The gallstone society: or experiences, advice and commiseration on upcoming surgery

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yep, I was just recently diagnosed with gallstones. Seems to be an epidemic: Why A Duck was diagnosed at about the same time and I noticed that Green Bean has been considering the surgery from perusing old GQ threads.

I am going to be having surgery, and all that’s left is scheduling it. Has anyone out there had the laparoscopic surgery? How long did it take you to feel up to going back to work? My surgery is going to be out-patient, and I’d prefer to come straight back home, but I live alone - does anyone think this would work? The alternative is staying with Mom for a night or two, but that’s not my bed, my food, my kitties… Anyone else have nausea before the operation, did the operation help with that? Any other stories? [tmi]And I have heard about the diarrhea - was it explosive d, or just mushy poop?[/tmi]

Also, anyone else in the same boat right now?

2

IIRC (the Mrs and I are counting on our fingers here) I had my staples removed a week after my surgery, and felt mostly fine a day or so before that, but it was a couple weeks before I really felt 100% I’m referring here to standing up straight (from the incisions, staples) and being able to lift any substantial weight, not any kind of weakness after the surgery, recovery from the anesthesia, etc. That stuff should be gone within, oh, 12 or so hours, at most. What is it you do? That can make a real difference, I’d think.

I don’t recommend goin’ it alone, m’self. I was in the hospital something like 48 hours after surgery (and there’s a whole different story involved with that) and the second day I was home, I was pretty much up and about unaided. Well, my perspective is skewed because of that first night*****, but I’d suggest you have someone on hand until at least the second night after surgery (assuming yours is in the early AM). I needed help getting in and out of bed (I could do it on my own, but it was not a fun experience) and the pain meds they’ll most likely give you can leave you… less than coherent, until your system adjusts to them. It helps to have a keeper while you’re stoned. :slight_smile:

If you mean from the gallstones/gallbladder problem, no. If you mean nervousness right before the operation, yeah, most people do, I’d imagine. Or are you referring to something completely different?

Let’s say that your system will need some time to readjust. You’ll learn which foods to avoid, or at least, to only eat within, say, 10 minutes of home. Grease is right out, in any substantial quantity, so forget the breakfast menu at Perkins, and don’t go out for pizza, for a couple months. Order in, or do without. :smiley:

As I said, my surgery (and recovery, holy cow) was not quite the standard, so my experiences may be a bit worse than what you’ll go through, but overall, it wasn’t traumatizing or “going through hell.”

*If’n ya want the whole story, I’ll tell ya… but it’s got more to do with the hospital I was in, than the surgery itself. Unless your experience is really bad, mine might make you feel a little better, actually.

3

Whoops. One more thing. Ban the cats from your bed (if you normally let 'em sleep with you) as having them step on one of your incisions/swat at one of your staples will make you… unhappy and unpleasant to be around. :wink:

And a disclaimer: I’m assuming by surgery, you mean the gallbladder’s got to go. If you’re having some other procedure done, feel free to ignore pretty much all of the above.

4

I had mine out about a year ago. I don’t think you would be happy by yourself afterwards–is anyone willing to come and stay for a day or two? If not, go to Mom’s and deal. From my experience, make sure you have a recliner available to sleep in–for the first couple days afterwards, I could not lie prone. I couldn’t breathe. They said it wasn’t an uncommon side effect. So you may not need your bed anyhow… :wink:

Let’s see–otherwise, it only took a few days to be up and around, but lifting and bending weren’t easy for a little while. It was a lot better than that C-section, though, lemme tell ya.

I have not noticed any difference in before and after, digestion-and-elimination-wise. No diarrhea, no problem with pizza or egg rolls. I don’t eat a whole lot of grease, though, so YMMV. Good luck!

5

You know you have my commiseration!

And as for advice, you told me yourself: Stop eating that grease!

The best advice of all, though, is to find somebody to tend to your every need, and throw in a snuggle or two just for fun. :wink:

{{{ Zyada }}}

6

Yup!

I had my surgery done on a Friday, and went back to work (waitressing) at 8 a.m. on the following Monday. I wasn’t able to lift more than 10 or 20 pounds, (I can’t remember which,) but that wasn’t a big deal at work. I still had some muscle soreness and my incisions were tender, but I really think that getting back to work helped me heal faster.

I think you need to stay with someone. You already know that someone will need to drive you home after the surgery, but it will also be very difficult for you to get into and out of bed by yourself for at least two days. I needed help sitting up in bed until the Sunday night following my surgery. Also, depending on what kind of pain medication you receive, even walking alone might be difficult for a couple of days.

The only nausea I experienced was from a really bad gallstone attack that led to actually finding out that I’d have to have the gallbladder removed. I’d had cramping and pains for about six months, but about three weeks prior to having my gallbladder out, I woke up with the cramping, pain, AND the nausea - which led to vomiting. That’s when I finally decided to see a doctor.

I didn’t have any diarrhea before OR after the surgery, but my surgeon did tell me that it was a possibility.

I did experience some nausea the morning after my surgery. My parents had gone out to run some errands, and left my brother to help me out getting in and out of bed. When I first woke up, I felt feverish, clammy, dizzy, and my stomach was upset. My brother helped me out of bed and into the bathroom, and by the time I left the bathroom, I thought I was going to pass out. I got back in bed, and whatever it was had passed after before I woke up again about two hours later.

On the whole, it wasn’t a horrible experience. I got to eat lots of popsicles and stay in bed for a couple of days. Almost like a vacation. :wink:

Good luck!

7

Poor baby :frowning:

I had gallbladder trouble a coupla months after I had WV_Baby. For about 4 months things were pretty unpredictable and I never knew what would set it off. Sometimes beef, sometimes nuts, sometimes benign stuff like a sandwich.

I didn’t get mine yanked because I didn’t have insurance. I’m glad I didn’t because well, it quit bugging me so no harm done.

commiserating

On WV_Woman’s “Most Painful Experiences Of All Time” List™, a gallbladder attack ranks #3. Not as bad as childbirth and pleurisy but definitely more painful than a sprained ankle.

8

/hijack ON

Since there may be brothers and sisters out there who suffer from gallstones now, what advice do you have for dealing with an attack?

Whenever I felt one coming on I’d take a pain pill (I think it was Lortabs), get in the shower and let the water run on my midriff as hot as I could stand it (it eased the pain). Then I would curl up in bed and pray. Later I added a heating pad (didn’t help, though).

I also found that it’s good to throw up if at all possible.

/hijack OFF

9

There was a thread around here a few months ago that dealt with pain - I think it was generally recognized that gall stone/kidney stone pain surpassed childbirth pain by those who had experienced both/all.

I had the laproscopic surgery performed about four years ago. I was released from the hospital the day following surgery; I needed someone to assist me that day because I was still dopey from the anesthetic. The pain prior to the surgery was so intense that the post-op pain was neglible. It was an extremely easy recovery and I could have returned to work within two days but took advantage of the sick leave granted to those who had the surgery (two to six weeks, depending upon the surgery technique.) My job was sedentary; certainly nothing as active as waiting tables, etc.

The surgeon told me later that my gall bladder was gangreous and could have killed me if I had put off surgery any longer. Once diagnosed, I went to the library and on the internet to research it - we’ve heard so much about unnecessary surgery that I wanted to make sure that gall bladder removal was my only option. Fortunately, I made the right decision.

I read that gall bladder surgery was extremely odorous for the surgeon and those in attendance. Evidently a gall bladder with gangrene is especially so and this guy made a point of telling me that.

Be very grateful that we have these options available to us. My grandmother had hers removed many years ago and I remember seeing a scar that ran from her belly button across her waist nearly to her back. It took her several months to completely heal and to feel well.

Good luck to you! You’ll feel so much better that you’ll wonder why you ever worried about it.

10

Not knowing that I even had gallstones until a week or so before my surgery (that odd pain that doesn’t hurt every time, but still makes you break out in a hot/cold sweat, gives you that odd cramp that comes and goes and seems to shorten your breath? Dunno. Maybe I had too much to drink tonight. Idiot.) I never really paid attention to what made it come and go… for years. I reiterate. Idiot.

But… my Pop (who had his removed in the days when gallbladder surgery left you with a big honkin scar across half your abdomen) used to drink warm tea, wait a few minutes, then hork it all back up, and it always worked for him. I’d presume that momentary reversal of the digestive tract moved the stones so they’d either back up into the bile duct, or pass through it, opening the duct up again.

Can’t say I condone all that finger-down-the-throat action, but that’s just me. What usually did work (now that I think about it a minute) was just getting up and moving around. This usually involved me ‘getting some fresh air,’ so I always thought it was the air that made me feel better. I’d also suggest a couple of deep bends from the waist, compressing and stretching the area in question. IANADoctor, though, so take it with a grain of salt.
(Upon Preview)
straykat23: My doctor told me the same re:diseased gallbladder. Of course, he never mentioned it until I saw him to have the staples removed, a week later. “Did I mention that the organ was necrotic, as well? Would’ve killed you pretty soon, if we hadn’t removed it when we did.” Gee, thanks doc. He didn’t tell me, however, that my guts stink. :slight_smile:

11

I had laparoscopic surgery ten years ago, stayed overnight at the hospital since I live alone and was still goofy from the anesthesia, and went back to work a week later. I was in some pain afterwards, but “stiff” pain, not the “9 on a scale of 10” pain I had from the actual attacks.

Re dealing with attacks and throwing up: the night I ended up going to the emergency room, not having a clue why I was in such pain, I made myself throw up because I thought I had eaten something bad. I told the emergency room nurses that I had made myself throw up, and there was a pause while they exchanged wide-eyed looks. “Why did you do that?” Apparently the dehydration from vomiting can stimulate the gall bladder into squeezing those little rocks even more, I guess. Just thought I’d share that with you.

12

June 1999, I had the laparoscopic procedure, and I went home that night. I slept in the recliner for 3 nights, and I was a little achy, but the surgery was on Thursday and I could have gone back to work on Monday. However, since I have good sick leave, I took the whole week off. I’d just had one really bad attack which led to the diagnosis, so there wasn’t any long-term suffering before or after. There was the loose stool thing for some months after, but it wasn’t a problem - no cramping or anything like that.

In October of 1999, I took my husband to the emergency room with pain and fever. Thru a series of blunders, it took them a week (he didn’t spend the week in ER) to discover that he had a seriously infected gallbladder, and when they did, he was whisked into the hospital immediately. His surgery was the next day and he also had the laparoscopy, but because of the infection, his recovery took a lot longer. That’s what happens when you ignore pain because you don’t want to be a “wimp”… :rolleyes:

I suggest you don’t stay alone for a couple of days - it is surgery after all, and you just never know. And don’t try to return to normal activities too soon - your body needs to recover, and no one is going to give you a prize for pushing yourself. Rest, relax, and take care of yourself.

13

I had the laproscopic procedure almost exactly 7 years ago (July 1995); was in the hospital overnight, and stayed off work for 2-3 weeks (I forget exactly how long). I had been having problems for a few years (I know, I should have gone to the doctor sooner!), but in May 1995 I had a gallbladder attack that was so bad, I thought I was going to die. Seriously. It was from a hamburger, btw. They couldn’t schedule the surgery until July, so between mid-May and mid-July, I was supposed to eat as close to a no-fat diet as possible. I ended up eating mostly salad (until I was so sick of it, I couldn’t even look at salad for a couple of years!), veggies and rice. Even a spoonful of anything with fat (like hamburger, for instance), threatened to bring on an attack! And I found out that (most) no-fat cheese tastes -horrible-. LOL I did lose weight during these two months, but I think I was in a horrible mood most of the time. :frowning:

I did get some pain killers (prescription) when I left the hospital, but I only used em once or twice, they were fairly strong. I do remember experiencing a lot of twinges and things, which the doctor later told me that it was the gas that the pump into your abdominal cavity to enable them to do the laproscopic procedure–apparently, it takes a while to work it’s way out of your system. Or so my surgeon said. :wink: It was painful to go up and down stairs for a week or so, and I couldn’t really lift heavy objects for a few weeks either. I think it was 2 weeks I was off work for, and I enjoyed them.

tarragon

14

Re: stone pain.

Everyone I’ve ever known who has had a kidney stone (and has had a baby as well) says it’s worse than labor.

I don’t see how it could possibly hurt worse, but I don’t care to test this theory.

15

10 lb babe vs kidney stones

I’d have 50 hours of labour and deliver another big babe before I’d want the stones again. On the way to Emergency with kidney stones, my mom said she hadn’ t heard me scream like that since I was a kid. It was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt.

As far as gallbladder goes, I had mine removed 3 weeks after giving birth and it was about a 7 week recovery as far as not being able to lift, bend, etc. Unfortunately I had the old cut and chop surgery, but in the end it worked just as well.

16

I had laparascopic surgery to remove my gallbladder about 5.5 years ago. No one in my family had ever had gallbladder disease before (at least that I was aware of), so it took me forever to figure out what was wrong with me…I had no frame of reference. I ate lunch at a pizza place on day and was so sick afterwards that I told everyone who would listen that the place had poisoned me. In retrospect, that was one of the worst gallbladder attacks I’ve ever had…not that fault of the restaurant at all. Oops. :slight_smile:

Anyway, I had to wait about 6 weeks for my surgery after diagnosis, so like tarragon918, I was told to eat as little fat as is humanly possible. After 6 weeks of mushrooms in fat-free dressing, salad, plain rice, pasta with homemade sauce (because commercial sauce has olive oil in it, don’t you know) and an occasional can of dry tuna, I couldn’t wait to have surgery so that I could just eat some real food again.

My surgery was scheduled for a Monday morning, and I spent less than 24 hours in the hospital after the surgery. They considered it an outpatient surgery, because by the time I reached my room after time in the recovery room, it was after noon and I was discharged prior to noon the next day. I took the entire week off of work, but was more than mobile enough to return to work the following Monday.

I wouldn’t recommend going it totally alone the first day. I was prohibited from driving for a week (until my follow-up appointment), so you won’t be able to drive yourself home and getting in and out of the car will be difficult without assistance. I slept most of the first day home, but I was otherwise mobile…just moving pretty slow. The pain (at least for me) wasn’t unbearable, but I could definitely tell that someone had been stirring my guts up…trust me, once you’re out of it, the doctor is not gentle in moving your organs around. I think that my first words to my Mom when they got me back to the room were “It hurts.” Darvon shots are your friend…they were so lovely, I didn’t even mind showing the cute male nurse my bare ass to get them. :smiley:

As for the post-operative digestive issues…all I can say is that I think it’s more common than not to experience more frequent diarrhea and urgency issues. For me, it didn’t matter what I ate (i.e. digestive distress wasn’t related specifically to fat intake)…it seemed more like my first meal of the day “woke up” my digestive system and I couldn’t leave the house until I’d made it over the bathroom hump. Diarrhea wasn’t always a problem, but urgency definitely was…once I got the “gotta go” feeling, it had to be attended to immediately. No putting it off. I think that the problem is that with no gallbladder, the liver is just excreting pure bile into your small intestine every time you eat, and the bile is an irritant. You’ll still be able to digest fat, and whether you’ll experience the digestive disruption will be a function of how sensitive your system is to the constant irritation of the bile drip. Like I said, the act of digestion itself would get my system riled up…it didn’t matter if I ate a plain bagel or lard from a can.

Oddly enough, my digestive system calmed down considerably after starting a low-carb diet, which has a higher fat percentage than most people are used to. You’ll just have to see how your body reacts and take it from there. I didn’t notice the diarrhea/urgency right after the surgery…it took a few months before it became noticeable for me, but YMMV.

Good luck. :slight_smile:

17

I didn’t know what the pain was, but it was so bad and so sudden that I thought I might be having a heart attack. (The pain was around there, my arm went numb, and I couldn’t breathe.) I couldn’t take the painkillers because I was nursing, and they didn’t seem to work anyway. Once it was diagnosed–2 trips to the ER, some misdiagnoses of ‘panic attacks,’ and an ambulance ride later–I quit eating all fat too, which meant I had to wean the baby since she stopped gaining weight. I had the surgery about 6 weeks later.

I forgot to say that I did have nausea after the surgery, and even threw up, something I didn’t do during pregnancy or birth.