New fun

[Akasa]

I have been experiencing new and interesting pain today. I already have a doctor's appointment lined up for Tuesday to go discuss it. Seeing as the CT scan that found the kidney stones also found gallstones and I'm having pain where gallstones would give pain if acting up I'm sure my doctor will send me to a specialist. In the meantime Deal with pain and avoid greasy food. Once greasy food has worked its way out of my system the pain should... hopefully go away. That's my theory at least.
They don't automatically remove the gall bladder do they? They do remove just the stones sometimes right?

[Food Lady]

I think it's generally easy to remove the gb itself. That said, doc tells me it can be done laprascopically, with a short recovery. I think I will have to get mine out eventually.

[dragon_wings]

My dad got his removed and was home a few days later. He now has just 3 small scars on his abdomen.

[Der Cute]

Can do both. It kind of depends on how many stones, how fast they're being created, quality of life...stones can be removed. I've had my gb removed - I was told that the condition it was in was Chronic and Acute. Long term pissed off gb that had just had a hissy fit.
It wasn't great but I got the surgery, done, worked about a week later. No worries here.

[MaggieTheCat]

I had my gb out a few years ago. The surgeon who did the procedure told me that it's almost always best to have the gb removed as there is a very high chance stones will reoccur and you will just have to keep having the stones crushed/removed or have the gb out eventually. Of course, talk to your dr/surgeon and see what they say.

All surgeries are a big deal, but as far as surgeries go, gb removal is pretty run of the mill. It's very very common so any good surgeon will have experience and, as long as your gb isn't terribly inflamed and infected, recovery should be pretty short and easy for a surgery.

My gall bladder as full of stones (12 the size of large marbles) and it was infected, and they were still able to take it out laproscopically. Granted, the surgery took twice as long as a "standard" gb removal, I got two extra incisions (for a total of 5) and the main incision, where the gb was actually removed, is about twice as large as a standard laproscopic incision -- that is, about 2 inches. I went in around 8am for the surgery and was able to go home around 5 or 6 that night (I was rreeeally drugged up so I'm hazy on the details.)

Recovery took me several weeks...I remember going to work about a week after the surgery, walking around for 4 hours (it was an office job but we still had to walk around the call center) and going home and collapsing. I took a couple more days after that, then did half days for a week, then had 10 days of vacation pre-scheduled. I was able to return to work full-time after that (I guess about 4 weeks after the surgery) but I was still sore and moving sort of slow. But, like I said, my gb was really messed up. And I have heard of some people who are able to return to work full-time after 5-7 days. My cousin had her gb out and only needed 1-2 weeks to recover.

You will definitely need someone to help you during recovery. I had trouble sitting/standing and walking for the first few days. Mostly you will just sleep, but when you need to get up to go to the bathroom, etc. you will want help.

[Imprl59]

My Dad has his out yesterday. He was out of surgery at noon and he's home, out of bed and on the computer sending me e-mails already today. I'm sure it will take a couple of weeks to return to normal but all these things they do laparoscopically aren't nearly as bad as it used to be when they opened you up for this stuff. Don't sweat it... You'll do just fine!

[Sapphire Silk]

Gallstones aren't like kidney stones. They can't be broken up, and allowed to pass.

That doesn't mean surgery is automatically the first option though. You should discuss this in detail with your doctor. Surgeons usually want to cut, so get a second opinion.

You may be able to control the pain with diet. However, many people live with gallstones for years.

Unless you have a serious complication, most gallbladders are removed laparoscopically. They make four incisions: one above the gallblader, two to the side (for the instruments) and one in your belly button. They fill the abdomen with gas so they can see and work, and remove the gallbladder through the upper incision. Complications are few, recovery is quick. I had mine out 3 years ago. I had some post op pain for the first few hours, mostly from the gas they use to inflate the belly. I went home after 24 hours. Once home, I took the occassional Tylenol #3 for pain and that was it.

They still put you under general anesthesia, which affects people differently. I was wiped out and exhausted for two weeks; not much energy, tired easily. That for me was a worse problem than pain would have been.

[HappyFun Ball]

I was 19 when my FB was removed, mine was emergency surgery, so the simple laproscopic surgery was out.. I had stones lodged in my bile duct. I have a 10 inch scar about 6 inches under my right breast.

[BuffySummers]

I had mine out 5 weeks after having my oldest child. The surgeon tried to do it laproscopically but my organs were still too smushed from the pregnancy. I had a lovely morphine drip for 36 or so hours (which I still remember fondly) but was up to pee in the bathroom the evening after my operation.

Full recovery took several weeks, but I was able to go to my husband's office's annual x-mas party the week after. Of all body parts to have removed the GB has got to be one of the best.

[HappyFun Ball]

I'll upload a pic of my GB scar tomorrow.

After mine was removed and they brought me my first meal.. I took 2 bites of it and thought Is get fussed at for not eating more, but the nurse told me I did a good job.

I don't know if they do this with laproscopic surgery, but I had a drainage tube with a bag, collected bile, I think. The side effects from mine being removed is a lot of gas and a low tolerance for spicy foods.