bit of tightness and tenderness so maybe at the moment avoid the coasters but see how you feel on the day and just listen to your body. If you need to rest, rest. And take some paracetamol with you (the Dr prescribed me harder stuff, but i didn't take it as it made me feel awful)

Your stomach may take a while to adjust to food again, I remember everything with flavour made me run to the bathroom but everyone is different

As for swimming, it will depend how your wounds are healing. You don't want any infections!

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

I did not read all the replies but wanted to prepare you in case this happens to you. My husband had the surgery (LAP) and for a really long time he had issues with bowel movement urgency, bile dumping, etc. So I want you to be prepared that your bathroom habits may be different after the surgery.

 

[maxiesmom]

I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask this or not. I am now scheduled to have my gallbladder removed on Sept 13. We have a very low key girls weekend scheduled Sept 21-23. We are driving down just for the weekend we have a couple of dinner reservations, plan to shop at Disney springs, swim, and then attend MNSSHP. The party will be 9 days after my surgery so do you think I will be okay to go? I feel like maybe it will be a no go for the coasters but things like Pirates and haunted mansion should be fine. People I know that’s had the surgery said I should be fine after a week and my dr said I would only need to be out of work a week.

My doctor said I could move around after a week, but no theme park rides for 2 months.

My doctor also told me I have a high pain tolerance, but no way would I have felt healed enough to attempt a trip to WDW after one week. Plus, one of the nasty side effects is that your system has to relearn how much bile to produce, meaning that you will have episodes of urgently needing a bathroom. Every person I have talked to who had the surgery had that as a side effect, and I did too. As in I would be fine, and then a second latter need the bathroom immediately!!!

Not to mention every bump during car rides was painful. I'm sorry, but no, I don't think you would have an enjoyable time at all.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think that it is too hard to predict how you will do in advance. I felt so sick before my gallbladder surgery, and so much better after, that I would have been fine going to Disney in 9 days as long as I had loose fitting clothing (no rubbing waist bands). It took me about 2-3 weeks to be able to wear my regular clothes comfortably, but I had 0 digestive problems post surgery.

Good point about the clothing. I didn't wear jeans or anything that buttoned near my waist for a couple of months.

 

[Tallis]

I guess I need to send my surgeon a thank you card. I had my gallbladder out and esophageal hernia repair, as well as a couple other things done in August 2018. All was laparoscopic. (sp?)

I went home late afternoon and never had a single pain. We went to Disney for a couple days about a week later. I contacted my surgeon for approval and was told just no rollercoasters, since my insides were still healing.

After reading everyone else's surgery experiences, I will be highly recommending my surgeon. I thought my experience was typical. Apparently not.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I guess I need to send my surgeon a thank you card. I had my gallbladder out and esophageal hernia repair, as well as a couple other things done in August 2018. All was laparoscopic. (sp?)

I went home late afternoon and never had a single pain. We went to Disney for a couple days about a week later. I contacted my surgeon for approval and was told just no rollercoasters, since my insides were still healing.

After reading everyone else's surgery experiences, I will be highly recommending my surgeon. I thought my experience was typical. Apparently not.

I had almost the same experience except I was told roller coasters were fine so a week after my surgery I was riding roller coasters.

 

[Selket]

After reading everyone else's surgery experiences, I will be highly recommending my surgeon. I thought my experience was typical. Apparently not.

I think this is typical of internet discussion boards - people who had problems are more likely to self-report than someone who didn't. Probably good for the OP to keep in mind that she's unlikely to have an issue but it "could" happen so have a backup plan. For what she said her schedule is - I could have done it (I use a scooter anyway at WDW) but I wouldn't have gotten in a pool or hot tub.

 

[maxiesmom]

Getting the ok to go back to work is not the same as getting the ok to go to Disney World. OP really needs to talk to their doctor in depth about her vacation plans.

Doctors can be very different in how they handle things. Mine did my surgery as an out patient, and some others in the medical field have looked at me like it was insane that I didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight. I only have 3 entry wounds, while my sister has 4 from her surgery.

 

[Tallis]

I had almost the same experience except I was told roller coasters were fine so a week after my surgery I was riding roller coasters.

Our trip wasn't planned in advance. We only live a couple of hours away, so went on the spur of the moment. I never got to ask my surgeon in person, I sent the question via a UF Patient portal. A nurse answered me and she was the one who advised me to stick with the slower rides for now. My surgeon himself may have said I could do them, but we are at Disney frequently, so didn't really matter to me to avoid this once.

I also had four things done, my gallbladder was only one of them, so that may have played into it as well.

Originally, I was in a room and supposed to spend the night. But when my doctor came in late afternoon, I asked to be discharged, and since I didn't even need pain meds, he let me go. I feel very fortunate about my experience after reading others on here. The only indication I had surgery were the 7 holes in my abdomen and some serious bruising. It didn't hurt at all. Not even a little bit. I didn't feel anything at all.

 

[Bethislucy]

Hey all I wanted to follow up. I had my surgery on the 13th and as people had said I felt so much better right away. I didn't have any of the stomach issues that some people have post surgery and my incisions were almost healed by time I went for my post op on the 19th. My doctor cleared me for swimming and anything that didn't hurt he was impressed with how well everything looked. We left on the 20th and just drove about 5 1/2 hours of the trip. I drove all of it but the last hour. We got to our resort early Saturday and swam and had a great time. We went to our ADR that night and did some resort hopping. Sunday we did some shopping then went to MNSSHP. I was able to ride Space and Big thunder with no problems at all. I did kind of turn to make sure the safety bar didn't hit any of the tender spots. My energy level held out till about the last hour then I was starting to get tired. So over all I have to say I had a great experience with the surgery and going to WDW. Now if it would have been a longer trip I may would have scheduled some time to rest. I even drove the whole 9 hours home Monday after our breakfast at Boma. Thanks all for your advice.

 

[gap2368]

Hey all I wanted to follow up. I had my surgery on the 13th and as people had said I felt so much better right away. I didn't have any of the stomach issues that some people have post surgery and my incisions were almost healed by time I went for my post op on the 19th. My doctor cleared me for swimming and anything that didn't hurt he was impressed with how well everything looked. We left on the 20th and just drove about 5 1/2 hours of the trip. I drove all of it but the last hour. We got to our resort early Saturday and swam and had a great time. We went to our ADR that night and did some resort hopping. Sunday we did some shopping then went to MNSSHP. I was able to ride Space and Big thunder with no problems at all. I did can of turn to make sure the safety bar didn't hit any of the tender spots. My energy level held out till about the last hour then I was starting to get tired. So over all I have to say I had a great experience with the surgery and going to WDW. Now if it would have been a longer trip I may would have scheduled some time to rest. I even drove the whole 9 hours home Monday after our breakfast at Boma. Thanks all for your advice.

So glade the surgery went so well your feeling better and you had a great trip