31 yr old with successful gallbladder removal and 1 cm polyp that turned out to be benign

Hi guys, my name’s Kaitlin and I’m 31 yrs old. I’m posting this to give others hope and settle any anxieties for people who are awaiting gallbladder removal. I’m about 3 weeks post op. I had to get a cholecystectomy because of gallstones and a large polyp which had grown 3 mm in 3 yrs to 1 cm. I never had any real gallbladder attacks but this past yr I was feeling extremely bloated and experiencing burning pain where my gallbladder was. I’ve been putting off surgery for 6 hrs due to fear but knew I had to due to the bloating, and not wanting to keep the growing polyp in there. The day after surgery, I was in pain but it was more of an achy pain that was manageable. I didn’t want to take any of the strong pain meds, so I just stuck to extra strength Tylenol and a heating pad, which actually helped a lot. Getting out of bed was a chore but I forced myself to move about and take short walks around my house. I did eat soft foods the first day post op, like potatoes, bananas, toast, apple sauce. Each day I felt stronger, the extreme bloating decreased, and I gradually introduced good fats back into my diet, like salmon and avocado. I know I’m only 3 weeks after the operation, but I honestly feel great! I do still have bloating after I eat something fattening and I have had a little bit of acid reflux but I pretty much feel normal. I haven’t had any diarrhea yet, just soft stools at times. I should also note that I am on Pantoprazole for acid reflux which I was taking prior to my operation and that I have been taking Now Super Enzymes right before eating a meal with fat. I really believe these have helped normalize my digestion. The drs also had to do a pathology on my polyp which turned out to be a benign cholesterol polyp. So if anyone has any sort of polyp, hopefully this eases your worry since mine was on the larger side. I’m not trying to minimize anyone’s bad experiences post gallbladder removal, just trying to help bring light to worriers like myself. Let me know if you have questions since I’m happy to be apart of the no gallbladder sisterhood and I’ll post any questions if something arises 😃

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