Wellness

[sfnative]

On 2/23/2015 ChynnaBlue said:

I had mine removed a few years ago. Recovery was pretty quick and easy. I think I had the surgery on a Tuesday or Wednesday, was working from home on Friday and was back to work on Monday.

The surgeon should have prepped him for all of this before and after surgery. Mine walked me through the entire surgery and recovery before I scheduled the surgery. They use a gas to expand the abdomen and the gas takes a while to leave the system entirely, so there's some weird travelling pains that happen for a few days as it migrates around and your shoulder might hurt for a while, for example.

I experienced pain when I sat up or twisted to reach the alarm clock, but that did not last too long. It did take about a month before I stopped reflexively clutched my stomach whenever I coughed or sneezed because that hurt AND because I had a horrible image of my intestines squirting out through the tiny incision made at my naval whenever I sneezed. Totally in my head and not possible, but the stuff in our heads is often scarier than what's real, right?

Before the surgery, I was miserable. I got sick when I ate, had extreme pain and vomiting, and missed a lot of sleep. After the surgery, I was much better. Remind him to watch how much fat he eats in a day and everything should be fine.

bullyluv,

Nice to see you here again, though sorry to hear about the surgery.

ChynnaBlue made an excellent point about the discomfort expecienced post-op regarding the gas used to expand the abdomen. The surgeons typically use CO2, which does a great job of expanding the abdomen to increase the visual field. And, yes, it takes some time for the CO2 to disperse, but the good thing about this is that it is not a permanent thing after surgery, it WILL go away.

[RedTop]

My 32 year old daughter had her gall bladder removed laparoscopically in September of last year. Her first attack was in February, and by September her gall bladder was functioning less than 35%, and making her life miserable. She basically lived off chicken breasts and Sprite for several weeks until her surgery. Walking will help work out the soreness, and swinging the arms continuously while walking will help break down the gas that rises and settles between the shoulder blades. I made my daughter walk the perimeter of our property twice a day, starting the day after surgery, for the first 10 days. She barely mentioned being sore, and never once complained about pressure from the gas. My daughter drives a tractor trailer for a living, and was off work for a full month, due to the fact she had to be able to lift 50 lbs in order to return to her job. Since the surgery, she does have a few foods that she has to avoid when she is on the road, but otherwise, she feels much better. The pathology report described a very sickly gallbladder that contained a fair amount of sludge.

[Dell1]

I went to a doctor appointment the first week of October of 2012 and was sent for an ultrasound. The technician told me to wait in the waiting room afterward and not leave. Later he came out and told me to go to the ER to be admitted. The next morning I had my gall bladder removed. The doctor started to do laproscopic surgery but was unable to do the surgery this way because of the condition of my gall bladder. So my gall bladder had to removed through my abdomen. The surgery was done on a Wednesday morning and I was released on a Sunday morning.

I am glad you are hearing that not all people have it removed via laproscopic surgery. I have had two C-Sections and the recovery time was very similar to those. I went back to work the week of Thanksgiving.

[gingie08]

I had mine out on a Friday and was back to work and school on Monday. When I left the hospital a few hours after surgery they told me to NOT sit or lay around but to keep moving so as not to stiffen up. I think this is what really helped. I would walk around the block in my neighborhood. A week later I was back to riding my bike and going to aerobic classes. Yes, there was some minor discomfort but Nothing I would call painful. I was told not to bend over or lift anything heavy until my follow up appointment 5 days after. Best of luck to your husband!

[jeanlake]

There are varied stories with gall bladder surgery. My gall bladder problem was misdiagnosed for a while so by the time it was diagnosed I had the gall bladder removed immediately. Missed five days of work. Made sure I didn't lift heavy objects -- including wet clothes from the washing machine. Do know he may experience intestinal releases -- surprises -- while his digestive system adjusts. I kept a spare pair of undies in the car for months. Surgery 4 years ago. Quick recovery to your husband.

[Scooby Doo]

On 2/23/2015 ChynnaBlue said:

On 2/23/2015 Scooby Doo said:

I had mine removed two weeks ago and it was emergency surgery. Everyone is different. I was in the hospital for 3 days and didn't have the easy experience others mentioned. Maybe that's because the surgeon went into my bile duct making sure no stones remained. I was in some serious pain for several days. Two weeks later I'm just getting back to normal. I know another person who had hers out two weeks before I did and she also had a tough time. They put stents in her bile duct, and now she is scheduled for more surgery to take out the stents. My GD told me that one her friends had his out on a Thursday and was back to school on Monday. There's lots of variables. I wish I was one of those who was able to get back up quickly. In fact, I have an appt with my surgeon this afternoon and I'll ask him why I had such a tough time. I don't remember a whole lot of the conversation in the hospital due to anesthesia and drugs.

The emergency gall bladder surgeries are much more difficult and the recovery period is much longer. I'm sorry they didn't catch yours sooner and that you had a long recovery time. I'm very fortunate that I got a diagnosis before it came to that for me. One of the questions I asked my surgeon before I scheduled was "what will happen if I don't have this surgery" and he explained the possible ER surgery, the more complicated surgery, and the longer recovery time. I booked the surgery after that. Two acquaintances of mine had the emergency surgery later and they have stories similar to your own.

I never thought I'd be so grateful for the two nights of pain and vomiting that sent me to the doctor before I wound up in the ER. The first time I thought it was food poisoning, but when it happened again a few weeks later, I knew that wasn't normal and went to the doctor. It took one wrong test and then the right one after I told the doctor I was burping a lot more than usual. Who knew that would be the key to a diagnosis?

I didn't know that my gallbladder was bad. I hadn't had any attacks before. At 2 am on a Monday morning I just rolled over onto my right side and ten minutes later was in pain. The movement dislodged a stone into my bile duct. I was sick and in pain all night and the next day went to the Dr. He sent me immediately for an ultrasound which revealed stones. The next day I felt ok. But the next day I felt puny, so I went back to the Dr. He ordered a hida scan for the next day, Thursday. The radiologist couldn't get a picture of my gallbladder, which indicates acute inflammation. He warned me not to wait to see a surgeon. Seriously, trying to get an emergency appointment with a surgeon is impossible. Later that very day I had a more serious attack, the pain was incredible. So I went to the ER. The ER called in the surgeon on call and I was in surgery on Friday morning. Five days from start to finish.
It's kinda scary to find out the complications you can have from a diseased gallbladder. People die from that stuff.

[bullyluv]

Hi sfnative! And everyone else?? thanks so much for all the advice. My husband is home now and went to bed...it's been a heck of a day! He has had no pain killers since surgery and is walking normal. He had pain when he got into bed for a while but that passed. His shoulder is hurting like mentioned, but other than that this is much better than his hernia surgery he had 5 years ago.

[bullyluv]

Hi sfnative! And everyone else?? thanks so much for all the advice. My husband is home now and went to bed...it's been a heck of a day! He has had no pain killers since surgery and is walking normal. He had pain when he got into bed for a while but that passed. His shoulder is hurting like mentioned, but other than that this is much better than his hernia surgery he had 5 years ago.

[pattypeep]

On 2/23/2015 Carmie said:

I had my gall bladder removed a few years ago. It was painless for me. I had the laproscopic surgery.

I came home, went to bed for a few hours, got up and life went on as usual. I was off from work for 2 weeks and went on a relaxing vacation while I was off.

I remember when my mother had this surgery, the old fashioned way. It was very painful for her and she took weeks to heal.

Best wishes to your husband for smooth sailing surgery and a speedy recovery.

Pretty much happened to me the same way ~ vacation and all. The vacation had been planned months prior to knowing I had stones and would need surgery, but the Dr. felt it was okay to go if I felt up to it. Very easy process if one can go with the laproscopic surgery. I was told prior to going into surgery that it was a possibility they would have to "open me up" if some stones found there way to any bile ducts, but fortunately it was easy peasy. I hope your dh's surgery went well and he will have a good recuperation period.

[lynettey]

I had mine removed about 15 yrs ago. I was off from work for about a week. I had laparoscopic surgery. I'd say the first half of the week my stomach hurt to get up, cough, laugh, etc..anything where you use stomach muscles. By the second half of the week, was feeling much better. My advise is keep up on the pain meds , as prescribed. Once you miss one, or run behind, it's hard to make the pain go away. Be sure to wait on him, and help him out of bed or off the couch.