gall bladder surgery

[wides5]

My sister had gall bladder surgery tuesday and has been in intense severe pain ever since. She cant sleep or eat. Her lower right side is in intense pain---cramps and spasm type pain. Went to the er and they didnt do a thing. Wondering if this is normal

[cbuchholtz]

This is not normal! I had the same problem and the ER tried to tell me it was post op pain and wanted to send me home with vicodine. I refused so the doc talked to a surgeon. They looked at my liver enzymes which was elevated signaling a bile leak. The surgeon cut my common bile duct and bile was leaking into my abdomen. I had a total of 16 days in the hospital. Get her back to the ER and demand that they check her for a bile leak. A CT scan will not show it and will cause her more pain if they make her drink that iodine. Demand a HIDA scan and some pain meds! Good luck!

[dtownsley]

Yes and no.  When I had my gallbladder removed it felt like my stomach was on fire & it was about to tear open at any time.  I could barely walk and I had to “sleep” sitting up in my recliner for 2 weeks. Now, I consider myself to have a pretty high tolerance to pain but this was unbearable and the pain medication I was given was useless.  My sister, on the other hand who basically has no tolerance for pain was up and moving around like normal within a week of hers. It just varies per person.  Just tell her to try and relax and she will be pass the pain soon.