Gallbladder surgery suuuuuucks

[Sho'Nuff]

Cliffs:

Had excruciating gallbladder attack on July 8, 2012. 5th or 6th in a year, but this one was far worse than the others.

Went to doctor on July 9, 2012 - Blood tests run. My liver enzymes were 35X over normal (normal <45, mine was about 1600).

Doc ordered abdominal ultrasound on July 10, which showed multiple stones lodged in my common bile duct

Underwent Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure to remove lodged stones in bile duct. Docs also performed bile duct sphincterotomy to help make sure all stones were out.

Suffered for 2 more days with terrible abdominal pain. At this point I had not eaten for ~4 days. Barely could keep liquids down.

Had gall bladder removed yesterday. Thankfully it was done laparoscopically instead of via an open procedure.

I'm now sore as hell, but at least I can eat again.

Hopefully this is the last medical issue I have to deal with this year. I'm tired of hospitals.

 

[sixone]

Yikes, glad you're feeling better. How's your baby girl doing?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Yikes, glad you're feeling better. How's your baby girl doing?

Shes doing very well, thanks. Never would know that she had heart surgery, apart from the scars.

 

[sixone]

Shes doing very well, thanks. Never would know that she had heart surgery, apart from the scars.

Awesome! I hope things calm down for a good long while.

 

[techs]

Pics?

 

[weadjust]

Hope you have a dog to blame for the frequent farts/gas associated with laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. I had a roommate that had the same surgery and was ripping em long and loud for days.

 

[sjwaste]

Sorry buddy. If you're bored, I had a hernia appear (or at least become symptomatic) while we were in the hospital for my daughter's birth. I'm having surgery in the next couple of weeks. Since we'll both be heavily medicated, whose house is the 48 hour HBO marathon at?

 

[Imp]

Did the stone removal attempt fail?

I had a high <gall stone indicator> a few years ago and had a freak out. Did some research and found that gall bladder removal is very widely done and "safe", but it will fuxxorz with your body. Jesus put that thing there for a reason...

 

[Dee67]

Had my gallbladder removed some years ago. The attacks leading to the surgery were brutal.

Short recovery time (also laproscopic) they wanted me to watch my diet afterward. Felt pretty normal shortly thereafter and forgot I was supposed to be watching what I ate.

I still eat and feel like I always have. Some folks have a bad time, some don't. Hope you're one of the ones that have a short, easy time.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Had mine taken out a few years ago, I don't even think about it anymore, but the pains leading to were brutal. You'll be fine.

 

[OCGuy]

I'm fairly certain that all surgery sucks.

 

[dougp]

I had my gallbladder removed 7 years ago - it sucks. I was one of the unlucky ones that I could no longer eat anything with a moderate amount of fat or higher, as well as anything greasy. I finally broke down and spoke with a doctor and they gave me some medicine for it. If you find that you continue to have issues eating anything with a moderate amount of fat (I had to limit most of my meals to 10g of fat or lower, or basically half of the typical fat intake) then you should talk to your GP, (s)he will be able to prescribe you some medicine that will help. Send me a PM if you need the details on it. I basically have to take this med twice a day with orange juice, which really sucks but at least I can have normal food and go out without having to run to the bathroom.

 

[sandorski]

Approx 10 years ago I woke up feeling sick and when I looked in the mirror I was shocked to see an orangey yellow glow coming off my face. Went to the Dr, immediately sent to the nearby hospital(60km away), had Ultrasound, a few tests, then sent to another hospital 200km away for Stone removal and surgery. The reason for the hospital bouncing was that I lived in the middle of nowhere and the first hospital had limited resources.

Prior to all that, I had a couple days where eating/drinking was difficult. The day before water tasted like algae. It was a nasty experience, worst I had in decades.

 

[Engineer]

Did it 13 years ago. Was hurting like hell before hand. Hurt like hell for about a week or so but boy was I glad to quit hurting. You "might" have to adjust your eating habits until your body adjusts, especially fatty meals (unless you like running to the restroom at a fast pace! ).

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Sorry buddy. If you're bored, I had a hernia appear (or at least become symptomatic) while we were in the hospital for my daughter's birth. I'm having surgery in the next couple of weeks. Since we'll both be heavily medicated, whose house is the 48 hour HBO marathon at?

I hear that you have a wicked nice new TV, so my vote is your place.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Did the stone removal attempt fail?

I had a high <gall stone indicator> a few years ago and had a freak out. Did some research and found that gall bladder removal is very widely done and "safe", but it will fuxxorz with your body. Jesus put that thing there for a reason...

The ECRP procedure removed all the stones from my bile duct, but didn't get the 30 or so remaining in my Gallbladder. Hence the subsequent surgery. According to my surgeon, I had 4 or 5 stones in my GB that were over 1/2 inch in diameter.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Had my gallbladder removed some years ago. The attacks leading to the surgery were brutal.

Short recovery time (also laproscopic) they wanted me to watch my diet afterward. Felt pretty normal shortly thereafter and forgot I was supposed to be watching what I ate.

I still eat and feel like I always have. Some folks have a bad time, some don't. Hope you're one of the ones that have a short, easy time.

Thanks. So far I am doing alright. Abdomen hurts like hell, but my bowels seem to be ok. I am being very careful about what I eat though. Really do not want to shart myself. At least not unexpectedly.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Approx 10 years ago I woke up feeling sick and when I looked in the mirror I was shocked to see an orangey yellow glow coming off my face. Went to the Dr, immediately sent to the nearby hospital(60km away), had Ultrasound, a few tests, then sent to another hospital 200km away for Stone removal and surgery. The reason for the hospital bouncing was that I lived in the middle of nowhere and the first hospital had limited resources.

Prior to all that, I had a couple days where eating/drinking was difficult. The day before water tasted like algae. It was a nasty experience, worst I had in decades.

Yeah, my docs were surprised I was not showing any signs of Jaundice, given the results of my liver function test. Glad your procedure turned out ok.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I had my gallbladder removed 7 years ago - it sucks. I was one of the unlucky ones that I could no longer eat anything with a moderate amount of fat or higher, as well as anything greasy. I finally broke down and spoke with a doctor and they gave me some medicine for it. If you find that you continue to have issues eating anything with a moderate amount of fat (I had to limit most of my meals to 10g of fat or lower, or basically half of the typical fat intake) then you should talk to your GP, (s)he will be able to prescribe you some medicine that will help. Send me a PM if you need the details on it. I basically have to take this med twice a day with orange juice, which really sucks but at least I can have normal food and go out without having to run to the bathroom.

Sorry to hear that you are one of the unlucky ones. I spoke to my doctor about that particular side effect at length prior to deciding to move forward with the surgery. Everyone in my family except me has had their GB out, and all of the males now have nasty bowel side effects. I am still hoping to be lucky, but I'm well aware of the bile binding agents and other medicines that are available to help with the digestive issues.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Pics?

Of what? My GB? Surgery site? etc.

I can do the latter, but not the former. My surgeon would not let me have the GB or any of the stones. I did ask though.

 

[GasX]

If you were my patient, you would have had a ride on the dilaudid train...

 

[ManBearPig]

Damn, that sucks man. Glad the procedure went well, hopefully recovery isn't too bad!

 

[brianmanahan]

sometimes life just isn't fair

 

[olds]

Had mine out in January or February. They went through the belly button. Still have a mark from the latex bandage. One thing I found odd, never had a follow up appointment after the surgery.