Owie

[MoonCat]

Well, it's done. Gallbladder plucked & gone. And if I may so....OUCH.

The nurses were wonderful. The doctor was pleasant & confident. The anesthesiologist was cool and I'm not just saying that because she told me I looked no older than 35

Only drawback was the dilaudid they gave me for pain before I realized what they were doing. Made me nauseated later, then the anti-nausea drug didn't really do anything so they gave me dramamine, which worked, but then it took me a while to feel up to going home. Surgery was at 9:30 AM, I got home about 8:00 PM.

Got 4 new holes in me (small ones though) and my insides are saying WTF JUST HAPPENED?

And one of my managers thinks I'll be back to work in less than a week. Yeaahhh...not happening. I figured on a week. It might be two. Post-op appt with the doc isn't until July 8. So work can wait until I get the OK to go back.

For now I'm going sit here, eat soup and jello, read my books and listen to the birds sing.

[MaggieTheCat]

I had my gall bladder out 2 1/2 years ago and my recovery was pretty rough, too. The surgeon said I could try going to work 5 days after the surgery, I went in, made it for 4 hours, went home and collapsed, and didn't go back for the rest of the week. Then I only worked half days for a week and then I had vacation scheduled for 2 weeks anyway, and even after that I was pretty sore, but at least able to walk (albeit slowly) without too much pain.

You have someone to take care of you, or at least check in on you? I stayed with my parents during my recovery, I can't imagine if I'd been on my own afterword. I ended up having to sleep in a recliner for the first several days since I couldn't breathe well when I was flat on my back, and it was too painful to lay on my side.

Hope you start feeling better soon! I am sooo glad I had mine out, I had a bunch of symptoms that I didn't even know were related to the gall bladder that went away after I had the surgery. I had deep lower back pain constantly that disappeared once I had my gall bladder out; most of the time, gall bladder pain manifests in the shoulder blades, but for me it was in the center of my lower back. Crazy! Glad the surgery took care of it, though!

[MoonCat]

I live with my sisters, so there's always somebody around.

I had no idea shoulder pain could have anything to do with gallbladders. So I was surprised when my shoulders hurt like hell the other day, but the hospital says that's normal for this. Weird.

Definitely not going back to work in five days. I get tired and wobbly if I do too much (I've tried washing dishes & other little things like that). I don't wanna just sit around too much though. Also lying on my back all night to sleep makes my hip hurt. Yay. I'm used to sleeping on my side and can't right now.

But hell, it's nothing compared to what some of our soldiers have gone through in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. Just takes a while to get back to normal (relatively speaking )

[Mikkel]

If your shoulders hurt after the operation, I think it is because of air.
They blow you up under the operation to make more room. Afterwards they suck most of the air out again but some of it escape into the muscles and have to work itself out.

[AdminAssistant]

Mikkel has it exactly right. It's carbon dioxide, and it takes a few days for it to dissipate. Despite what others may say, it is NOT in your digestive tract at all, so you can't "fart it out." And yes, it is the most painful part of the recovery process. I was up and walking around okay 48 hours later, but it took me a full week to get back to somewhat normal.

[MoonCat]

Mikkel has it exactly right. It's carbon dioxide, and it takes a few days for it to dissipate. Despite what others may say, it is NOT in your digestive tract at all, so you can't "fart it out." And yes, it is the most painful part of the recovery process. I was up and walking around okay 48 hours later, but it took me a full week to get back to somewhat normal.

That's what happened the last time I had surgery, but it felt different, if I recall. No biggie though. That's gone now.

And I did manage to kind of sleep on my side last night, with an extra pillow propping me up, which helped because it's really hard to lay flat on my back all night. I think I need a new mattress.

[Der Cute]

*TMI WARNING ABOUT POOP TMI TMI*




The C02 is the issue of shoulder pain. The docs should have gone over that with you. It goes away gradually, so move around a bit. NO BENDING.

I remember going back to work about 4 days after the surg and I was so stoned and out of it, I just could not function. You DO know about the change in stool, right? Right after the surgery there is an increase in watery stool. It's a hell of a lot looser. This most likely will gradually change over the next month or 3. Only 10% of patients have a permanent change in stool. I did not. My GB was removed about 3 years ago, and lord it's a relief.

Your doctor visit is to check up on you, check your stool issues, make sure you're functional and there's no other pain problems. AND you will hear the "status" of your organ from pathology. Mine came back "Acute and Chronic" It was a very pissed off GB and got worse at the end. Ask the doc if there were any stones clogging the bile duct between Liver and GB. And pay attention for the next couple of years - if a stone was missed, it'll piss your liver off.

Occasionally I'll have a twinge of ouch at the old GB spot. I cannot figure out why, but it's very very seldom. *shrug* It's a POKE and it's gone.

Otherwise, be happy, do a slow happy dance and use your knees to bend/scrunch and pick things up for the next few weeks.

[MoonCat]

*TMI WARNING ABOUT POOP TMI TMI*




The C02 is the issue of shoulder pain. The docs should have gone over that with you. It goes away gradually, so move around a bit. NO BENDING.

I remember going back to work about 4 days after the surg and I was so stoned and out of it, I just could not function. You DO know about the change in stool, right? Right after the surgery there is an increase in watery stool. It's a hell of a lot looser. This most likely will gradually change over the next month or 3. Only 10% of patients have a permanent change in stool. I did not. My GB was removed about 3 years ago, and lord it's a relief.

Your doctor visit is to check up on you, check your stool issues, make sure you're functional and there's no other pain problems. AND you will hear the "status" of your organ from pathology. Mine came back "Acute and Chronic" It was a very pissed off GB and got worse at the end. Ask the doc if there were any stones clogging the bile duct between Liver and GB. And pay attention for the next couple of years - if a stone was missed, it'll piss your liver off.

Occasionally I'll have a twinge of ouch at the old GB spot. I cannot figure out why, but it's very very seldom. *shrug* It's a POKE and it's gone.

Otherwise, be happy, do a slow happy dance and use your knees to bend/scrunch and pick things up for the next few weeks.

Oh yes, I'm VERY well aware of the poop issue. My mom had, and my sis continues to have, ongoing digestive issues, shall we say, due to GB removal. I'm hoping that I won't. One of the nurses told me that if I do, and the docs don't take it seriously, to not let the matter rest until they do.

Oh and that poke you feel, it's probably scar tissue pulling. I have that happen now & then from my previous surgery a long time ago (had to have one of my Fallopian tubes removed).