Recouperation Time After Gallbladder Surgery? Posted: 09-15-05 09:36am
I had my gallbladder out last friday. I
was admitted overnight due to extreme pain
that could not be controlled (even after
throwing up bile and getting rid of some
of the gas). Came home late saturday and
have been in alot of pain since then.
Have trouble sitting up for any period of
time and if I miss a dose of percoset then
the pain is intense. How long does it
take to recover and for the pain to
lessen? I can eat soft foods like pasta
or cream of wheat but am having trouble
eating regularly and find that in the
evening I am not inclined to eat at all.
I am running a lowgrade fever - 99.7 most
days. One of my incisions is alittle
red/irritated but not truly infected
looking so I don't think that's it.
If you have had laparascopic gallbladder
surgery please tell me what your
experience was.
Thanks!
Meg
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Guest
Guest
Please Help! Posted: 09-16-05 10:17am
Please help - share your experiences!
Thanks
meg
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diamond7925
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Mar 2005 Posts: 17 Location: Ontario, Canada
Posted: 09-16-05 12:39pm
I had laparoscopic surgery in march and I
don't remember having that much pain that
I would need to take percoset for. I do
remember having some pretty bad nausea the
couple days following surgery that I took
some gravol for. The surgeon suggested
drinking lots of water because it was from
the anesthesia. The first 2-3 days will
be the worse pain-wise. Each day the pain
should be less and less. By the end of a
week I was able to walk around comfotably.
If you are finding the pain getting worse
and needing more percoset then I would go
back to the hospital. Also you shouldn't
be running a fever either. That is an
indication that their might be an
infection.
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Assena
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 328 Location: Georgia
Posted: 09-16-05 12:54pm
It took me about 2 -3 weeks before I could
get arround comfortably. You should not
be worried about getting arround. You
should be sleeping and getting better. It
was 3 months before I didn't feel the
incisions anymore. One is still
sensative.
I pray you have a speedier recovery than I
did.
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HaredresserD
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 36 Location: California
Posted: 09-18-05 00:14am
Hang in there... I promise it will get
better... :) I hurt awfully bad... And
i've had two c-secs and a hyster....
Bandaid surgery my butt! Hahahaah I
carried around a pillow everywhere I
went...And slept with it over my tummy.
I never took my temp but know that I was
running a low grade cause I can just tell.
I was still wanting to walk like a
turtle at two weeks post op... Try and
stand up straight... I know it's hard but
take some deep breaths... It's diff for
everyone... Some I know had very little
pain and needed nothing for pain... I
popped vicodin and codeine like it was
candy... I switched off, but found the
vicodin worked better.
Don't do too much and expect too much too
soon... I think a lot depends on how much
pokin and prodding the doc had to do to
get the silly little organ out! My upper
incision and bellybutton one were about an
inch and a half wide... My gyn had a fit
and wondered why they were so big... Haha
I said I dunno but it sure hurt! He
said well yahhhhh!!!
Take it a day at a time... It will get
better!!! Really :o and keep your
bowels workin... That helps... I stopped
up bad after surgery... I had mine out
last march and i'm just now getting
properly working bowels! No bile squirts
for me! Totally the opposite! Lol
:shock:
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Guest
Guest
Posted: 09-19-05 09:28am
Thanks everyone!
I am better but still have the low grade
fever and pain. I had a night full of
diarrhea too.
I go back to the surgeon on wednesday and
find out when he is going to do the full
open abdominal surgery to remove the
adhesions I have around my small
intestines. I had so many that he
couldn't take them out laparascopically.
Anyways that could be the source of all
the pain.
For anyone having your gallbladder out -
don't believe them when they say 2-3 days
post op you'll be as good as new. I am
over a week now and barely walking or
moving around without pain meds.
Meg
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Assena
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 328 Location: Georgia
Posted: 09-19-05 12:16pm
I know what you mean..... It was 3 years
ago june and I still have diarreah (sp?).
I developed what they call "dumping
syndrome". I never knew I had stones
until I was rushed to emergency with
severe abdominal pain. Found out my
gallbladder was about to rupture. I had
never has any symptoms prior (except
terriable acid reflux). I think I am
worse off now even 3 years later.... I
still can't eat corn on the cob and you
can forget hot wings.... Even a salad can
sometimes make me sick...
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Guest
Posted: 09-19-05 13:51pm
Hello I just got back home from 5 days in
the hospital from the laparascopic gall
bladder removal. It is not as easy as
they say. After the surgery the first 3
days I was so sick I could not even
stand up or eat for 3 days. I think
mosty the drug they give you to knock you
out makes you sick. My face was all
puffed up. I am 44 so I am not to
young anymore. Also by the 3 day the
first time I got up and walked around a
little and eaten some toast about 1 hour
later I got hit really bad with a
trapped air or gas attack. It felt
like mike tyson punched me in the chest
and I got hit in the shoulder with a base
ball bat. This lasted about 10 mins but
was really bad. Since after that first
gas attack I am getting more but not as
bad. Now after 5 days I still feel a
little sick with some gas pain. I never
had a gall stone stuck in my bile duck
or a inflammed gall bladder. And the hcan
scan test showed by gall bladder to
working good. But for a year before my
surgery I had such bad gas pain in my
stomach upper middle chest area. The
gastro doctors could not find everything
wrong. But they did find that I had
many gall stones. Even the surgerns told
me removal of my gall bladder might not
fix my problem. But they said the
amount of gall stones I had was a time
bomb waiting to go off.
I think i'm one of the very lucky ones.
My ultrasound showed large stones, and
i've been having attacks over the past 4
years, steadily increasing in duration,
intensity and frequency. My surgery was
last wednesday...By friday evening I was
having a steak and a salad with bleu
cheese dressing with no problems. I only
took my lortab (a bit stronger than extra
strength tylenol) for two days. My
staples were taken out yesterday. That
stung a bit. However, i'm a little
concerned about the dumping syndrome
thing. From what I hear, it starts about
a week to three weeks after surgery. So
far, i've pretty much eaten anything I
wanted. Anyone have any more
information about that??
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Guest
Posted: 10-14-05 07:08am
Some people never get it, however I was
not that lucky. Pretty much anything with
a higher fat content and anything that is
high in fiber (salads, peas) will cause a
severe reaction with your bowels. Severe
cramping and constant diareah.
Not fun at all. Although there is a
medecine that they use for people with
high cholesterol called questrine that is
a suspension powder that you mix with
water and that works pretty well. It
binds to the bile and makes you a little
more regular. One of the few times
constipation as a side effect is a good
thing.
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Guest
Guest
Severe Pain Post Op Posted: 10-28-05 14:35pm
Hi everyone,
I had my laproscopic cholecystectomy of
the gallbladder a week ago (10/21/05). I
was very sick coming out of the surgery
which according to the doctor only took a
half and hour. Despite that, I went home
the same day and slept for nearly 24
hours. 2nd and 3rd day I felt like I had
been hit by a semi but managed the pain ok
with just advil. Now at nearly a week
later I am having very intense pain under
the ribs on the right side every evening
(milder during the day). It lasts several
hours then subsides. During the "attacks"
the pain is so intense it is hard to even
take more than shallow breaths.
Has anyone experienced anything
similiar? I have read some scary stuff on
another forum. At this point I was
expecting to feel better not worse. My
previous gallbladder attacks weren't even
this bad.
I would be happy to hear from anyone
who has gone through the same!
Bz
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Guest
Posted: 10-29-05 07:20am
Bz it can take a while for things to
settle down. I am just over 3 weeks post
surgery & still have a little
discomfort around my scar area & under
my right ribs. The surgeon said to me
'just because its been done
laparascopically, you are still having the
same operation & will therefor still
get the same internal pain/discomfort'.
Continue with pain meds & I am sure it
will improve. However, if you get a
fever or the pain gets any worse, then
contact your surgeon or family dr asap
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Guest
Guest
Re: Severe Pain Post Op Posted: 10-31-05 19:57pm
I had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in
july and the only real pain (apart from
the discomfort that lets you know someone
was poking and prodding around in there)
was in my ribs on the right hand side.
The surgeon told me that apparently my
gallbladder was very much more inflamed
than he had thought and it took him a
longer to remove it as it was pushing
right up against my liver! He did say my
ribs would be sore and that it would be
the last pain to go away. I felt I had
been punched in the ribs and held my
breath when talking - especially when I
was standing up. As the surgeon was
concerned that the sacs in my lungs
wouldn't be filling out properly as I was
holding my breath half of the time, I was
given a mediflo duo to use which really
did help. To explain what this is, it's
a piece of clear plastic flexible hose
with a plastic container joined at the end
and inside this is a pink ball which looks
like a ping pong ball. You exhale and
then inhale through the tube and there are
lines along the container and you have to
get the ball between the lines. This
forces the lung sacs to open - it does
hurt at the start but the more you do it
the easier it gets and believe me it
really does work. It took about 10 days
after the operation before the pain had
completely gone, however I made a big
mistake - went to the local supermarket
and was pushing the trolley round and was
fine until I got home and the pain started
again. Used the mediflo for a couple of
days and the pain disappeared.
Hope this helps.
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loobyloulou
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 18 Location: staffordshire uk
Posted: 11-03-05 11:38am
I had my gallbladder removed last thurs
after 3 months of agonising attacks that
didn't just last hours they lasted days,i
couldn't eat anything at all,now I think
i'm too scared to eat because of how ill
food made me,is that normal? I obviosly
had an infected gallbladder as my surgeon
told me he had to make a bigger incision
than normal but thankfully he didn't
change from laprascopic but I can't
understand why I am in so much pain lower
down approximately a hand width under the
rib is worse than anywhere I know he said
he had a look around as I have had many
previous surgeries but I feel like i've
been battered internally,i have done a lot
of google searches on after effects and a
lot of them say most people suffer from
diarreah(cant spell it lol) I suffer from
diverticulitis so i'm hoping this isn't
the case,i know people differ recovering
from surgery but how long is the pain
going to annoy me it's nowhere near as bad
as the pain I had before surgery but I
just want to get up and go and at the
moment I cant. I also now have a chest
infection which is a bugger because I
really don't want to be coughing because
that really hurts
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Guest
Posted: 11-03-05 13:29pm
Looby- I am sure your pain is where the
surgeon has prodded & poked about
inside. I am still a little sore & I
had surgery on 6th october. If it gets
worse, or you develop a fever, then
contact your family Dr. I was scared to
eat anything too much to start with, but I
am sure if you try little bits of
different food, you'll be fine. I havent
suffered from diarrhea at all & I am
4wks post surgery now. I had a very bad
chest after the operation & the chest
physio almost didnt let me out of
hospital:(. She told me I must keep
moving/walking around, take deep breaths
& hold every few minutes, to expand my
lungs fully, as I was not breathing in
fully cos it hurt too much! I did find a
good trick to help with coughing .Hold a
pillow tight round your right hand side
& right ribs, then try a gentle few
coughs. At the same time with your left
hand, bang on your chest (like they do
with children with cystic fybrosis) and
this seemed to loosen the phlegm, which I
was then able to cough up.
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loobyloulou
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 18 Location: staffordshire uk
Posted: 11-04-05 08:17am
Thankyou for your advice it certainly is
easier ,i had steri strips instead of
stitches or glue (i was shocked) well had
them removed today and had to have 2 of
them put back on as wounds were not closed
properly but thankfully the nurse put on
the clear plastic stuff so I can have a
bath as when I left the hospital they only
put plasters on which meant I couldn't
have a bath properly :roll: I also spoke
about still being uncomfortable and
although docs say it is easier to get over
the op havin it done keyhole she said it
doesn't really make that much difference
as it is still a major op it's just easier
to move as the scar isn't as big so I can
stop worrying that I cant do a lot of
things still and to make the most of
resting while I can lol I have 3 children
so I can see her point.
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Guest
Guest
Gall Bladder Surgery Posted: 11-07-05 19:25pm
I guess I am certainly one of the lucky
ones. I had my gall bladder removed on
10/27 ( a thursday). I was uncomfortable
for a few days, but I was back at work on
monday. Granted, I still take it easy.
I have yet to find something besides
jello, that doesn't make me sick though.
But, I have at least lost weight!!! I do
have sharp pains in the upper right
quandrant that can be very uncomfortable,
but they come and go. I go back for my
check up next week. If I am still having
eating problems, they will look at
options.
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Sherpa~
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Indiana
Gallbladder Surgery Posted: 11-19-05 15:26pm
anonymous
wrote:
bz it can take a while for
things to settle down. I am just over 3
weeks post surgery & still have a
little discomfort around my scar area
& under my right ribs. The surgeon
said to me 'just because its been done
laparascopically, you are still having the
same operation & will therefor still
get the same internal pain/discomfort'.
Continue with pain meds & I am sure it
will improve. However, if you get a
fever or the pain gets any worse, then
contact your surgeon or family dr
asap
i had gallbladder surgery on nov. 8th and
was released from the hospital the next
day. I'm still having a lot of pain.
Although I didn't have any fever the
incision right below my belly button got
infected so i'm taking antibiotics for
that. Bz..If you're running a temp you
definitely need to call your surgeon asap.
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Guest
Guest
Pain After Surgery Posted: 11-29-05 14:04pm
Hi I had my gallbladder removed on nov 21
I go today to have the staples removed.
They did it lap but my incision at my
belly button is 3 inches and I stay in
pain all the time. The dr said I had
multiple adhesions from my past 3
c-sections and a hysterectomy and ovary
removal all those abdominal. I can't seem
to get them to understand that I hurt bad.
If I take a deep breathe it hurts if I
turn it hurts my dad keeps telling me I
should go back to work so I tried it but
had to come home (my job is 911 dispatcher
so is not very physical) . I don't want
to go through surgery again but before I
had this surgery my family dr was talking
about adhesions and my intestines because
she thought they may be causing a blockage
because I have severe constipation. Even
after this surgery I do not go normal for
me anybody got any suggestions on pain
relief I have been eating vicodine like
candy but only have 2 more left and they
are for dr's app so the staple removal
won't be so bad (18 total) my surgeon
doesn't like to give pain meds and
probably won't give me anymore so I need
some ideas to help.
Shortstuff
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Guest
Posted: 11-30-05 09:37am
I would discuss the pain with your dr but
its still fairly soon after surgery. You
shouldnt rush back to work if you are
still in pain. Its only just over a week
& you will probably still need pain
meds. Speak to your dr when you have the
staples removed!
