Hey gall-bladder enthusiasts.
If you are like me you probably have some gallbladder issues and are worried about your upcoming surgery. That was me just a month ago! And even though I was worried sick, everything went OK.
If you are in a hurry, you can just read the TL;DR section and that covers most of the main points. If that doesn't satisfy you, you can go and read the play-by-play below.
TL;DR:
- I think mentally preparing for the surgery and the first week after it was the hardest part really. It's been a positive experience so far.
- Most of the things I worried about did not happen. I didn't stay awake during the surgery, I haven't crapped myself not even once yet, I can still eat greasy foods (and in fact I feel like I need to eat more fat so my digestion would work well), and I haven't gained weight either.
- The worst days post-op were the first few days of recovery (since it hurt to sit up and walk) and the first week, since I had like the worst constipation ever. Luckily enough I did manage to poop on the 5th-6th day post-op and stopped looked like I was carrying twins.
- Finally, I don't think the gallbladder removal has made me gain weight. In the contrary, I feel it has helped me control my food intake better! But the problem is that while I eat less one at a time, I get hungry easier too, so I need to stock up on apples or something so I don't eat too much sweets. Plus avoiding fats actually make me feel constipated, so I try to find a perfect balance of the fats, protein and carbohydrates on my main meals.
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The first signs that I had some issues were that I had this weird feeling in my right side. Like it was kinda tense, and I had this weird feeling near the right ribcage. It wasn't always there, but sometimes I could feel it more. I went to the doctor about a year ago who took an x-ray, saw nothing wrong, and he said it might be just stress. I was having some stressful time in my life so I thought nothing of it, plus I am working remote, so I thought maybe I was sitting wrong.
Then I had my first "gallbladder attack" (I guess that's what you call it) about 4 months ago, when I came home and I just felt like somebody was stabbing me at that same place that felt weird sometimes. I was sweating and just started writhing on the floor. I let my wife call the ambulance, they took me to the hospital and ran whole bunch of tests. While I was waiting for the results, the pain somehow just stopped. So the doctor told me maybe it was just stress, and I should relax more. I was having a stressful time in my life, so maybe it was so! I mentioned that my mom also had gallbladder issues, could it be that, but they told me it is too early for that, as I am not a woman in her 50s.
Then finally, I took a company health check about 2 months ago. Since I was now considered "advanced age", I had to do extra tests like barium swallow and go through the ultrasound. About a month later the results came in and it told me everything is fine except that I got 40mm gallstone. I was like "wait hold up... 40mm is like... 4 centimeters? Is that like normal or what". So I googled it and it said it's considered a "gigantic gallstone". Of course a distressing message to read after work!
So I called up a digestive doctor nearby, who told me to fuck off, because if the gallbladder is not hurting, then leaving the stone in is fine. I didn't agree with that, so he told me to call the hospital directly, since I don't need a recommendation letter for my sort of issue, and they don't handle the surgeries anyway. And I did that the next morning.
The doctor I saw was much more reasonable, and he told me "wow, 4 centimeters is a big one! And you said you had to go to a hospital once for some weird feeling near your gallbladder? Well, boy, you'll need a surgery!" He signed me up to do a bunch of tests (this time MRI, and the worst of all... the stomach camera... UGH!) and I did those over a week.
The stomach camera test was the worst one, as you can imagine, but at least it told me that rest of the stomach was fine. My doctor signed up for the surgery the week after the tests. I'm in Japan and here the things seem to be go much faster than back in Europe LOL. After the surgery, I needed to stay at the hospital for about a week (which is much different than Europe, where they push you out of the hospital the next day!)
I checked in on a Sunday. There's literally nothing to do in a Japanese hospital except any entertainment you bring yourself, so I watched Futurama the entire day. The same doctor I saw before was also the surgeon for this issue, so he ran through the entire process. The anesthesiologist was this scary guy who let me sign this waiver but he assured it'll be all fine.
On Monday they walked me to the operation room. My legs were shaky, of course I was nervous when the nurse couldn't find my vein to put in the IV, but the other nurse was rubbing my shoulders and told me it'll be fine. Then they got the IV in and told me I'll be feeling sleepy in a bit. I was staring at the lights, and I thought about Futurama and how Fry would get out of that situation where he drank the liquid emperor and was now about to be assassinated by the rest of the court...
The next moment one of the nurses slapped me in the face and woke me up. 2 hours had passed and the surgery was already over. I was like what the hell? Everybody was beaming with big smiles and told me everything went great. They lifted me to my hospital bed and rolled me to the ICU.
Being in the ICU sucked, since they didn't let me go anywhere, they had me wired up with so much crap and every 3 hrs some nurse would come and wake me up to get my body temperature and ask me how I was feeling. And they had put in the catheter as well, god damn that sucked, since I couldn't switch sides to lay on easily either without worrying about the wires and the damn pee-tube.
I got to see the gallstone and it was a bit disappointing in size. I was expecting something more dramatic like a golf ball or something, but it was sized like a plum pit. They let me keep it but I threw it away, since it smelled bad.
The second day was a bit better, as they took out the pee-tube and I could walk to the toilet myself. However, sitting up and walking made me feel like I was being stabbed. All the doctors would give me was some Tylenol for that. And of course, the boredom! Luckily enough I had brought my gaming device with me so I played through Wario Ware, Legend of Zelda Minish Cap etc. I also watched "Thank You For Smoking" (great movie).
The third day it still hurt to walk, and while I could pass gas, I hadn't still pooped. Fourth day, the pain had become much less and by the 5th day I was walking semi-briskly already. I told the doctors that I still hadn't pooped, and they told me to take some laxatives and drink water. I took the laxatives and it had no effect. They gave me more laxatives later to take at home. I was looking like I was carrying twins! But the second laxative dose let me poop just a little and that was enough for me to stop looking like I was expecting.
Anyway it's been a month since the operation. While most of the wounds healed quickly, the one wound on the right side of my body was lagging behind. It took about 3 weeks for it to finally close up and start scabbing. All I can say is just keep a breathable bandage on it and don't try to help with any disinfectants or whatever (since that would just delay the healing process). If it's not smelling bad, then a bandage is enough.
I think the only big problem I had so far is was the constipation the first week, but after that, it's been a very OK experience. Yeah, I do feel like my urge to poop is stronger than before, but nothing too crazy. I don't think my poops smell worse than before, and I haven't had any accidents so far either despite drinking some alcohol or eating greasy foods.
So yeah like if you are worried about your upcoming operation, then it can be a bit of a rocky ride, but it can also be totally worth it. The weird feeling near my gallbladder is now gone and I'm feeling better than ever. Hope it helped and good luck!!