After two attacks last year, and one last month, it’s been decided that the 'ol gallbladder and I are going to have a parting of the ways. I really would like to go out of town next week, if I feel well enough, I’ve been told it’s no big deal, and I’ve been told the surgery ruins your life. I’ve been told my diet will be severely limited for the forseeable future and I’ve been told that after a couple days you can eat whatever you want (within reason) Mojo would be appriciated!
Of all my surgeries, this was one of the gentlest. I was up and about in a day.
Good luck, sending healing thoughts your way!
The good, no discernable effect on my diet, hell, I wish it had given me some fat intolerance.
The bad, I didn’t know I had a problem until I had a big old rock stuck in the neck, I had so much inflamation that I was in the hosp for 3 days and still having night sweats 10 days out.
Good luck
I was one of the 5% of people who couldn’t have the nice, easy laproscopic procedure – whey they went in, they discovered what my surgeon tells me was the largest gall stone he had ever seen in 17 years of performing this procedure. So they had to hack me open. I have a lovely 7" scar running diagonally across my right abdomen to show for it. As a result, I wound up stuck at home recovering for the better part of 6 weeks, which wasn’t much fun.
The good news is a) no more attacks and b) I can still eat pretty much whatever I want. I have observed some changes in the way I digest things, however. Without that extra bile injection, I now process proteins very slowly, so I fill up rapidly when eating a lot of protein. I don’t seem to have any major issues with fats during the early digestion phase, but since my body can only process so much fat now, any excess gets blasted through the system as fast as it can send it out the other end. Which is as nice as I can say that – suffice to say, I’m VERY regular.
Good luck! 
No advice, lady. Just best wishes!
Did you research the pills?
I realize they take 2 years, but for those of us squeamish about all things viscera . . . .
My experience was pretty much like Jimbo’s. The surgery did not go well (numerous complications that led to weeks of hospitalization).
But the good news is that I’ve had no problems since my gall bladder was removed. I can eat whatever I want with no problems.
I had a couple of months where I would occasionally have to do that clench-cheeked run-waddle to the bathroom, after eating something which was a bit too high in fat.
Unfortunately, that side effect has gone away totally and I can now eat anything (sigh).
My surgery was fairly easy. I had the lap surgery; wouldn’t have even stayed in the hospital overnight except the surgeon freaked about my brand-new apnea diagnosis and said I had to stay to be continuously monitored (which wasn’t actually DONE, mind you :rolleyes:)… oh, and the surgeon completely screwed up my medication orders so I told the hospital “uh, no thanks. I’ll take all my regular stuff”.
I was more wiped out the rest of the week (this was done on a Monday) than I had expected. I had the vague idea that I’d just work from home Wednesday through Friday. I wound up putting in only 10 hours.
You won’t be able to lift anything heavy for a bit - so if you do travel, you’ll need to have someone handle your luggage.
Your gut will be on strike for a couple of days - between the jostling from the surgery, and the painkillers, you’ll want to be on heavy duty fiber supplements and stool softeners (and lots of fluids) pretty much as soon as you wake up. I was rather surprised that the hospital didn’t have Colace (softener) as a standard “if they ask for it” medication.
And your tummy will be sore for a month or two - as in, if you press on it wrong, not anything constant. I scared a produce clerk once, 3ish weeks after, when I was shopping - I absent-mindedly nudged the cart forward with my tummy (something I’ve since noticed I do all the time), it hurt, and I made a face. The poor clerk came trotting up to me to make sure I was OK.
I had my gall bladder out 22 years ago. The surgery itself was a big deal, because my gall bladder was swollen enough that they had to go abdominal, couldn’t go laparascopic. Recovery from abdominal surgery is no fun at all! Other than that, though, no problems dietary and such.
As far as Mama Zappa’s point about, errr, irregularity following surgery, yeah, it’s pretty common. That’s true with any surgery, and is made worse by use of opiate or narcotic pain relievers, which are typically prescribed post-op. In that regard, I have advice: before you go in for your surgery, mix up the following in a bowl: 1C all-bran cereal; 1C prune juice; 1C applesauce; add some cinnamon and sugar so it doesn’t taste quite so much like ass. 
Cover the mixture and put it in the fridge. Eat 2TBSP each night at bed time. It’s not yummy, but your bowels will thank you in the morning!
Good luck!
That sounds pretty horrifying :p.
But it would sure do the trick!!
I made do (or, doo-doo?) with Colace plus Fibercon plus a lot of high-fiber cereal. It was still 3 days… and a good belly laugh that I think, well, dislodged things.
The hospital food was not helpful. They brought up some “lunch” for me when they got me upstairs to my room. Meatloaf. Plus mashed potatoes. I made them bring me something different (which was also pretty much fiberfree but marginally less frightening). I made Typo bring me a bunch of veggie side dishes from the hospital cafeteria as well. And I made him bring me raisin bran from home the next morning.
Yeah, that mix is pretty awful. But having had more than my share of abdominal surgeries, I’ll tell you it beats the hell out of ‘straining’!
It always amazes me the kind of crap hospitals call ‘food’ after lecturing us on how to eat healthfully! I don’t mind eating nutritionally void foods that taste good, and I don’t mind eating food that tastes ‘meh’ if it’s really good for me (ideally, I eat for that’s good for me and tastes good!) but the hospital gets it wrong all the way around!
I had planned to stck to soft food afterward, MamaZ, they gave you meatloaf? Really??? Anyway, hope can update ya’ll soon… thanks for the Mojo!
I don’t know about it ruining your life, sweet girl, but if you like popcorn, you are gonna have to say goodbye to it, sorry.
Please let me/us know how you’re doing, 'k?
worried look
Quasi
Wow, really? I eat popcorn pretty frequently. No problems. Of course, no one can predict what kinds of problems one individual or another will have. . .
Er, why? I eat popcorn all the time.
Soft is fine… as long as it’s soft and HIGH FIBER.
Seriously. Fiber (real or supplemental) + lots of liquid. I don’t recall any particular abdominal pain from the effort of pooping (though there was some pain involved in the act of getting from bed to toilet)… but things will sort of shut right down after the surgery and if you aren’t being aggressive about the fiber, it’ll be… unpleasant.
Popcorn CAN be eaten, but only way after the surgery (I think it’s 7 months). My bad for saying “never”. Seeds can get stuck right afterward.
Q
I had my gallbladder taken out a month ago. The surgery went well, I was sent home about 2 hours after they finished. They even fixed a hernia I didn’t know I had! There was surprisingly little pain. I took vicodin for the first two days, after that I didn’t need it anymore. I was constipated for 3 days, and after that I had frequent diarrhea which would onset about 10 minutes after eating. All is good now, I can eat whatever I want, although I haven’t tried popcorn, and no more running to the bathroom.
I’ve lived an absolutely normal ~15 years without mine. Welcome to club (soon, anyhow).
Bastard had one more trick up his sleave, and came out the old fashioned way, feel like hell but will recover… posting from hospital!
It won the battle, but you’ll win the war!