Gallbladder removed! A (mostly) success story

Hi everyone, I thought I'd share my experience in case it helps anyone who is nervous about surgery. This is long but it's the whole story of my surgery and recovery. I had my gallbladder removed via laparoscopic 4 months ago. Before the surgery I had severe nausea most of the time and pain in my side and back. I had no stones but a HIDA test showed my gallbladder wasn't working at all (ejection fraction of 0%). I am a 31 year old woman. I was crazy nervous before my surgery, but everything went fine and I feel mostly better now!

The night before the surgery I was told to shower using a special antibacterial soap I got from the doctor. I couldn't eat or drink anything starting the night before. I had to shower with the soap again in the morning, then off to the hospital! I wore yoga pants and a sweatshirt with no bra - this was a good choice.

At the hospital I went to a room where I had to give a urine sample and brush my teeth and use a special mouthwash. I told the nurse it was my first surgery and I was nervous and she was SO nice! I changed into a robe and they placed an IV (it took several tries because I was dehydrated so I had some bruises from that afterwards).

The anesthesiologist came in to talk to me and I told him I am emetophobic, meaning I have a phobia of vomiting, and was concerned about the anesthesia because it makes my mom sick. I had told my surgeon in advance about this and had gotten a prescription for an antiemetic called Emend, it is expensive but apparently VERY effective. I took that, and also Reglan and an antacid. I think the anesthesiologist gave me Zofran during the surgery as well. He also did TIVA: total intravenous anesthetic, because the inhaled ones cause more nausea. I am happy to say I had NO nausea and was actually hungry when I woke up! So if you are worried about this at all just talk to your surgeon/anesthesiologist.

I did start crying a little bit when they wheeled me into the operating room, but the nurse (a different one) was very comforting and then the surgeon held my hand and chatted with me while they hooked me up to all the monitors. Then they put something in my IV and I was out!

I woke up about 2 hours later in a semi-private recovery room. I couldn't see or hear any other patients. I was very groggy and sooo sleepy and quite dizzy/lightheaded but felt fine. I had asked for no opiod pain relievers because they make my mom sick but I didn't have much pain while lying down. Eventually they took me to a hospital room where my mom was waiting and I ate some crackers and had some juice. Again, I felt totally fine! I did have to pee right away and they helped me to the bathroom. I changed and left. My surgery was at 10am and I was home by 2pm.

My abdomen was very sore but I never took anything stronger than ibuprofen. I had to sleep in a recliner for 2 nights becasue I couldn't sit up well. The worst part was gas pains, from gas they inject into your abdomen to see better. These were sharp pains in my shoulders for about 3-4 days. Walking around as much as possible helped. I started taking short walks the day after surgery (very short and hunched over haha) but I was able to move normally after 2 weeks, including lifting weights and doing yoga. If you can take 2 weeks off of work then I would recommend it.

My appetite was poor and I had diarrhea for about a month. I slowly felt better over the following month, and now I still have occasional diarrhea but I have IBS so it's pretty much back to normal. I can eat anything I want without problems, including my favorite, donuts! I do eat less and smaller meals now though, and I lost about 10 pounds but it seems to have leveled off now. I did eat a VERY low fat diet for a couple of weeks (chicken soup and crackers) and then slowly introduced fats back in. I peeled the glue off the incisions after 2 weeks (the surgeon told me to) and now after 4 months they're really not very noticable. I did have a huge bruise around my belly button at first though!

Now I have no pain, but still mild nausea - I had more tests and it turns out I also have delayed gastric emptying, or gastroparesis. Apparently this is common in people with gallbladder problems so if you have yours out and still have nausea you may want to be tested. But overall I feel about 50-60% better, which is a huge improvement! It means I can live my life mostly normally now, instead of having to stay home sick all the time.

I hope this helps anyone who is nervous about surgery, and feel free to ask me any questions!

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