Yikes! gallbladder needs to come out!

[wellstone_democrat]

I'm absolutely freaked. My "indigestion" (intermittant and entirely located in my stomach of all things) turned out to be gallstones. Now I have to have it out in about two weeks. Any reassurance out there or, even more importantly, any tips that the surgeon/hospital will fail to give me about anything from surgery to pain to recovery?

[Maple]

1. Get a second

opinion.

[wellstone_democrat]

2. yep, I did==and more or less by accident a third opinion

and they run in the family as well so I'm not terribly surprised.

[arcane1]

3. my sister just had this too

and my mother and aunt are not far behind

from what info I got from her, the surgery and post-op are a day at Disneyland compared to the stones themselves!

[wellstone_democrat]

5. nothing can be worse than that last attack ==nothing

childbirth was a picnic compared to the one that landed me in the ER last weekend. Nice to hear your sister's comments.

[arcane1]

9. that's what I heard too...

I wondered how they knew what the problem was... my sister said "oh, you'll know!"

my mom lost like 50 pounds in no time because certain foods were so painful to digest

[enkidu2]

not usually

a big deal surgery, often can be done with several very small incisions, very commonly done, i would try not to worry too much about it

[AnnabelLee]

4. Mine was taken out several years ago

I had two very tiny incisions that are now almost invisible. I've had no problems at all since it was taken out.

[NYC]

6. A friend had her gall bladder removed

laparoscopically. Incisions were small, and healed quickly.

Best of luck. She really didn't feel bad, and was able to walk around quickly.

[JackSwift]

7. My momma had this done about 4 years ago

She is a big whiney whiner. She did an overnight at the hospital and was home the next day, and up and around in two and doing stuff shortly thereafter. It's hardly the horrible scar that LBJ showed off any more. You will be a lot more comfortable afterward.

[Paladin]

8. Get It Done, You'll Never Miss It

I thought I had some idea of what real pain was, prior to my first gall bladder attack---wrong. By the time they took mine out in '86, I was ready to do the surgery on myself with a butter knife, it was so bad. You'll be glad to have it over with, believe me. Best of luck.....

[sam sarrha]

10. i heard a while back that doctors thought that crash dieting could cause

gaul bladder problems...

[AnnabelLee]

11. My doctor told me

that most often, he sees gallstones in 3Fs (female, fair, & fortyish).

[rasputin1952]

12. Been there...

had it out in the hospital I worked at at the time.

Now they generally do it laproscopically, although mine was done just before that became popular. Pain management with a PCA, either loade with morphine or demerol. Demerol doesn't work with me at all, and it took a bit to get the morphine going enough to take the edge off.

I went home the next day, with a 'script for Percocet. Didn't need them after 3 days though.

The pain from those damn stones was incredible.....you'll be glad you had the thing out! First time I wound up in the ER, I thought I was having a heart attack.

Hang in there; you'll do great.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. Uh ..what they said

Surgery is minimally risky and you will feel much better afterwards.
But I just showed up to offer the moral support! :loveya:

[wellstone_democrat]

14. And I've been shamelessly pandering for it!

Thanks all for the moral support and the info.

And, yes, doing my own surgery with a butter knife or nail clippers did indeed occur to me in the midst of the last attack!

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. Hoping all goes well, and you soon feel better...

As a veteran of a few abdominal surgeries, the first day is always the worst. When you get home, put a chair next to your bed for help getting in and out. Those stomach muscles aren't going to want to help you out in that department for a couple of days.


Best wishes, Laura

[Pert_UK]

16. Your gallbladder is gay???

Sorry, couldn't resist...

:evilgrin:

Good luck with everything - from what I can tell, this is a minor operation and should go fine!

P.

[LuLu550]

17. It won't be bad

The surgery won't be that bad and you will be able to eat normal stuff without the pain.
You will be happy you did it.
LuLu

[LibertyLover]

18. Gallbladder

I had to have mine removed 7 years ago. It was done with laproscopic surgery. I had to spend one night in the hospital. Right after surgery the post operative pain was pretty bad but was quite tolerable after a day. The pain was from the CO gas used during the surgery, not the actual cutting. I was up walking in the afternoon. The worst part of the whole experience was that my aunt was dying in a room right across the hall from my room from a stroke. The family moved back and forth between her room and mine so I had lots of company. At one point one of my cousins started to cry and I offered a shoulder to cry on - but I have to tell you that sitting up so she could reach it was uncomfotable. The one thing that helped was a suggestion from an older nurse. She gave me a pillow to hug to my stomach when I had to sit up or stand. It really kept the discomfort down. I was able to do without it after 3 days. And I was driving, albeit just to the supermarket, 4 days after surgery. With the laproscopic surgical techniques now, gall bladder surgery is not the horrible experience it used to be. You will be fine and much happier once it is out - gall stone colic is the pits.

[GOPisEvil]

19. Good luck!

:hi:

[catpower2000]

20. Are they doing it with the laser and scope?

Arthroscopic?

If so, it's easy. I had my appendix out the same way. You'll have some pain afterward from the gas they use to blow up your abdomen, and you'll have to wait for your stitches to heal, but that's it. The scariest part is the general anesthesia. They'll give you pain meds.

Supposedly, rocking in a rocking chair can help release the gas. Don't lift anything heavy and take it easy on the stairs. Make sure you have someone around after the surgery to fetch things for you, at least for the first day.

Make sure your surgeon explains everything thoroughly about the procedure to you. Make sure your anesthetician is the best one money can hire.

You'll be fine, PM if you have any other questions.

Cat