The recovering patient bled through her bandages today. Probably from puking.
I recall no blood loss at home at all. Sheesh!
:(.
Have they called the doctor yet??? There should be orders for something for the nausea - and there should be virtually no bleeding this long afterward (i don’t think I even stained the steri-strips they put over the puncture spots).
I doubt they have. They probably think it’s normal, their doc isn’t so great IMO, and their HMO stinks.
I have had problems ever since removal in 2008. It doesn’t matter what or how healthy I eat. I suspect I have what they call “bile acid diarrhea” which some people get as a complication from having it removed (luck of the draw???) . IT SUCKS but gallbladder attacks were worse (one was so bad I thought I was going to poop my pants and die in my driveway - this was shortly after giving birth to my daughter during which her pregnancy I was hospitalized for attacks but they didn’t know what they were at time). Coincidentally I am pregnant again and have chronic constipation - I cant win. The bile acid stuff makes it so I couldn’t eat out with people without having to leave mid meal with excruciating stomach cramps that was/were only “relieved” by 30-45 mins on the toilet. IT SUCKS but my gallbladder was so bad when they removed it they had to"peel" it off my other organs. :eek: You just never know how you will react or adapt till you go through it despite all the advice you get.
Gallows Fodder,
I had the same symptoms. Not every night, but some nights. It felt like I had swallowed a pulsing pincushion or something. Felt like something that throwing up or having a bm would fix, but it never did. I mentioned it to my Physician’s Assistant and she said I should have it checked out immediately. Gall Bladder came to mind for her right away. I was checked, needed it removed, and had surgery two years ago.
Gallows Fodder, another yes.
My gall bladder was so swollen you could feel it, but neither the PA nor the doctor picked up that it was the gall bladder. The thing felt to me like it was big as a tennis ball and I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t recognize it. First diagnosis, constipation, second diagnosis, possible bowel cancer.
When it was finally removed, the surgeon said it was the biggest he’d ever seen.
:eek: They made those diagnoses before ordering an ultrasound?
Yep. I think it was because I didn’t have insurance. “We could do a CT scan, but those are expensive.” That was early on.
The bowel cancer was only a possible diagnosis, after a month of being sick as a dog and losing weight I couldn’t afford to lose. “Hmmm. There’s blood in your poop. With your other symptoms, bowel cancer is a possibility. I’ll schedule a CT scan.”
So the CT scan confirms the cholecystitis, and even though they knew I didn’t have insurance, they scheduled a colonoscopy for the day before the cholecystectomy, “just to make sure.” I suppose I should be grateful – there might have been bowel cancer along with the inflamed gall bladder – but dang. The bill was over $16K.
I recall that my surgery was also around $16K, and I have insurance. It paid for some, but my copay was a big chunk.
I was going to start a new thread, but this one is (mostly) on topic and not that old…
I’m 20 weeks pregnant and losing weight like crazy. I had an ultrasound this morning and they discovered I’ll need to have my gallbladder removed. They would rather wait until after the baby comes because of possible complications from the anesthesia. Other than feeling sick after I try to eat anything, I haven’t had any other symptoms or attacks. Now I’m nervous that I’ll have an attack and I hear they are pretty painful. The doc recommended a low fat diet to prevent it from getting any worse. It’s still a scary thing to know I’ll have to try to wait it out for another 20 weeks!
Attacks can be pretty painful, but I’d expect that a low-fat diet would help greatly. Like some others here, I thought my early attacks were just severe indigestion–annoying but not debilitating. Only the last attack was severe enough for me to go to the ER (and that was after eating the better part of a part of a pack of bacon…). Probably wouldn’t have happened had I skipped the fatty meals.
So I wouldn’t worry too much, especially if you haven’t had any severe attacks so far. And hopefully you’ll be one of the lucky ones that can return to a normal diet soon afterward (I was back to normal within 6 mos).
I had mine out in 1992 – no problems since. Nobody ever told me about “eat this” or “don’t eat that”.
Having your gallbladder taken out is nothing, not even a fart in the wind. (Except that it stops unimaginable pain, for sure.) I never changed my diet or have ever even given it a thought. Then again, I’ve had so many things removed from my cavity we’re now using it for storage.
Get well soon & enjoy.
You have my sympathy! Fingers crossed you don’t have any attacks. Hopefully you’ll find that an attack (if you have one) is more annoying than painful. Mine started out as heartburn symptoms, and heartburn remedies helped. I’d be uncomfortable for awhile but that’s it. It was months (maybe years) before it got so bad that the GB had to come out.
Maybe ask the doc about what’s safe to take if you do have an attack. Tums, Prilosec, Zantec, whatever.
What did the doc say about anti-nausea remedies so that you can eat without getting sick?
Just many small meals, try to stay away from fats. I meet with the surgeon next week so he can tell me how bad it is. Maybe he will have some ideas about my nausea.
I had mine removed 12 years ago and am one of a smallish percentage who never recover. It was so diseased that the doctor bailed on the laporoscopy right in the middle and gave me a big 16 inch cut. I thank God for my sister and stepmother since I had a 3 mos. old at the time and I was not expecting five days in the hospital. Since then I rarely have a solid experience in the bathroom if you know what I mean and frequently have urgent, sudden and explosive episodes. I will never have normal digestion but I can sort of plan what, when and how much to eat if I don’t want to have to have a sudden and painful urge to crap right in the middle of something.
For what it’s worth, watching what I ate stopped my attacks completely. As long as I didn’t eat any fat, I was fine.
Just found out my wife has to get hers out. She meets with the doc on Thursday to schedule it. Matching several people here she is on a diet right now and has lost about 15 pounds.
Another common factor I’m seeing is that we have a 2 month old at home. How many women here had gall bladder issues while pregnant or shortly after?
Not me, but a friend had an emergency procedure a few months after her first child was born. “Fertile” is one of the 5 Fs (fat, fortyplus, female, fertile, fair). Fertile meaning “has had at least one child”. I guess for some folks it hits faster (like your wife), others it takes a while (me).
My doc said pregnancy hormones have something to do with it, and the fact that I’m overweight. So I guess I meet 3 of the 5 qualifiers!
Little Nemo, I’m glad to hear the diet helped. That makes me feel better!