Questions about Gallbladder surgery and recovery

[s.mcm]

The Dr. wants me to have my Gallbladder removed.  What questions should I ask him before I decide? Can someone please tell me what the recovery is like? how long?  how painful?  I have no idea what to expect and have a very sick mother that I will have to take care of. What did you take for pain relief?  I am allegic to codeine.
thanks so much!!!

[Dildil]

A related discussion, is overwighting effect what tipe of galbladder surgey made was started.

[memea]

A related discussion, healingfromgallbladersurgery was started.

[neicie105]

A related discussion, gallbladder removal was started.

[GR]

It sounds like I went thru the same thing, could you email
me at ***@**** to compare.

[Lorio]

before you decide to have your gallbladder out...make sure that you know the surgeons reputation and experience.  I had mine removed in 96 by a surgeon that had been doing them only a few months.  this is a major surgery even though it is laproscopic.  find out how many he has done.  make sure you find a surgeon that is well experienced and has done quite a number of them and has had low complication rates.  this may seem like a simple removal but this organ is near your liver and pancreas and this area is very sensitive and you cannot afford to have it damaged in any way.  the surgeon that did mine...messed up and now i have chronic pain and bile duct problems which i now have to go to a major medical center to have fixed.  i just got back from seattle after having botox injected into my bile duct to stop the chronic spasms.  it has been a nightmare for me.  good luck and keep us all posted.

[Lorio]

before you decide to have your gallbladder out...make sure that you know the surgeons reputation and experience.  I had mine removed in 96 by a surgeon that had been doing them only a few months.  this is a major surgery even though it is laproscopic.  find out how many he has done.  make sure you find a surgeon that is well experienced and has done quite a number of them and has had low complication rates.  this may seem like a simple removal but this organ is near your liver and pancreas and this area is very sensitive and you cannot afford to have it damaged in any way.  the surgeon that did mine...messed up and now i have chronic pain and bile duct problems which i now have to go to a major medical center to have fixed.  i just got back from seattle after having botox injected into my bile duct to stop the chronic spasms.  it has been a nightmare for me.  good luck and keep us all posted.

[s.mcm]

thanks for your comments.  I am going to go ahead and have my gallbladder removed.  You all have answered my questions and given me some great advise.
Sher

[rob roy]

My advice would be not to delay.

After four months of agonising attacks I was convinced my gall bladder had to come out. For whatever reason, my doctor subjected me to all sorts of tests but never scheduled an operation.
A further 5 months later I was taken in for emergency surgery when my gall bladder became infected and I was jaundiced.

What would have been a 1 night stay in hospital turned into a whole week because it took several days to get the infection under control.
I was fortunate to be treated using laparoscopy instead of open surgery and was released from hospital the day after the operation.

Recovery from the operation was very fast; a few days. Recovery from the after effects of infection took about two weeks.

Moral of the story... Insist on the surgery asap. The pains I was experiencing have all gone and I can eat pretty much what I like, although I have reduced my fat intake sunstantially anyway.

[tammla]

I JUST HAD MY GALLBLADDER REMOVED ABOUT A WK AGO TOO. I HAVE STAPLES AND THEY WILL ALSO BE REMOVED ON MONDAY. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY NAUSEA BUT I DIDNT REALLY HAVE NAUSEA BEFORE EITHER. I HAVENT TAKEN ANY OF THE PAIN MEDICATION SINCE ABOUT THE 3RD OR 4TH DAY. THE STAPLES DONT REALLY HURT ANY MORE EXCEPT THE SKIN IS SCABBING OVER AND GETTING TIGHT AROUND THEM AND SOMETIMES I FORGET AND PULL THEM AND IT HURTS. I WENT IN FOR THE DAY  SURGERY AT 1:30 AND WAS HOME BY 6.

[susanrdh]

Hello,

I had laparoscopic gall bladder surgery 5 days ago.   It is really amazing that I was released from the ambulatory unit only 3.5 hrs after going to recovery.    But there is one problem, I do still have much nauseousness almost constantly.    Why is this??    I had this symptom all the time even before the surgery this past Monday.    Is this normal??   Please let me know.   Oh, btw....I did consume pizza last night for dinner.   Was this a foolish thing for me to have done?    I was not told of any dietary restrictions before being released from the hospital.   Just to let you know I have 4 incision sites, 2 small and one about 1+in long, the largest and most painful is by my navel which is 2in long.    About how long do these incisions take to feel better?    I am having my sutures removed this Monday morning.   Sorry about all the questions, I just feel somewhat uninformed right now.    I'd welcome any emails privately at:  ***@****

Thank you all,

Sue

[Lor]

I took percocet for the pain. I only needed it for about 3 days. Mine was done laproscopic. The incision that hurt the most was the one in the belly button. It also took the longest to heal. Had a different surgery a year later through the belly button and had no pain. I guess it just depends on how they do each one. You should do fine. I was up on the second day getting my kids ready for school.

[etphonehome]

Doctor prescribed tylenol 3.

[marydavis44]

i had my gallbladder removed a few months ago, had some minor complications at the time because it was in pretty bad shape so i was kept in the hospital overnight, and it took me about 2 weeks to recover. I still have some pains, and dirrihia now but this is nothing compared to the pain i had with my gallstones. so im glad i decicided to have the surgery.

[s.mcm]

thankyou all, for your comments.  I feel much better now and will have my gallbladder removed.  I guess you will always hear the horror stories but like you say, it must come out.  I just wanted to get an idea what to expect afterwards.  
what /if anything did you have to take afterwards for the pain?

[Romy]

I had my gallbladder removed one months ago.  During the surgery they also biopsied my liver, because I had a spot on it - benign.  I was wiped out after the laprascopic surgery and it took me about 5 days to even function again.  Now I feel fine.  I had a horrible acid taste after the surgery in my mouth - and PPI's didn't do anything for it.  This is gone now, thank God.  Also, be careful with greasy food after surgery.

It takes a while for your body to recouperate.

Romy

[arbor]

I had my gall bladder removed in early February. I was totally wiped out for about 5 days --- I had severe pain and mostly stayed in bed. After that, my condition quickly improved. After about 10 days, I had some soreness around the abdomen which I would characterize as slightly uncomfortable. And after 3 weeks, I felt pretty normal.

For the first week or so, I had slight diarrhea, but this too seemed to subside after a few weeks.

[Kat2u]

I had a bit harder time with my recovery because my gallbladder was in such bad shape by the time they took it out and I was in a pretty weakened condition at the time of surgery.

But I would do it again in a heartbeat, I feel so much better now!!

Some people on this board will not agree with me, but my opinion is that if your gallbladder is bad, there really isnt a decision to make, except for WHEN to have it removed.

And you certainly dont want to wait too long, your gallbladder can go from bad to worse in a very short time and make you very sick!

[etphonehome]

I had laproscopy surgery for gallbladder removal 6 years ago.  This is a very simple procedure, 3 small cuts for the scope and 1 cut at your belly button for the gallbladder to come out.  You can hardly see the scars now.  I had my procedure on a Friday and was back to work on the Monday, had my own business at the time.  They kept me in the hospital 1 night, most hospitals don't even keep you over night.  I did feel lousy when awakening from surgery but that is from the anesthetic.  I have had no real ill effects from the surgery.  Just am greatful that i do not have the attacks anymore they were far worse then the surgery.  Hope this helps.