Those little bastards have been the cause of more pain these past three weeks than I have ever experienced in my lifetime. Because of these things, I had to endure pancreatitis for two weeks, and now that that has died down, I get to endure the pain of the incisions from a cholecystectomy. All because of those little bastards taking up residence inside my gallbladder and deciding that they wanted to head out for a little expedition into my digestive tract!
At least it was a laparoscopic procedure, but the pain still sucks! It hurts to sit, it hurts to stand, it hurts to breathe, it hurts to move. I’ve got 48 to 72 hours of pain to go, according to the surgeon, and am out of work for at least another week or two, in addition to the two weeks I’ve already been out!
When I first had a gallstone attack I was mis-diagnosed, so never had the surgery (which would’ve been free, as it would have been classed as an emergency). Once they finally figured out what it was, many weeks later, they decided it now did not constitute an emergency, so the only way I’d get free surgery is if I was put on a waiting list. The list was so long I never got to it, until I moved to live in another country. For all I know they’re still sending me reminders that the list is getting ever longer and I’m even lower on it.
Anyway, that means I still have my gall bladder, and still occasionally have attacks. I haven’t had one in a very long time, thankfully, nearly ten years I think, or at least that would be “thankfully” if I didn’t just have another one ten days ago. It was a night of extreme discomfort, and I think there’s still remnants of the little blighter lingering because ever since it has felt like my stomach acid is permanently rebelling.
I had a few attacks a couple of months apart from each other. Then one night at about 2am I woke up in the most pain I’ve ever been in in my life.
Nice guy that I am I spent that whole night alternating between being curled up on the couch in pain and standing in the shower under the hottest water I could stand (seemed to really help with the pain for some reason). When my wife woke up at 9am she took one look at me and drove me to the hospital where they pumped me full of pain meds and made me the happiest man alive at that moment.
Seven o’clock that evening I was under the knife having my gall bladder removed. The doctor said the gall bladder was in the worst shape he had ever seen. He stuck a drain in the incision and I had to spend 3 days in the hospital. Weirdest feeling in the world when they pulled the drain out.
I spent a solid week curled up on the couch afterward (interspersed with periods of walking around to aid healing) and another being *very *careful of how I moved… It was nice to have two weeks off of work but I really wouldn’t recommend the experience to anyone.
gentle hugs Feel better soon, & listen to **vivalostwages **, for she is wise. (Especially about the Metamucil part. Trust me on this!!) WE DON’ NEED NO STEENKING GALLBLADDERS!!
Well, it’s been about five days. I’m feeling a lot better than I was on day one, but the incisions are still a bit sore. The advice to use the pillow has been much appreciated. That has made it a lot easier to get up and down out of chairs, and to cough and burp.
The pain medicine makes me groggy, so no driving yet.
For anyone else who might need to go through this, though, I will say that the pain of the laparoscopic incisions is absolutely nothing compared to that of the gallbladder attacks. So far, I’m glad to be rid of the thing. I can eat and drink pretty much whatever I want now, without worrying about triggering a gallstone attack. That alone makes it worth it!