My wife had this done. If I talked to her anymore, I suppose I could tell you about it.
Well, the date is set. I’m having the surgery on the auspicious date of Friday the 13th. The surgeon seems good. I’ll probably post before the surgey for reassurance. I have to drink something nasty that cleans my bowels! I don’t like that. Any advice on getting it down?
StG
I had mine done on Friday the 13th as well! Didn’t have to drink anything nasty though, not sure why you have to do that, but good luck!
Yep. I’ve had to drink that stuff several times. Here’s the way to do it: get it as cold as possible without freezing it. Drink it with a straw. Put the straw as far back on your tongue as you can, and take as long a drink as you can. Chase it with some clear liquid that tastes good (I use ginger ale). Repeat until all your “cleansing” drink is gone.
Best of luck!
I wish they could give me several capsules to swallow. That woudl make it much easier! Funny that one of the things I dread most is probably the most innocuous of the whole procedure.
StG
I had my gallbladder out last fall. The galbladder surgery itself was a snap, and I got to eat pizza the next day. Or maybe it was the day after. Sooner than I expected, anyway 
Yes, I had an IV. I’m scared of needles, hate shots, blood draws, etc., but the IV is relatively painless. At least, if they do it right. Yes, I wore a gown, and nothing else. I guess I’m not that modest when it comes to doctors anymore. No, no shaving at all. I don’t remember how long I fasted, if it started 12 hours before surgery, or just no food after midnight the night before. Either way, it’s not long.
I had other complications, and was in the hospital 2 days after the surgery, but those were muscular dystrophy related. You shouldn’t have the same concerns.
Oh yeah, I wanted to add, the pain of the gallbladder attacks was way worse than the post op pain. I don’t blame you for being nervous, but you will be so relieved when it’s done. I mean it, sooooo relieved.
Tomorrow I go in for my gallbladder removal. Wish me luck!
StG
BTW - when they say I can have clear liquids and jello tonight, does Coke count as a clear liquid?
StG
Good luck!
No, unfortunately, Coke does not count as a clear liquid. If you’re going to drink soda, it has to be 7-Up, Sprite, Ginger Ale, etc. Think of pouring it in a glass. If you can see through it, it’s a clear liquid. If you can’t, it ain’t.
I discovered I was allergic to morphine, but even that couldn’t put a damper on not having the gall bladder. That pain was worse than childbirth.
How did it go, St. G?
Just wanted to say good luck - I had mine out last spring. I didn’t have stones though, I have heard the surgery and recovery is more straightforward for those who have stones, that you should feel better quickly and not have side effects.
But just in case, if you have an experience like mine, I just wanted to say that if you don’t immediately feel better, don’t despair. It took me quite a while to recover (not from the surgery itself, but to able to eat and digest normally again) but no one told me it could take a while and still have everything turn out ok. I had bad heartburn for a while and took GERD medications and had more tests because my symptoms continued, but now a year later I am off all meds and pretty much back to normal. It was very frustrating and discouraging for a few months though. I wish someone had told me that it could take a while, I was very worried there for a time that I would never feel normal again but I do.
So I don’t offer my side as a bad outcome or to worry you, just that if it takes a while to recover that is ok too, it doesn’t mean you had the surgery in vain. And like I said, I believe when people have stones getting the blasted thing out usually provides immediate relief so you are probably golden. Mine just up and stopped working for some reason (the surgeon called it lazy. Lazy, lazy gallbladder.) Now I have some issues with fatty and spicy foods and I keep immodium around the house, but those episodes are getting less and less frequent and really not that bad. I avoid very high fat foods but I pretty much do that anyway, and keeping portions smaller helps too. So it has actually led to to a healthier eating style anyway.
Well, I’m back. And those painkillers aren’t quite as efficacious as promised. I had several large stones, so the surgery was a bit mire than they anticipated, but still doe lapriscopically. Something that surprised me is everyone told me there’d be a lot of post-op gas, but except for a couple burps, I haven’t experienced any.
Thanks for all the well-wishes! It really wasn’t as bad as I anticipated.
StG
Glad to hear you’re doing ok! You’ll feel much, much better is a couple of weeks, I’m sure.
Good to see you back and posting!
I had infrequent attacks, maybe once a year, and usually after eating a fatty meal. However, earlier this year I had two attacks fairly close together without a fatty meal. I went to see my normal doctor, who did an ultrasound. She found my gallbladder was full of stones and already had thickened walls, fluids around it and was infected. I saw the surgeon and was scheduled to have it out only two days later. I was terrified and spent a lot of time researching other stories online. I wanted to share my story also. I had a great experience. I went in on a Wednesday for the procedure. I was really scared of the IV and my surgeon let me take a Xanax prior to that. I had a great team of nurses. I was also very scared of the Versed (having read so many stories). The anesthesiologist was wonderful too. They gave me the Versed only as I was being wheeled to the OR. I looked up at the ceiling…and then I was being fed ice chips by the recovery nurse. Complete blank. I woke up, had some juice and was discharged home. The first night it was tough to make myself eat (so I could take the pain pills) and it hurt to sit up from a laying down position. After the first day, I seriously didn’t even need pain pills. I took Tylenol for a couple of days just to be sure. I had no ill effects or pain from the gas they use to balloon up your stomach, no real pain from the surgery really. My belly was sore above the belly button incision, but it feels more like how your are sore after a hard yoga class. I actually returned to work after three days off (I have an office job). I am only going to do half days for a couple of days just to be on the safe side, but I feel fantastic. I wanted to share my story because when I was researching it, I feel like people tend to share the scary stories way more than the good ones. I am 5 days out from surgery now.