Gallbladder Surgery. Have you had one?

LadyEmeraude

LadyEmeraude

Well-known Member
I had my Gallbladder surgery via laparoscopic procedure
back in 1995. Painful symptoms for 6 months and before
I made the decision to have it removed. That was after
my second visit to the hospital emergency room for
gosh awful discomforts.

Share whatever you would like regarding this topic
or anything related.
 
I skipped the gallbladder issues & went straight to pancreatitis. I had to wait two months for my pancreas to get back to some type of normality before they would take out the gallbladder. I was the first of three patients my doctor had who had the same thing happen to them within a few months of each other.

I had some indigestion for a few months before it happened, but I didn't realize what was happening because it wasn't anything consistent or bad enough to make me go to the doctor or ER. The only thing I really did was give up coffee & switched to tea & that the issue had resolved itself ... or so I thought.

I felt find one Sunday & started to work on dinner around 1 pm & had half of a tuna fish sandwich to carry me over until the evening. Within 15 minutes I started to throw up which continued off & on for the next 30 hours in the hospital until they gave me an NG tube. That was the only thing that stopped it. I'm not joking when I considered that the NG tube was my best friend at the time & ice chips was the best tasting thing I ever had. One stopped the barfing & the other didn't upset my stomach.

That pain was the worst out of anything I have ever had ... nothing before or since has ever come close. When a doctor asks me to rate my pain level between 0 & 10, I ask compared to what since my 10 isn't like most peoples 10. I have developed a high resistance to pain, but I will get to a point that I need some type of pain meds after surgery/injury to take the edge off.
 
A severe gallbladder attack is truly one of the most painful things you can go through. First comes the pain, then the violent vomiting, this can go on for hours. Then when it ramps down, you feel like you ran up the stairs of the Empire State Building and you're wiped out for days.

I had my first gallbladder attack in 1995 and thought I was dying. I scheduled surgery but couldn't get in for a month and I had a cruise scheduled. So I went on the cruise and really watched my diet, but fell victim to a midnight buffet I couldn't resist.

At about 2 a.m., I had my second attack and this time, I knew I wasn't dying but I was not really interested in living, either. I thought about going down to the kitchens and ask for a nice sharp knife to remove it myself. Either that or jump overboard.

Finally, I had the surgery (lap surgery - 4 tiny holes, none of them even needing stitches) at 4 p.m. on a Thursday. Spent the night in the hospital only because my blood pressure was higher than they liked. Normally, they send you home the same day. I went back to work on Monday. I can't say I was ready to go horseback riding or run a marathon, but I made it through with some pain pills.

No problems after. I watched my diet for a month or so as some people have a little problem with bile for a while.

I remember when my Dad had gallbladder surgery many years ago. He had the old-fashioned surgery where they literally carved you from stem to stern. He had a terrible scar and had a long recovery.

It's truly a whizz these days.
 
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I had it done several years ago. Turns out mine was dead. Surgeon said it was full of scar tissue.

I had lived with the feeling that someone had their fist pressed up under my ribs about where the gallbladder was for years. I had a couple of ultrasounds. Nothing to see here according to the reports. I pushed back since the pain experienced from time to time was no fun. They relented, did the hida scan and found the gallbladder non functional.

Then I ended up with costochondritis shortly after. That resolved but then developed a very angry muscle near one of the trocar insertions. A steroid injection fixed that problem.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
It's good that they were able to do it laparoscopically. Did you find out what caused your gallbladder issue Lady? I don't envy anyone who has to go through that. Thankfully I have never had a gallbladder problem.
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Hi Diva, those years ago it was told me that my gallbladder was in bad shape.
The doctor suggested that I was eating a high cholesterol diet and wrong foods
most likely. My weight at the time was 20 pounds overweight. I was prone to
eating fatty foods back then.

I had three medium sized gallbladder stones.

It was an awful experience, that is for sure.
 
Thanks for sharing, those who posted. I read them attentively
and can feel for each of you and your symptoms back then,
I know they were awful and painful.
 
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A year ago when I had a scan for something else, the surgeon said I have a medium sized gallstone. Nothing will be done until I experience problems.
 
I used to experience being bloated after a heavy meal. Never took any notice of it but sometimes took Antacid tablets. One morning I had cramps and saw a doctor who said to take something for indigestion. That evening the pain got worse and I thought I maybe had appendicitis. I then started to vomit and immediately asked a friend to take me to the hospital.

I was barely in emergency when they inserted a tube up my nose and had an x-ray which showed I had a 4cm gallstone in my small bowel and off to surgery. They took out my small bowel and sliced it down the middle and took out the gallstone which looked like a Squash Ball. They said it was very uncommon. I then got an infection and was rushed to ICU and spent 4 days in isolation. But in the end, all was good.
 
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