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Original poster

Gall Bladder Surgery . What was your recovery time?

106 replies

Sundaymorningfiveninteen · 22/11/2021 06:58

Morning, I have a date for surgery . It’s in less than 3 weeks. My industry gets quite busy around Christmas. I have a lot of clients to be cancelled and unlikely I will get them all rebooked before Christmas. My job is not beauty / hair related , something people like to get “ticked off” before Christmas, it won’t ruin the festivities if they don’t get it done .
Op is a Thursday. I sit down all day, I have an assistant on hand all of the time. I’m fit and well generally. Could I potentially be back at work on the Monday after 3 good days of rest.
I have to self isolate 3 days before the operation which is why I’m trying to minimise the time off afterwards. I see 15 to 17 clients a day so that’s a lot of people to cancel , I’m trying to minimise the disruption . Also, no work, no pay as I’m self employed but I do have savings, just rather not use them if possible.
So Tell me your post op recovery experience good or bad.

OP posts:
aLilNonnyMouse · 22/11/2021 21:13

I had mine first thing in the morning (about 7am). Spent that night in hospital as I still had a drain in. Went home around 8pm the next day after the drain was removed.

Once I got home I had 3-4 days where I was barely able to get out of bed then another couple of days of hobbling around sore. By day 10 I was back to normal.

HouseIsOnFire · 22/11/2021 21:17

I had mine out a week last Friday, so currently on day 10.

Should point out I had no prior issues, but was admitted with pancreatitus and had it removed as an emergency op and keyhole. I was in hospital for 4 nights before the op whilst they did investigations, so that might add to my experience!

I was up and moving about the day and after and discharged then too. Stopped pain killers on day 4 and just have felt very tender/bruised since! I definitely cannot wear normal clothes still, but did manage to work today (IT based, wfh). Could only manage a couple of hours at a time before lying flat again. Still can't bend without feeling nauseous and still very tired (oddly struggling to sleep at night!)

Still have 1 stitch and not tried driving because of the tiredness, but very little pain now aside from the bruising.

Sh05 · 22/11/2021 21:20

I had mine out 11 years ago by keyhole. Kept in overnight because they had to insert a drain then took about 3 days before I could move properly without pain. But for about three weeks afterwards I couldn't walk for more than 5 minutes without getting terrible pains in neck and shoulder.
It was very frustrating because I remember we were supposed to be taking part in a tickled pink walk for breast cancer and my friends had to go without me. That was 10 days after my op.

m00rfarm · 22/11/2021 21:22

I had keyhole and they kept me in hospital for 2,5 days after the op. I felt ok and in fact (touch wood) apart from a few instances of not eating the right food and having an almost immediate reaction, was pretty much back to normal within 5 days. You really need to make sure you are near a loo at all times though ...

m00rfarm · 22/11/2021 21:23

Oh - had to go back to have stitches/wound treated a couple of times.

MenoMom · 22/11/2021 21:39

I had mine as day surgery - very sore and tired for first week, went back to work after me week off but really could have done with 2 weeks off, I was still sore and tired. Felt totally fine after 2 weeks.

Halloweenadoodle · 22/11/2021 21:46

Day surgery here. Went in at 1pmish. Left at 5pm ish. Couldnt lay down flat for two days. Slept on the recliner sofa for two nights. The gas pain is like you have twisted your shoulder badly. Its horrid. I found it worse than the gallbladder pain.
I was driving after a week and a half ish. Then went back to work two weeks after my operation.

3 days would be optimistic

PanettoneSeason · 22/11/2021 21:57

@Sundaymorningfiveninteen I think the difference in all these replies definitely highlights the fact that you just won’t know until you have it done OP!

I had 2/3 gallbladder attacks every week for 18months while I battled to get doctors to take me seriously. Stones so bad that I got surgery within a week of finally getting my scans.
Surgery at 4pm and was discharged at 5am the next morning (they needed a bed 😬).

At the time I was only 22 and was travelling an hour each way on a bus to work then on my feet for 10 hour shifts in retail with one 30minute break, 5 days per week. I was back at work after 8 days.

Agree with everyone mentioning the wind pain! For me that was worse than anything else.

tarasmalatarocks · 22/11/2021 22:05

Mine was a bit unique as was admitted whilst on holiday in Spain as an emergency— ended up with open surgery, 3 very large stones followed by intensive care and intravenous antibiotics etc— I had 8 days in hospital followed by around 10 days at home where I couldn’t do much. I think if it’s planned it’s a much simpler thing but I would definitely say allow around 2 weeks —

anausbsk · 22/11/2021 22:06

I'm hopefully having mine out on Thursday, was mainly worried about the anaesthetic but after reading these I'm now worried about the recovery 😭😭😭

dahliaaa · 22/11/2021 22:18

I was signed off for 2 weeks but I went back to work after a week.
Be careful with lifting anything heavy or opening heavy doors etc. Really pull in your stomach muscles to give you support.

WouldBeGood · 22/11/2021 22:24

Is it keyhole? Mine was but they needed an extra incision. But I was pretty much ok after a day and could easily have done sitting down work. I was a bit sore and stiff walking for a few days but it was amazingly quick recovery .

WouldBeGood · 22/11/2021 22:25

My gas pain was only sore for the day I got home btw. And nothing drastic.

Bettysnow · 22/11/2021 22:34

After key hole surgery felt very groggy and gas pain in shoulder region very painful. Discharged that evening and fine a few days later. Back to work after 5 days with no problems

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 22/11/2021 22:34

@anausbsk

I'm hopefully having mine out on Thursday, was mainly worried about the anaesthetic but after reading these I'm now worried about the recovery 😭😭😭
The anaesthetic is great, I was terrified if it. To the extent that I've voluntarily had 2 operations in the past (keyhole surgery to eye and screw to fix a broken hand) under local/nerve block to avoid GA because it scared me.

Told to think of something happy and count to 10, got to 3 then I woke up a while later feeling a bit fuzzy,I was wide awake and all fuzziness gone within the hour.

anausbsk · 22/11/2021 22:42

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo thank you that is reassuring. I'm super scared about it too. Never had a GA before and just hate the whole thought of it and the loss of control.

But I ended up very seriously ill and hospitalised a few weeks ago from my gallbladder issues so I know it's the right thing to do to prevent the problem occurring again. Still scary though 😭

gingerbiscuits · 22/11/2021 23:45

Mine was keyhole removal but with a stent still in place due to excessive stones/blockage issues.

Probably about a week of painkillers, shuffling about & sofa surfing before I started to feel more normal, but like someone else said, the incision sites were a bit sore & one was right on my bra-line, which would have been awkward if I'd been at work, but I'm a Primary School Teacher, so I was signed off for a few weeks.

RichPetunia · 22/11/2021 23:56

Two weeks

BestZebbie · 22/11/2021 23:57

"Two weeks recovery", but that was largely incapacitated on day 1 and in the office (gently! no heavy lifting) on day 15.

Original poster
Sundaymorningfiveninteen · 23/11/2021 04:40

Thank you for all the replies. Like someone said further up , so many varied experiences it’s hard to know what my own experience will be. Glad everyone recovered eventually from their Op, wishing those still waiting / recent surgery and good recovery. I think I probably am being optimistic regarding a three day recovery . Thankfully,at least it’s planned and I will have decent rest , not looking after children, breast feeding, getting over other recent ops, on holiday when it happens … Some of you had it really rough !

OP posts:
Roselilly36 · 23/11/2021 05:49

I recovered quickly, I had a toddler & baby at the time. Didn’t have much pain, just tiredness from the anaesthetic.

anausbsk · 23/11/2021 09:01

That is reassuring @Roselilly36

mybroomstick · 23/11/2021 18:06

@anausbsk

I'm hopefully having mine out on Thursday, was mainly worried about the anaesthetic but after reading these I'm now worried about the recovery 😭😭😭
The anaesthesia and drugs are the best bit! Grin
DPotter · 23/11/2021 18:16

Can't emphasise the role of good pain control enough

I was up and about the day after surgery - a little tender that's all. Moving gently. What really knocked me for 6, was the tiredness recovering form the GA - took a good couple of weeks for this to fully work out of my system. Was having naps during the day - and I NEVER nap. Only 45 mins of so for about 10 days after. Went on a walking holiday a week after surgery - reduced the walking distance a bit and allowed for longer for me to walk.

So I think you probably could be back on the Monday - but not your usual number of clients - start later / build in a nap time at lunch time and finish earlier at least for the 1st full week after surgery.

Heronatemygoldfish · 23/11/2021 22:08

I had mine out in June. Admitted at 7.30am, went down for surgery about 10, out at midday and discharged at 5pm. They gave me a box of co-dydramol and I carefully took them for 2-3 days then switched to ibuprofen. I did nothing for the first day out then gradually worked up over a week to my 10K steps. Could have gone back to work after a week. Actually enjoyed being off for the second week until the weather broke!

I have some very neat scars. But I also have a not-unknown side effect. I can no longer take codeine which is a real nuisance as I get migraines. It makes me get all the symptoms of biliary colic, albeit minus the gallbladder. It's called Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (and yes, it can sod off!). And I still get diffuse pain where the gb was. In some ways I'm no better off than I was, but no worse, and I've got rid of dozens of pea-sized stones. My poor MIL had hers out and she got a much nastier side-effect (BAM) and ended up almost emaciated until the medics got it sorted.

Oh, if you're worried about the gas pain, keep your arms above your head. It's magic.