I've been feeling sick as a dog the last few days. I went to the emergency room Saturday night and they found that I have Gall Stones and will need to have the Gall Bladder removed.

Does anyone have any idea what I can expect?

It's really hard to feel comfortable. I've tried beds, easy chairs, sofas, and even the floor. The best that I've found is to go out and sit in the driver's seat of my car and lean the seat back. I slept much of the night out there.

I haven't suffered it personnally but both my dad and one of my best friends went through it.

My dad had been "sick" for a long time and his appetite down to nothing. Getting his removed was a revelation. He was no longer "sick" all the time and his appetite came back.

My friend that had his removed sounds similar to your situation. Very rapidly the pain rose and he got removed quickly. The only down side to him that I'm aware of his how the body process fatty or greasy foods. He has to be careful about what he eats pending his ability to quickly get to the bathroom.

Good luck. From what I've seen and heard you'll feel like a new man when its gone.

My sister had hers removed for excessive stones, and my brother had his removed in an emergency surgery when the duct got blocked and the gall bladder went septic. He thought it was s stomach flu and started aching and vomiting and I convinced my mom it he really wasn't doing well and should go see a doctor. At first they thought it was an appendix and prepped him for remote scope surgery, but found his appendix was fine, and next checked his gall bladder with the scope and it was green and black. They used a heat cutting scope tool to cut it out and pulled it out the scope incision, and he recovered quickly once it was gone and the meds and antibiotics did their thing.

They use a remote scope setup with 2 or 3 tiny incisions.
They blow you up with gas to make some space to see what they are doing, then find it, cauterize it free, and pull it out. It goes fast. It takes a couple days for your body to purge all the gas in your abdomen.
They both have done fine afterwards. It can have some small effect on how you digest some fatty foods. Neither of my siblings has had issues with this.

I had my gallbladder removed 6 or 7 years ago.

I'm a school teacher. My stomach started hurting the Friday night we got out for Christmas break. It continued to worsen over the next several days. I wasn't eating much of anything, had zero appetite. I was also very lethargic, slept most of the day.

We went to my mom's on Christmas Eve for dinner. On the way home I decided to stop at a Christus Santa Rosa 24 hour clinic. I hadn't been out of the house since that Friday I started feeling poorly. After doing some tests that told me my gallbladder needed to come out asap. They sent me to the hospital.

Of course nobody is doing surgery on Christmas Day for a gallbladder. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in the hospital. The day after Christmas they did the surgery.

Like southernboy said, you'll have to hang around til your bladder gets going. They'll want you walking around as much as possible. Don't remember the surgery or recovery being too difficult. I did lose around 20 pounds in those two weeks.

I started feeling myself again the day we went back to school. It was a terrible Christmas break.

Garrelli 5000 said:

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I haven't suffered it personnally but both my dad and one of my best friends went through it.

My dad had been "sick" for a long time and his appetite down to nothing. Getting his removed was a revelation. He was no longer "sick" all the time and his appetite came back.

My friend that had his removed sounds similar to your situation. Very rapidly the pain rose and he got removed quickly. The only down side to him that I'm aware of his how the body process fatty or greasy foods. He has to be careful about what he eats pending his ability to quickly get to the bathroom.

Good luck. From what I've seen and heard you'll feel like a new man when its gone.

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Thanks.

My appetite is down to nothing, too.

This entire year, I have generally only eaten one meal a day. And it has generally been pretty light.

Ever eaten half a carrot for a meal?

Sometimes I wish I could get away with it. My dad was 1 a day as well.

I've ready the post-op life doesn't always include bathroom challenges so hopefully you can dodge that bullet.

Best of luck, hopefully they can get you back to fighting form quickly.

That doesn't seem to get talked about much.

I was thinking that I might have to start keeping a daily bean pot running so that I could have beans whenever I wished. But then I saw that beans aren't recommended because of gas.

Years ago, I had a digestive issue that forced me to stop eating meats for two years. One of the cornerstones of my diet for that two years was beans. I don't mind the idea of gong nearly vegetarian again, but without beans I would be lost.

Surgery is scheduled for Monday morning.

The strange thing is that right now I am feeling about as good as I have in ten years, other than my appetite.

About ten years or so ago, my thyroid quit. Two of the three largest symptoms are a persistent backache and swollen ankles.

In the past two weeks, I've lost about 18 to 20 pounds. The last two or three days, my backache has disappeared and my swollen ankles have come days a lot too. I might even be able to wear boots again.

Other than a mild pain where the gallbladder is, I feel great.

I was tempted to cancel the surgery, but after reading up a bit, it appears that there are a number of serious issues that can appear if the gallbladder is not removed. Apparently, having issues and pain with the gallbladder increases the probability of these other issues a great bit.

One thing that I haven't found out yet is how long to expect it to take between the the surgery and when we are released.

In other words, should I take anything to read or to work on while waiting.

eric76 said:

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One thing that I haven't found out yet is how long to expect it to take between the the surgery and when we are released.

In other words, should I take anything to read or to work on while waiting.

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It's an out-patient procedure. You will be there just til you wake up and feel well enough to walk and probably urinate.

Recovery is easy.

MAROON said:

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eric76 said:

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One thing that I haven't found out yet is how long to expect it to take between the the surgery and when we are released.

In other words, should I take anything to read or to work on while waiting.

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It's an out-patient procedure. You will be there just til you wake up and feel well enough to walk and probably urinate.

Recovery is easy.

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Thanks.

My big concern is how long before I can climb vertical ladders.

When it cools down, I'm going up on top of the elevator to replace a switch with a heat problem.evening. The problem is that they don't make that switch any more so I'll have to use one that I'm not 100% confident in. It isn't entirely impossible that I may have to go back up this week and switch back to the current switch while I find a suitable replacement.

There is a man-lift inside that takes you up to about 20 feet from the top so it's not like it is 200 foot climb. I don't think there is that much pressure on the abdomen while climbing the ladder, but going through the hatch may cause issues.

I'll mention it to the surgeon before surgery. Is it possible to place an order for a "gall bladder removal with extra stitches"?

There is also a question about climbing into a truck after the surgery to come home.

That operating room was really intimidating. There must have been about 8 people in there when the wheeled me in.

Waking up was not at all pleasant.

Garrelli 5000 said:

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It sounds like things went well. I hope the recovery does the same. Hopefully you're feeling relief right now that outweighs any of the typical downsides of going under.

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I came real close to needing to go up on a grain elevator today. I could have made it to the upper level on the manlift but climbing the ladder the last 24 feet would have given me some issues.

I went to the follow up appointment on Tuesday and got the most interesting medical opinion that I have ever gotten -- the report referred to me as being "pleasant". How many people here have ever had a medical opinion that they are pleasant?

It also said that I am "well groomed". Since I give myself my own haircuts now, I take that as a complement about my self-barbering skills.

Best doctor's visit ever.

eric76 said:

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I went to the follow up appointment on Tuesday and got the most interesting medical opinion that I have ever gotten -- the report referred to me as being "pleasant". How many people here have ever had a medical opinion that they are pleasant?

It also said that I am "well groomed". Since I give myself my own haircuts now, I take that as a complement about my self-barbering skills.

Best doctor's visit ever.

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While I have no doubt you are a pleasant, well-groomed gentleman….it's pretty common in EMR templates to already contain "pleasant" and "well groomed" in the physical exam portion

You burst my bubble.

Thanks a lot!