GallBladder removed today - my experiences

Hi all,

I've spent the last 12 months using online forums to find out what was wrong with me, so thought I would give something back!

I started suffering with stomach pains in November last year. These were on and off for a few months, culminating in an extreme amount of discomfort one day in February. I wouldn't say it was extreme pain as such, how I described it was like someone have shoved a pencil in my stomach And all the acid had leaked out. It was like a really extremes bear hug which pulsed for about 5 minutes. This continued on and off for the next 2 days. I ended up in ER thinking I was having a heart attack.

This went away and then came back in July even worse. In the meantime the doctors diagnosed it as a panic attack and put me on Prozac. An ultrasound of my gallbladder came back negative for stones or issues.

To cut a long story short, I went private in the uk and was referred for a hida scan which showed my gallbladder showing at 0% ejection. This was two weeks ago and I have just this morning had m gallbladder removed.

For anyone who is panicking about the op -DON'T ! Mine has gone very smoothly. I went to theatre at 11am, at which point I was scared stiff! I'd built up into a real state and was petrified. The anaethisist laid me down and put a gap in my hand - standard scratch pain. Into this he injected antibiotics, some pain killer (made me feel drunk) and the the drug to knock me out.

Next thing I was coming around in the recovery room. I had no pain, just 3 holes in my abdomen. I was given paracetamol and tramadol and dozed/relaxed forthe rest of the afternoon. Had little or no pain, just a little bit of discomfort when moving around.

I had a cottage pie ,fruit juice and ice cream for my evening meal and had no issues with keeping it down. Just a tip - if you have a sore throat at all then try and avoid the fruit juice!

Now sat up in bed typing this and eating a ham salad sandwich! I've got no pain whatsoever from my wounds or op area - the only issue is that I don't seem able to breathe in deeply due to trapped win in my right lung area. Not a massive issue.

I hope this will put some people's minds at rest about the operation. I've certainly had an easy time of it so far. I'm sure other people have issues, however they certainly seem to be in the minority.

All the best to everyone and keep well. Please feel free to ask an questions at all, while it is all still fresh in the mind!