Mumsnet Talk

Oh my goodness, I wish I hadn't searched on line but almost everyone seems to have bad things to say about gallbladder surgery recovery. I am having mine removed next week and very much looking forward to getting it over with but from what I am reading, recovery seems to be way harder than the surgeon is letting on! I'm terrified!

Can ANYONE reassure me at all? [hmmm]

Mine was fantastic.

Arrived at 8 in the morning, back on the ward by midday and would have been home the same day if my blood pressure hadn't dipped.

Get up and start walking as soon as you possibly can. The sooner you're mobile the better.

My recovery was what they call unremarkable. . 6 weeks later I was on a beach, eating what I wanted and with minimal scarring.

I should add that my surgery wasn't straightforward. I ended up with a couple of extra holes so they could move my liver and it took much longer than expected but I just felt a bit battered for a couple of days

Thank you Jins! I am absolutely praying I'm going to be like that as we are going to the Caribeean for Christmas....9 weeks after surgery......

Move as soon as you can. Your stomach muscles will feel awful but it really is important to get moving. The women on my ward who refused to get out of bed were very put out that I was being discharged and they weren't.

You'll need to be careful of the sun on your scars so no bikinis. I found swimming a bit tricky but a lot of that was down to the weakness from being so ill before surgery.

Mine was wonderful.

I was rushed into hospital late on November 4th, had a battery of tests and then had it out on November 5th (coz coming round from the anaesthetic watching the fireworks was interesting ). Mine had actually ruptured, but they still got it out keyhole.

I was eating normally the next day, and haven't found anything yet that I can't eat; although I do have to moderate myself on fattier dishes (chips, Chinese takeaways etc) and cucumbers for some odd reason!

Agree with the moving as soon as you can, and also taking painkiller regularly for the first little while. You may also find you have shoulder pain, but this does pass within a week or so.

Good luck!

How was the nausea/sickness? Bizarrely this is my biggest concern because the only other operation I have had involved anaesthetic gas (I was only a young child) and it made me hidiously sick for days afterwards! I think things may have moved on a bit since then with anaesthetics but dreading that....

Mine was absolutely fine, I had it at about 2pm, I was out the next morning. My shoulders were a bit sore for a couple of days after (I was told it was something to do with the gas they use) but I just took a couple of parecetomol and they were ok. I had 3 little scars only one of which is visable now.

As for the recovery time I was a bit stupid as I had the op on a tuesday and I went out on the friday night, it wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but I was fine.

I do sometimes still get a twinge of pain where my gallbladder was if I go mad on the takeaways and eating shit though.

my friend had hers done by keyhole in july.
She moved house 10 days later, at short notice and did all the packing (with as much help as we coudl give her) she was fine, and so happy to get rid of it!

None. Also had gas as a child, and was hideously ill, but nothing after this op.

don't recommend packing up your house with 2 small children as a good recipe for recovery though....

I didn't get nausea from the anaesthetic. In fact the first thing I noticed was my lack of nausea because that was one of my symptoms.

DH took a photo of me an hour after surgery because I was pink again

My recovery was fine. I was up and about a week layer no problems. It just depends on your body. Think positive!

And ive never had a problem eating anything since.

Mine was also particularly unremarkable - had keyhole surgery in February, stayed in overnight. I had four days off work in total (felt a bit beaten up on day two, but up and about (and off the sofa) on day three) and worked from home for another week but other than feeling a bit zonked by the general anaesthetic, I was as right as rain afterwards and certainly no pain. Have some very tiny scars to show for the op but otherwise completely fine.

Thank you so much everyone. So glad to read your stories as I've worked myself up into a bit of a state about the recovery....not worrying about the actual procedure at all and so looking forward to getting rid of the damn thing...

Totally unremarkable. Keyhole surgery. Couple of paracetemol. Job done. IIRC I lounged about for a couple of days watching daytime TV 'just in case', but could easily have gone into work if I'd had to.

No complications, no long recovery.

Yes. I had mine done about five years ago. I was terrified at the thought. Totally fine. Only think I might do differently was I read every word of all the stuff they sent me before. Big mistake! I can hardly even remember being in pain at all.

No problems with mine either, keyhole surgery.
Anaesthetics make me sick too, but just tell the anaesthetist and they'll give you something which stops the nausea.
Biggest problem I had was the procession of Drs and junior Dr's who came to see my jar of gallstones as apparently it was the most they had ever seen in the hospital!

DH had his out about 4 years ago. In one day for evening surgery (keyhole), out next morning by 11am. Nicely bruised abdomen, bit stiff and careful moving for the next few days (he avoided lifting our heavy toddler!) back to work in a fortnight. No problems since then, eats what he likes, minimal scarring.

Shoulder pain is to do with the gas in your abdomen. They blow gas into your abdominal cavity to inflate it so they can see what they're doing more easily. The pain is referred pain from the phrenic nerve in the diaphragm, and should be dealt with by your painkillers.

And remember, when you're searching online, people tend to post about bad experiences but nobody bothers posting about positive experiences beause they're too busy getting on with their lives and feeling great!

I'm sitting in the hospital now recovering from gall bladder removal at 9am. So far so good, a little bit of pain but nothing painkillers won't help hoping for a speedy recovery with an 11month old at home!! :D

Oh my goodness Twinkletoes....I can't believe you are well enough to be posting on here! That's impressive!

Yep as soon as anaesthetic wore off I was fine just waiting to be released

I am booked in to have my gallbladder removed next Friday, and I am so anxious. Like trickynicky I wish I hadn't researched it online because all I am reading is negative feedback about this surgery. I've only had one attack, and I'm sure it was due to stress; I eat pretty healthily, and low-fat anyway. I'm so confused; just don't want to have the surgery if I'm going to have all the side-effects I've been reading about. More positive stories would be reassuring.

Hello - I can honestly say my gall bladder op was incredibly straight forward. My recovery was quick and it was the best decision I could have made. 

Like you, I had been seriously put off having this op from reading the stories online. So much so that when my op was scheduled - I backed out and cancelled it. 
I reckoned that by sticking strictly to a low fat diet that I could manage the condition and avoid surgery. 

Despite rigorously eating low fat the attacks kept coming and so I very reluctantly went back on the waiting list - my op went ahead and I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. 

I couldn't have it laproscopicly so I had open surgery. No one warned me that I might feel nauseous the day after the op - so I was a bit freaked out by a single episode of vomiting bright green bile. Doc said this was quite normal. 

I was as sore as u would expect from surgery - but oh the relief to eat exactly how I please - I have no dietary restrictions at all. 

I had been nervous about the "dumping" syndrome I had read about. Perhaps this is too much information - I have never suffered from this but I would say what I produce is marginally "looser" than before.  Also if I ate an exceptionally absolutely massive high fat meal - say a giant Xmas style dinner with all trimmings  I'd find I'd need the toilet within an hour or two. (a minor inconvenience)

Having the op has immeasurably changed my life for the better. I 
I eat everthing and anything I please without giving it a second thought. 
Good luck!

What does nbsp mean ?

My gall bladder op was uneventful and a total success. Hope this helps.

I had my gallbladder out in Sept 2011. Late afternoon surgery so had to stay overnight, home the next morning. I found the gas pains in my shoulders worse than anything else but they dissipated, of course painkillers and resting help.

Up and back to normal very quickly, no dietary restrictions but like some other people have said high fat foods do affect me slightly. Four tiny scars. I'm so glad I don't have the hideous pain any more