What can I expect AFTER Gall Bladder Surgery?

[SeaSpray]

I had my gallbladder removed (laparoscopically) on a Tuesday afternoon. Because it was so late in the afternoon, they kept me in the hospital overnight. That was great; the nurses helped me to the bathroom and brought me my food. lol

I went home on Wednesday afternoon, after my DH got out of work. On Thursday morning DH and I took DS15 (age 10 at the time) into Boston Children's Hospital because he has a chronic hip condition and was on crutches and that was the ONLY appt we could get. There was NO WAY I was going to miss that appointment, so DH loaded me into the car on Thursdau morning and we drove the 40 minutes into the city. When we got to the hospital, they had wheelchairs right at the front door, so I climbed into that. DH pushed me along, and DS hobbled along on his crutches. What a sight we were. LOL

I was still in quite a bit of pain on that day, but not to the point where I wish I would've cancelled the appt for DS. We even ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch that day, because DSs procedure took several hours.

Exactly a week after the surgery I went back to the doctor's office and they removed the staples. Once they were out I felt 100% better, and I was feeling pretty good at that point on. I drove myself to that appt and I don't remember being in any pain that day.

As long as you don't have any complications, I think you should be ok on Day 5. Are you driving? Flying? Just please be careful, do not lift a thing, even if it's light!! Best wishes to you on your surgery, recovery, and trip! Oh, and DEFINITELY rent a wheelchair for yourself!!

P.S. I can now eat anything, and once in a great while I still get what I call "phantom gallbladder pains". lol Maybe only once a year or so. Not sure what causes that, but they don't last.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Ah, gallbladder surgery. I put mine off for years but finally did it last March....Disney 5 days afterwards?? I don't know...............maybe if you have a thoughtful significant other who's willing to push you around the parks the whole time. MAYBE. I was pretty sore afterwards, but by the 5 day mark was ok.

I think your main issue will be food. We were in Disney about 2 months after my surgery, and I was in the "if I eat the wrong thing I'll have to find a bathroom RIGHT NOW" stage of gallbladder surgery recovery. Actually, I still have those problems, but many people don't, you might be one of the lucky ones.
Just stick to bland foods, kinda hard to do in the parks though, and you should be ok.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

If I were you, I would get a map and mark the restrooms.

If you overdo it, you are going to pay, and the need will be, uh, urgent.

Best of luck!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We are driving. It is me, DD13, DD8 and their Godmother. I think between the 3 of them I will have plenty of "helpers" during the trip. I am a former CM so I don't have to be a park commando and try to ride things I don't feel like (just thinking about the bumpy safari ride makes me think I will be avoiding that one for sure!). We will have a car so it would be easy to shuttle me back to OKW to rest if they want to keep playing in the parks.

The stomach issues worry me since my surgeon never mentioned a word about that. I guess it will be a wait and see issue.

I would put off the surgery but I have already passed 6 or 7 gallstones in the past month and my doctors are worried the next stone will get lodged and I would end up needing emergency surgery.

Thanks for all of the insight. I am nervous but looking forward to feeling better too!

 

[RitaZ.]

If I were you, I would get a map and mark the restrooms.

If you overdo it, you are going to pay, and the need will be, uh, urgent.

Best of luck!

This is true, there is no prior warning. When you have to go, it has to be NOW!

You may want to read up on how your system adjusts to the excess bile in your intestine after the surgery. I don't want to go into details, but just be prepared for this. I asked my surgeon if I could take Imodium and he said NOT to take anything for it, as your body has to adjust naturally without medicine.

Personally, I think a trip to WDW 5 days after the surgery will be rough on your body. I experienced extreme tiredness after my surgery. Can you move your trip back until you see how your body is reacting? Good luck!

BTW, I guess each surgery is different. I read another poster's reply about having staples to close the incision. I didn't have staples, just internal sutures.

 

[Virgo10]

BTW, I guess each surgery is different. I read another poster's reply about having staples to close the incision. I didn't have staples, just internal sutures.

Same here. I was surprised to read that some folks had staples. Two of my incisions are almost totally healed and I'll be surprised if there's much of a scar. The belly button one is still healing. The one that caused me problems in the center of my abdomen will probably leave a visible mark but my bikini days are over so who cares.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

Your reflux improved after your gallbladder was removed? I'm hoping mine will, but from everything I've read on another board, it seems most people have more problems with reflux post-surgery.

Mine really has, but I've always wondered, if my reflux issues could have been my gallbladder acting up, and I was being treated for reflux.

I never had gallbladder issues that I knew of, until 3 days before my emergency surgery. about 1 1/2 months before it came out, I had trouble, on Christmas day, but just blamed it on overeating, and reflux. Then after the surgery, we started thinking back over the past 2 years, Including the time DH called 911 because he thought I was having a heart attack- The ER said reflux, and ruled out gallbladder, so I just thought all along it was reflux, but could have been the gallbladder, the whole time.

But again, the stupidest things bother my stomach now- salad, veggies, being the strangest to me.

 

[SillyMe]

Mine really has, but I've always wondered, if my reflux issues could have been my gallbladder acting up, and I was being treated for reflux.

I never had gallbladder issues that I knew of, until 3 days before my emergency surgery. about 1 1/2 months before it came out, I had trouble, on Christmas day, but just blamed it on overeating, and reflux. Then after the surgery, we started thinking back over the past 2 years, Including the time DH called 911 because he thought I was having a heart attack- The ER said reflux, and ruled out gallbladder, so I just thought all along it was reflux, but could have been the gallbladder, the whole time.

But again, the stupidest things bother my stomach now- salad, veggies, being the strangest to me.

See, I wonder the same thing. I don't know if I have reflux AND gallbladder issues or if it's the gallbladder causing the reflux. I know I need my gallbladder removed. I just had a HIDA scan and it's functioning at 24%.

 

[SeaSpray]

Same here. I was surprised to read that some folks had staples. Two of my incisions are almost totally healed and I'll be surprised if there's much of a scar. The belly button one is still healing. The one that caused me problems in the center of my abdomen will probably leave a visible mark but my bikini days are over so who cares.

It was me who mentioned having staples and I didn't know I had staples until a couple of days later, which was when I was told that I could remove the bandages and take a shower, and looked down and saw METAL embedded in my skin!! My DH was in the bathroom with me, he was helping me to remove the bandages and I FREAKED OUT, big time!! I started crying, almost hysterically, which is really not like me at all. LOL The reason I freaked out was, well first of all it was a shock to see METAL in my skin, I thought they'd be thread sutures... and secondly, I grew up hearing my mother, who also was NOT a wimp by any means, tell a horror story about how they used staples to close her up after one of her c-sections, and how excruciatingly painful it was to have them removed!! Poor DH... he didn't know what to do with me at that moment, so he took off his clothes and took me into the shower and washed me down while I stopped sobbing.

It's funny now, though. lol Anyway, I went back a week later to have them removed. The nurse actually did it; she took what looked like a regular staple remover, except a little bigger, and basically just plucked those babies right out, and I hardly felt a thing! She did it nice and fast, too. I don't think I'd ever sighed such a huge sigh of relief as I did when that was over. lol

By the way, my incisions healed quite nicely, you can barely see the scars, I have to actually look for them in order to see them.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I had my gall bladder removed this past September. I never had any problems until I started waking up, in the middle of the night, with pains in my stomach, right under my ribs and in my back. After an hour or so, they went away and I went back to bed and work the next day. I went to a wedding that night. No problems or pains. That night, same thing...I woke up with the pains, they went away after an hour or so. The next morning, I was fine. Went to the casinos, fine. Woke up with the pains again only this time they were a little worse and didn't go away. I woke up my DH to take me to the ER. I ended up being admitted. That was Saturday night/early Sunday morning. I was supposed to have it removed the next day, but they couldn't "squeeze me in" so I had to wait until Tuesday. Unfortunately, my gall bladder was very infected and I ended pretty sick. They did take it out on Tuesday, but, because of the infection, I didn't come home until that Saturday!

I was out of work for two weeks, after I came home from the hospital. I really wasn't limited on what I could do, but I had to use common sense.

Unfortunately, I can eat whatever I want. I haven't found any foods that bother me!

I know I wouldn't have been up to going on vacation five days later, heck, I was still in the hospital five days later!

If you can't postpone your surgery, I would definitely postpone the trip.

Good luck!

 

[deno2]

I had my gall bladder out 3 years ago. One thing no one has mentioned is the bloating that comes with this surgery. I spent 2 1/2 days doing nothing after surgery and was able to return mom duties after that - BUT, putting on a pair of jeans seemed impossible for almost 2 weeks. I was so bloated that I felt like I was 5 months pregnant trying to fit into non-pregnancy clothes. Make sure that you take along pants and shorts with stretchy waistbands.
In regards to the food, I think everyone is different. I swear I could eat more foods before I had the surgery than after. AND, I'm still taking Nexium, (which I was hoping to get off of after the surgery).
Good luck with your surgery and have fun at WDW. Make sure that you listen to your body and rest when you need to.

deno

 

[snowwite]

I had the same surgery a week before Christmas. The post op complications lasted 10 days and I am still sore and unable to wear my "normal" clothing. I cant swim yet due to open incision and I am still too sore to do much. I cant lift anything heavy so luggage would be a problem. I cannot imagine going on rides, a plane or being able to enjoy myself that soon after surgery. Even though they take the organ out through a smaller opening they still remove an organ and it still takes time to heal. I would see if I could reschedule. If not be sure to bring numbers of local hospital just in case of complications. Have whoever you travel with help out with lifting and see if you can get a wheelchair for trip. Check with your doctor to be sure there are no other special things you need to do to be able to travel. Good luck

 

[dzneprincess]

This is true, there is no prior warning. When you have to go, it has to be NOW!

.

Good Lord you can say that again! That is the thing I HATE the most about post gall bladder surgery. I had mine out 9 years ago...I still have problems with when I gotta go, I gotta go..It is a horrible feeling..No one ever prepared me for this so be forewarned.

 

[snowwite]

Good Lord you can say that again! That is the thing I HATE the most about post gall bladder surgery. I had mine out 9 years ago...I still have problems with when I gotta go, I gotta go..It is a horrible feeling..No one ever prepared me for this so be forewarned.

Nine years!!!! The surgeon promised me this would be temporary like 6-8 weeks!

 

[dzneprincess]

Sorry, but I still have issues..I had the surgery shortly after my DD was born in 1996. She is 10 now

 

[The Mystery Machine]

All I can say it you better buy a box of DEPENDS....we are not kidding. Or SNL's version...."OOPS I crapped my pants"...

I got reflux from my gallbladder removal. Which they say is very common.

My "Urgency" to go to the bathroom is also bad still....as long as I eat a bland diet and lots of veggies and fruits and no fat....I am fine.

 

[kami2199]

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now! This happens to me at least once a day if not more depending on what I eat! It's been 8 years! Like others, nobody prepared me for this aspect of it.

5 days of recovery sounds a little short, but depending on if they do lap or open, you might be ok with the wheel chair. If they do open, I would not go. I was 28 weeks pregnant with my dd when mine came out. My surgeon told me there was only a 10% or so chance that I would have to be opened up. Guess what, they opened me up and then stapled me shut. I was not as lucky with the staples though, they hurt like heck coming out because the skin had started to grow over them.

At that point, I wasn't showing at all but caught up rather quickly. Guess what that did to my new scar! I look like a train ran over my tummy! Good luck with surgery! Hopefully you'll have the lap with no problems and be quick to recover. Even with the bathroom issues, I felt soooo much better. I lost 16 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight by the time I was 28 weeks. I was so sick with it.

 

[MareQ]

.

Traveller - can your DH pretty much eat anything now or is his diet still restricted?? Sorry he had such a rough recovery!

I had my gallbladder taken out 8 years ago. I can eat whatever I want without any ill effect. Good luck!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

My mother had the surgery awile ago and she had little complications. Once it was over herscars hurt her but she was ready to go back to work a week later. I think that she pushed it though because she had to go back because they think that she was passing a stone that didn't get removed. Although they found a cancerous sist(SP?) on her pancreaous(SP?) they weren't worried about it. Other than that she has been doing great and she is able to eat more and (bad for you) food.

 

[RitaZ.]

Sorry, but I still have issues..I had the surgery shortly after my DD was born in 1996. She is 10 now

I was told that "it" would probably only last a few days, but that hasn't been the case. I never had stomach/digestive related problems before my surgery. This urgency "problem" is very unpleasant, not to mention that it leaves you feeling weak (potassium loss). I was hoping it would get better with time.