8 months since nightmare began

Posted , 3 users are following.

Well it's 8 months today since I had my gallbladder removed. It's been the worst time in my whole life. If I could turn the clock back I would never have had the operation. I had 1 large stone causing me some pain and like everyone else took my surgeons advise to have my gallbladder removed. I read all the horror stories and convinced myself that wouldn't happen to me and spoke to so many who had the operation and who told me I'd be fine (a lot of them were economical with the truth about how it's affected them). The day I got the call to come in the next day for the operation I hesitated and told them I'd ring them back. My gut was telling me not to have it done but those around me said go for it and I thought of my surgeons words if you have an attack over Christmas you will be in right trouble. What was to be a simple operation turned into a 4 hour open operation due to adhesions from previous surgery. When I woke I felt sick and I've never felt right since. I vomited all the time in the hospital and then the lovely yellow diarrhea started. I was told it would settle down. When I got home the vomiting stopped but the diarrhea continued all the time at first and then just in the mornings. After 8 weeks the vomiting and horrendous nausea started again. This time I would wake in the middle of the night feeling sick. The hospital visits started then with test after test all ok. During a 3 week stay in hospital in March I was told I had a large cyst on my ovary (which was found when they found the gallstone in October). I asked could this be making me sick and no one answered me. I started psyllium husk and calcium to stop the diarrhea. I saw doctor after doctor until eventually a top gi doc admitted it was a side effect of the surgery. I was sent home with loads of drugs to stop me getting sick. None of which worked. Out of desperation I started acupuncture which helped somewhat. She recommended milk thistle to help my liver detox but also to balance my hormones and get rid of the cyst. During all this time my gp was a great support to me and kept telling me I would get better as she had seen this happen to others in the past. She told me it would take a year. About 4 weeks ago I got severe pain in my ovary which then turned into contraction type pain for days on end. The funny thing is the vomiting and nausea seemed to improve when this happened. I had a scan a week later which showed the cyst had partially ruptured and was a lot smaller. I realised then that the cyst was a big part of my problem. I still don't feel well but am better then I was a few months ago. Have had some nausea again the last few days and am hoping its to do with the cyst. I have made some good friends through this site and I want to thank those who have sent me so many messages of support over the last 8 months. I am horrified to see so many suffering too. I am frightened that I'll never be the same again and will never recover from this. For so many this operation is a life and death situation and is justified but for me and others I feel removing the gallbladder was completely unnecessary. I will always regret this operation and feel my life has been cruelly taken away from me. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done now. As each day passes I become more fearful about my future. I have heard of so many who were unwell for over a year after the operation and then it settled down and I can only hope I am going to be one of those people. For those considering the operation try everything you can first to save your gallbladder unless it's a life or death situation because unfortunately no one can predict how our bodies will react. X

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

Prev
  • Posted

    This is my third attempt to answer your latest question about side effects right after surgery and every time the page has reloaded and I have lost what I had written.  Briefly, only remember constipation for about two weeks which cleared up on its own.  I appreciate I got off lightly compared to lots on here.
    • Posted

      Thank you Susan. I really appreciate your feedback. We need to see more positive stories here. You didn't post in another post yesterday that things took a year to settle down? It must be another Susan as she said she can eat everything cream curries but finds bread hard to digest. X
    • Posted

      Nope,that wasn't me.  By a month and the wounds healed I was completely back to normal.  Don't eat cream but was on low fat diet anyway (family heart disease).  Bread no problem.  Just alcohol not tolerated well anymore but was never much of a drinker.  A glass of rose once in a while so not desperately missng it.  Just eat moderately and everything I did previously. x

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.