Re: Gallbladder Surgery

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

@Piperdellilah It was the gas going up threw my shoulder was where the pain was. (about 2-3 days it dissipates)

Piperdellilah · ‎02-12-2015

@missy1 Me too, that was the worst part. Luckily, the shoulder pain was only the first night then it was in my back for a couple of days and that was it.

Bri36 · ‎02-20-2017

When I was in the recovery room, the nurse gave me something for the pain. Whatever she gave me was to prevent the gas from moving up into the shoulder area. I wish I could remember what it was.

She was a Labor and Delivery nurse and she said that was the pain med of choice after a C-section. Whatever she gave me was good because I never had that shoulder pain and I only needed one pain pill at home.

noodleann · ‎06-10-2015

@Nightowlz wrote:
Have you had your gallbladder removed? Did you have problems after? Like running to the bathroom. Did you have to change how you ate after? I need to have mine removed but I'm a big chicken. Mines getting worse. I have had 2 ultrasounds which showed no gallstones. I had a Hida Scan & it showed was only working a small %. That was almost 3 yrs ago. The pain on my right back side started 10 yrs or more & has slowly gotten worse. Seems like it flares up every 4-5 wks & hurts a lot for a about a week until the next flare up. I guess I still have in the back of my mind that my grandmother died when she had gallbladder surgery when she was in her 80's.

@Nightowlz, I don't want to be an alarmist, but please get to the doctor ASAP. I suffered for years with a bad gallbladder. It runs in the family, but I didn't know that. An early blood test had not shown whatever elevation was supposed to exist when the gallbladder is troubled, so the doc had ruled that out. Years passed, and I lived in a chronic state of semi-nausea. I got used to it, the way you will with things that creep up on you.

Then I started getting pain attacks. I'd get them often on weekends, and chalked it up to a terrible job. I remember finding myself at Walmart at 3AM, buying a box of Gas-X. It did nothing. I described my symptoms to my neighbor who said it sounded like gallbladder. She'd had hers out years earlier, after out-of-the-blue attacks of pain.

I saw the doc, did the ultrasound (and learned what "guarding" means, aftter I kept knocking the nurse's hand away with the scanner), and had surgery scheduled for two weeks out.

It wasn't immediate because the scans showed the gallbladder was very infected and swollen. The surgeon had me take a course of antibiotics to bring down the infection and size of the organ. I subsisted on Lipton's Chicken Noodle soup, clear tea, and Hawaiian Punch for those two weeks.

The surgery went well, but later the surgeon told me it was touch and go as to whether he'd had to open me up, but he finally got the gallbladder out through the little incision (there were three). The day after surgery, I felt like I had done a million situps. That passed within the week, and I felt better with every passing week. It was amazing to not have background nausea every waking minute. I felt like a new person.

No effect on gut motility, food tolerance, taste, etc.

My point in telling you this is that it's in your interest to get to the doc ASAP and get a current scan and probably get that thing out. If you let it go too long, it can really make you sick, and what's worse, the surgeon might have to make the big incision, as they almost did with me. You don't want that.

I am not needle phobic, but have vasovagal response, so I never watch my blood being drawn. Not looking at the needle may help you deal with the necessary testing.

Good luck.

chlema · ‎05-22-2010

@Bri36 Boy I wish I had your nurse because in my case the shoulder pain was the only pain I experienced. It was so bad that night that I had to put a dining room chair next to my bed to support my arm at a certain angle in order to get some sleep. Other than that having the gall bladder removed was a piece of cake, just 3 small incisions.

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

@Nightowlz wrote:
Have you had your gallbladder removed? Did you have problems after? Like running to the bathroom. Did you have to change how you ate after? I need to have mine removed but I'm a big chicken. Mines getting worse. I have had 2 ultrasounds which showed no gallstones. I had a Hida Scan & it showed was only working a small %. That was almost 3 yrs ago. The pain on my right back side started 10 yrs or more & has slowly gotten worse. Seems like it flares up every 4-5 wks & hurts a lot for a about a week until the next flare up. I guess I still have in the back of my mind that my grandmother died when she had gallbladder surgery when she was in her 80's.

In my case the "attacks" never went away. I held out for a few months (stubborn)...... even though my Dr. said it doesn't get better. I just had an inflamed gall bladder, but it was causing me havoc. You don't have to have gallstones. I had a gallbladder scan.

See a Dr. You are not in your 80's. This is out-patient.

Winter Holiday · ‎06-15-2016

I had my gallbladder removed when I was twenty-five. I had nausea and burning that wouldn't go away. It turns out that mine was 70% shot and I had about six gall stones. Nausea was relieved post surgery but years later my body can't handle grease or fatty foods. The doctor never told me I needed a diet adjustment I just naively thought problem fixed!

I didn't have too much pain and healed pretty quickly but post op during my one night impatient stay I had to pee every two minutes THAT was unbearable. I wasn't confined to my bed and my husband stayed overnight with me and help me up every two minutes. If he wasn't there who knows how bad it would have been.

DrKelli · ‎03-10-2010

I had mine removed in 1999 and had no issues (except the AFTERMATH, which eventually went away). As a matter of fact, I ate Mexican food the day after surgery (which probably contributed to the AFTERMATH). I sure felt a lot better.

The surgeon told me that although I didn't have gall stones, my gall bladder was basically nonfunctioning and she could understand why I was in so much pain up to that point. I say good riddance to it. LOL!

Oh--and I did not change the way I ate. Once it was gone, I could eat anything I wanted.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

I asked my doctor about my gallbladder. He said it's up to me when I want to see the surgeon. He told me the surgeon may want the ultrasound or Hida scan done again since it's been years since I had the ultrasounds & 2-3 yrs since I had the Hida scan. I told him I was not doing those again as I already had them done & the ultrasounds showed nothing & the Hida scan showed only working at 15% & it's suppose to be working over 35%. I almost peed my pants before they got the Hida scan done so I don't want to do that again since I know I will need to pee before they finish. LOL!!! My previous doctor told me I would not have to do any of these tests again as I already had the Hida scan which shows it's not working. Either he did not know what he was talking about or he lied to me. I told my doctor by having to do these tests again would only keep me from doing the surgery even longer. So here I sit not doing nothing. My doctor does not want to check with the surgeon about the tests until I say yes to the surgery. I told him if the surgeon would do the surgery without them I would probably go ahead. Not very happy about it. I doubt the Ins would want to pay for the Hida scan again but who knows.

I'm putting it on hold for now since DH saw the doctor & is having tests done. Need to find out what's going on with him first. I'm more concerned with that at the moment. Too much to deal with too much stress.

HLP · ‎04-02-2015

Hi, had my gall bladder removed 9 years ago. It is a piece of cake ,or mine was. Now you have 3 of the smallest bandades, covering the places where they go in. I never felt anything, after, at all. I remember my husbands, was back when they cut you across your abdoman, that doesn't happen any more. You don't need to worry, there is nothing to it. Good luck. You will be surprised.