Gall bladder op' queries. Please come and talk to me!

[cariadambyth]

Hello, this is the first thread I've ever started on here and what a glamorous topic to begin with

Basically, I'm booked in to have my gall bladder removed on the 23rd of this month and was hoping some of you could share your wisdom with me.

How long will I be out of action for? I have two dcs under 5.

I am due to stay in hospital over night, what should i pack?

Will I have to make any significant changes to my life style afterwards? My attacks don't appear to be diet related, more hormonal.

Finally, a very trivial question I know but I am going to a wedding about 6 weeks post op and I just wandered whether anyone had experience of putting on/ shedding weight after the op. What I'm really asking is, can I buy an outfit noe while there are sales on or would it be wiser to wait until afterwards?!

Sorry this has turned into such a ramble

Looking forward to hearing from you

alypaly - yes I love sport and excercise. I have done quite a bit since the operation and feel good after it. I did get quite a bit of local pain like you have after the operation. For goodness sake do not start flailing about a squash court or something like that after a week. Interesting you left the operation too long before you had it, had biliary colic, and now have no interest in food and lost a lot of weight after the op. Exactly the same here. You absolutely must have another ultrasound to check there is not a residual stone lurking, then a colonoscopy/endoscopy if the pain continues for more than a few weeks or if it gets worse.

OhBling* - thanks for backing me up on the post gall bladder operation link to acid problems. I thought I was being stupid when I talked to the consultant who just sort of shrugged his shoulder. I have tried quite a few PPI but they all make me feel ill. The only thing that worked was changing my diet completely, beng really careful about alcohol and taking Gaviscon. Reluctantly, the consultant did eventually agree there might be an acid problem and that I should try the GF/LF diet change, controlling alcohol intake and Gaviscon - but only AFTER I suggested it.

Despite all the post operative problems I am much better and my complexion is much better like you. People said I visibly aged and looked green before the op.

Bah! Doctors annoy me intensely. I spoke to a nerve specialist who said "Of course thy're all linked. It's part of the ovreall digestion process."

I have found them pretty willing to prescribe drugs so weird they're so reticent with you. One digestion tip I'll pass on that I had to stick to religiously when I was still recovering - don't mix proteins and carbs, particularly red meat and potatoe. I don't know why, but that was always a mistake. And broadly, the fewer cows products you consume, the better - milk, yoghurt, cheese, meat etc. I've only recently started eating yoghurt again and still avoid most cheeses except sheeps/goats milk cheese or hard cheese.

Yes I agree with those dietary tips. Going GF/LF probably means I do mix a lot less protein and carbo and certainly I have no milk or cheese at all so yes it definitley works what you said.

I have to agree with the tips but I loovee cheese so I still eat that and to hell with the consequences! [grin}
I ended up losing about 27kgs in 6 weeks when I had mine out. Pity I put it all back on plus a heap more. My day surgery ended up as perotinities, septecemia, a weeks stay, constant pethedine injections, keloid scarring (and I am caucasion too). Oh the joy of it!

ABetaDad
Hi, its actually 4 weeks since i had my op so i am dying to get back to sport,but am not yet feeling up to it. Already had a gastroscopy a week ago. No acid problems or gastritis visible.BTW I didnt leave the op so long, it was the consultants...they said they couldnt see anything on the ct scan or ultrasound 3 years ago and although my amylase was slightly raised and i was in agony they said the results were inconclusive. So after 1 week in a private hospital i was sent home with an incredibly distended tummy in agony and really scared. I kept persisting in going back to them over the next 3 weeks and was readmitted. Eventually they had the audacity to suggest that i needed a shrink to overcome my worries ad obsession with the pain. Obviously they were blind to the distension which had put 4-5 inches on my waist line. and i am quite slim.I felt so insulted, that i put up with the tummy niggles and kept telling myself it was the usual GP diagnosis irritable bowel that overused cop out when they havent a clue.
BTW from my knowledge as a dispenser the reason the PPI,s might have been making you feel ill is because they actual totally inhibit acid production in the stomach and if bile which is alkaline is then dripping in the stomach is added your stomach is then becoming more alkaline. You can get alkaline related dyspepsia which is why gaviscon works for you as that actually forms a raft on top of your stomach contents and is preventing the bile rather than acid from causing reflux and heartburn.If you take PPIs for too long you upset the naturally occuring gut flora and can cause untld fungal and bacterial growth in the gut which is really really difficult to eradicate so i think you consultant was correct to take you off them. Stick to gaviscon or gastrocote they are far safer.

LouLovesAeroplaneJell.
Did you loose 27kgs or 27 lbs. That is alot whichever it was.
You too had a rough time post operatively. How are now.
BTW You can get injections now to treat keloid scarring cos i know it is worse i caucasions so ask about them if it is bad. They do work , and all they do is inject the scar tissue.

alypay - thanks for the advice on Gaviscon. Out of interest, do you happen to know why PPI made all muscles ache like I had been beaten with a stick? Especially on waking on the morning?

From what you say, that may well have been an acid/alkali imbalance problem.

The stomach distension thing - that rings a bell. That is why I put on weight. I was basically full of fluid after a year of waiting around. I had the whole "oh it may be IBS, are you stressed at all?"

Gaargh. Doctors!

one of the rarer side effects with PPIs is painful joints,aching muscles and?or mucle weakness, also if you take take them for too long you are likely to get campylobacter which is why you should only be on them short term. My son is a pharmacist so i am just looking through his books

No I lost 27 kilograms. Put it all back on plus another 27kg
It has been too long now for the injections so just live with it now.

ABetaDad

you sound like the male version of me, although it gives me some hope that you are now back to playing some sport as i think i saw on one of your other threads from a while ago that it had ruined you job ,sport,eating and everything or was that someone else. You seem to be the only guy on here, and the only guy i know that has had a gall bladder out. Its mainly women.

I had mine out nearlyu 2 years ago now. I developed when dd2 was 2 weeks old, spent a week at home in pain before I gave in and went to GP, who said uclers. By the night was in so much pain, went to out of hours GP, who promtly sent me to A&E. Was admitted for 2 nights then discharged to await OP. Next day my eyes and skin were yellow and pain unbearbale, and back to GP, who again sent me to A&E, who quickly worked out my kidneys were blocked. That pain lost conscienes (sp?) came round topaniced team who told me I had pancrestis. Was in for 3 weeks in the end but they did do my OP before I left.

I have had a few prolems since and cant manage fats very well at all, I get diahorra loads and stomach pains are horrible. I also get a sick feeling when hungry and after eating but still not as bad as gall bladder pain.

HTH

lisad123
whereabouts are your stomach pains. Does this stop you from eating a normal sized meals as so far i am eating baby portions, mind you it is only 5 weeks since i had the op. maybe i am expecting too much but so many people seem to be ok afterwards

alypaly - I agree. Well I think me and you have certainly been through the same ringer on the gall bladder. It would certainly have ruined my job if I had had one. No the thing that ruined my job was my other (urinary) bladder but that was 10 years ago and I stil have that but it is well under control.

There are a fair number of men on here (and more since the recession) but I come here a lot and TBH it is really the advice here that has cured my illness by getting me on the coeliac GF/LF diet. I am SAHD/WAHD at the moment.

ABetaDad
sorry to be dumb but dont know what a WAHD. Worked out what SAHD is tho.
Sorry you havent got a job. Im in the same boat now, except I resigned from my job in the pharmacy as my boss is soo totally unreasonable. Worked my proverbial backside off for him for 2 1/2 years and then I asked for a summer holiday to take my 16 year old away in the school holidays( as you now get fined if you take them out in term time) and I was refused. Not had a day off since last October except for the dreaded operation. He always drafted me in full time when locum pharmacists were employed and I always did extra when people were off sick. So after my op I decided to pack the whole lot in as family life is too precious not to make the most of it.Think i will just get 100% better then look for something more rewarding.
Are you a coeliac as well as having had your gall bladder out?

Why is it some people have all the bad luck,I seem to as well. Gosh that sounds pesimistic which Im not normally. I think they half removed the positive part of my brain along with the GB. Why do they say you will always stay healthier if you exercise alot...what a load of tosh!I normally play badminton 3 nights a week, tennis, ski,table tennis, in fact everything except football and recently took up scuba diving on my hols, so why has everything that I have had over the years been pretty serious. I must have beeen an evil child.

WAHD - Work at home Dad.

Officially I am not a coeliac as I have had the tests and the colonoscopy/endoscopy but I got so sick of feeling ill that I decided to give GF/LF a try after reading a lot about it on MN. It has been absolutely magical. I did feel better after the gall bladder operation but not totally well and now I have gone GF/LF I feel totally well for the first time in years really.

I know what you mean about being positive and I did feel negative for 2 solid years before my operation. Totally withdrew into myself. Even doing sport and excercise was just a toil and a trouble really. You do so many more sports than me though.

Funny you should say that 'evil child' thing. Sort of had the same feeling that I must have 'done something to deserve this'. I am such a clean living person I did occassionally think I might as well hit the bottle, smoke 60 a day, stop excercising and eat rubbish for all the good it did me.

Anyway, much better now and work at home with DW and we have both been lining up a few interesting things to do outside home for next year as well. Taking a rest then doing something totally new has been one of the things I have decided to do and made me feel really positive. It may well work for you once you are well enough.

Sorry to hear you were treated so badly. Is there any way you could start your own Pharmacy? Boots and the other high street chains really do not do a good job.

I always really loved John Bell & Croydon on Wigmore St in London. Probably the Best Pharmacy in the World. I have even thought of copying their business model although I am not a pharmacist.

Hi all, How is everyone?

I'm feeling a bit more with it now and starting to eat a little. But really I'm a bit wary of eating anything major like a full meal in case I set anything off! Actually, aly - like you said I do feel almost scared to eat.

Not really sure what things I should avoid either. Is it just eating too much of certain things that's a problem or do I need to avoid some things altogether?

I'm having the stitches out tomorrow (will have to get new name!) which I was looking forward to as they are get a bit itchy and tender but then I changed one of the dressings & realised it's a big scabby lump of steristrip they'll need to excavate. Now hoping I've got enough of the strong painkillers left!

hi Institches
Glad to hear youre a 'bit more with it'. Leave your dressings on as they are shower proof if you have had keyhole. The steristrips are keeping it nicely together. My small holes and belly button have healed really well,they just look like rather large mosi bites so i am sure they will blend in when i get some sun.
Have they not told you what to eat or did they just say eat normally like they did with me.That was a joke.
I def couldnt eat normally for the first 4 weeks, everything made my stomach scream with pain except high calorie fat free fortijuce from the docs. Just this last 2 days i have been eating something really small every two hours and it is starting to make me feel a little better. I think little and often is the way forward.

My consultant said go onto a low fat diet then gradually try and introduce them because you no longer get that gush of bile salts which digest mainly fat. All you get is a constant trickle from your liver all the time so it stands to reason that you cant tolerate as large a meal as normal. The stomach hasnt got enough bile to digest it so it upsets your guts a bit.Hopefully that will settle. However saying that I have found some low fat creamy tasting yoghurts, i think they were alpro in a bubble shape container. Taste creamy but arent. Heaven.Sainsburys mustard and honey dressing for salad with 0.1% fat is yummy.
Yesterday i dared to have an eccles cake which is made with butter and guess what ,I have not suffered any consequences.

Really thrilled this morning, was so determined to get better I decided to go and have a very gentle game of badminton with our beginners just to keep my eye in. Consultant said it would probably hurt but it didnt last night and no repercussions this morning Yippee. it has done wonders for my confidence and I hope hope hope I am turning the corner so i will see if the improvement carries on today and for the rest of the week. I do hope so.Had a small potion of homemade spag bol yesterday and tuna fish with salad and low fat mayo. No tummy upsets.
Had some of that fruity bread with marg and another eccles cake this morning as i noticed how weak i felt after badminton last night. Have to say I was a little shaky when i played my first game. Totally lost my confidence. After loosing 17lbs in 4 weeks im not surprised i feel a little weak tho. So little and often is my advice.

Morning ABetaDad
As you can see from my last post actually had a game of pit pat last night, done wonders for the self confidence. Recovery here we come.

Wish I cud set up my own pharmacy but I am only a qualified dispenser and not a pharmacist. They get payed the big bucks whilst us lowly souls do all the hard work, and to be honest most of them know bug* all.
Quite frightening really. Bit like doctors!!!!

Cant believe how much more positive I am feeling today. Pain is still there but it is not quite so bad today. I am working on the theory that if you are very fit your body possibly takes more of a beating when the equilibrium is upset...

Glad to hear you're doing better, Aly.

I think I was told just to eat normally but it was all quite quick, the consultant was a bit "you're done - off you go". Just said not to drive for a week or do heavy lifting for 4 weeks.

I could have done with a leaflet giving me a bit more info to take home really as I think I was still in a bit of shock - It'd been an emergency admission and then when they decided to operate, it was only about an hour before I was in theatre. Had been in hospital for a day waiting for scan etc. though.

Don't think I even knew where my gallbladder was last week and now its gone!

One of the posts said about the bile dripping into your stomach all the time - does this make it bubble? When I move, I get a sort of popping, bubbly sensation in what I think is my stomach (sort of where I would expect heartburn). ANyone had this?

It's not painful, just weird.

Glad I found this thread. I am due to have my gallbladder out - have an appointment with the surgeon next week and then I assume I will be given a date.

I haven't read the thread properly yet but will do asap - I am a bit scared tbh and, after having had 2 c-sections, I really hoped I had seen the end of operations

DS2 is 8 months old now and I have shifted a lot of the baby weight and am fitter than I have ever been (going to the gym loads at the mo) - and am so gutted that this has happened to me and it will set back all the good work I have done over the last 6 months.

Anyway, enough about me - hope everyone is recovering well and will now go and read the thread

Institches The popping and bubbly sensation is still the cO2 gases in you abdomen. Did you have keyhole or open. They blow you up a lot with keyhole and its only 3 days since you had your op isnt it. I was really inquisitive to find out what they did to remove the gall bladder and found this amazing link. Not for the squeamish but it shows you why you are sore..............interesting family viewing video.google.com/videosearch?q=gall+bladder+removal&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3DVFB_en__

If your stomach rather than your abdomen is bubbling and gurgling it might be upsetting your tum a bit so try my theory of nibbling a little and often. Its starting to work for me.
I was told not to drive for two weeks ( a week is a bit quick cos if you have to do an emergency stop it will hurt) check your discharge sheet otherwise you wont be covered on your car insurance.Or he said until it was comfortable to physically twist round when you are reversing which took me 2 weeks.

Institches The popping and bubbly sensation is still the cO2 gases in you abdomen. Did you have keyhole or open. They blow you up a lot with keyhole and its only 3 days since you had your op isnt it. I was really inquisitive to find out what they did to remove the gall bladder and found this amazing link. Not for the squeamish but it shows you why you are sore..............interesting family viewing video.google.com/videosearch?q=gall+bladder+removal&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3DVFB_en__

The most interesting one to watch is
Laparoscopic Gall Bladder Removal
13:40 - 2 years ago dailymotion.com
Author: evilpunk1333 Tags: gallbladder surgery Laparoscopic Gall Bladder Removal Posted: 04 April 2007 Rating: 4.3 Votes: 3.
dailymotion.com that is if you want to!!!!!
If your stomach rather than your abdomen is bubbling and gurgling it might be upsetting your tum a bit so try my theory of nibbling a little and often. Its starting to work for me.
I was told not to drive for two weeks ( a week is a bit quick cos if you have to do an emergency stop it will hurt) check your discharge sheet otherwise you wont be covered on your car insurance.Or he said until it was comfortable to physically twist round when you are reversing which took me 2 weeks.

sorry about the double message the 2 nd one is the complete one. The computer threw a wobbly

Institches - yes as alypaly says it could be the CO2 they blew you up with in the operation but also I found my guts were bubbly too. The bile does just drip in now and not as a gush as it did before. I certainly feel that it took my guts a long time to get used to the idea of no longer having a gall bladder.

Eat small simple meals, kepe the fat low, take it easy on alcohol, plenty of light easily digested protein, plenty of veg and fruit. In other words, piling into a 12 oz steak, chops, cauliflower cheese, a bottle of red wine and chocolat pud with cream afterwards might not be the best idea.

Having such a heavy meal even today would put in severe acid pain. However, do eat well and do eat a little of everything you like - no need to starve yourself.

Thanks for the eating advice. I'm trying to eat a little often but my biscuit habit still needs to be overcome into something more healthy!

Alypaly - I was a bit surprised when he said only a week for not driving and I certainly don't feel ready yet (would be a week tomorrow evening). So I'm not planning to rush into driving anywhere until I feel OK. Can twist round OK but wouldn't fancy driving after just having had the stitches out. I see other people have been told 4 weeks so it seems a bit variable.