Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery

You will likely do better eating very low fat especially at first. It does help to have smaller meals, eating more frequently instead of 3 main meals. Right after surgery it helps to hug a small pillow to your tummy area to help support it when you change positions, cough or sneeze. If you feel gas pressure when you first wake up, sitting up is better than laying down flat. Using a rocking chair will help eliminate some of the gas

I had 5 "port holes" / incisions. 4 were for utensils/tools and the one just under the breastbone was used to pull the gallbladder through so it was the most tender. Mine were stitched closed from the inside so there were no stitches for me to deal with

I suffered a bitter taste in my mouth due to elevated levels of bile in the system that had nowhere to go I guess. Everything tasted metallic and yucky ! It eventually made me nauseaus so I asked the Dr about it and was given some anti nausea meds which helped some. That tasted lasted about 3.5 weeks. Throat spray helped a bit.

Stay away from fried foods and spices until your stomach can handle it. Take things slow. If at first you feel better, don't over-do (like most of us do) because you'll regret it (nausea, vomitting, diarrhea, pain returns... I couldn't unscrew the childproof caps from my pain meds by myself. When I struggle to try, it hurt my tummy muscles. Don't be shy about asking for help. Our downstairs bathroom has a heavy sliding wood door; I couldn't do it without help. Hang out in comfy, easy to wear pj's or sweats. Sometimes I had to hurry to get to the bathroom and if I'd had a zipper to deal with it wouldn't have been a good thing Your bowels are going to get irritated by the new levels of bile since there's no holding place for it anymore. It takes time to adjust for that. Some folks seem to take longer than others. You may need to reduce dairy products or go with skim or non-fat while you're adjusting. Your doctor can give you a list of good foods to eat that will be tolerated better.

I hope you snap back into shape Think of it as a journey. No one's is the same. Good luck to you!

I had my lap done November last year.  When you wake from surgery you feel a bit dozy for a while, but they allow you to eat something gentle like soup.  Can't tell you how great a nice boring bowl of soup is!  I did have dessert but can't remember what it was.  Following morning I had porridge for breakfast and was home soon after.  You feel a bit stiff but you will be able to walk gently.  Take little walks at home and gradually increase your steps daily.  You will get quite a lot of burping and a bit sore with the main incision but it's amazing how quick it does heal. I couldn't wait for a nice bath, so I had some very waterproof dressings - the film around the outside was like a second skin which went over the gauze dressings.  I was pretty much back to normal after a week - although I didn't want to push things too much.  After a fortnight I was given the good to go thumbs up.  Just try not to eat so much - your tummy will soon let you know with twinges and aches.  You won't be able to eat quite as much because your digestive system has changed (I realised that after pigging out last week and paid for my greed!).

Walking does help to ease burping to a degree so try and keep up the exercise - you don't need to train for a marathon though!

There are some films on Youtube that I found useful - best one was a young girl who filmed her progress.

You are young so your recovery will be much quicker than mine.  :D

Hello I had my gallbladder removed in July, for the first few months I had a really strict diet basically nothing bad, now I've introduced all normal foods and have had no pain whatsoever, the only thing I notice is I bloat alot more now after meals, everyone is different with the surgery I read really positive recovery posts but mine took a little longer and it's all very painful, I hope everything goes well

Hi, just had mine removed Monday. In and out within 4.5 hours which was nice. No advice given on diet and no discussion of any depth about how the procedure had gone. I was told I would receive a call at home within four days to see if I was feeling ok. So I guess  I will get some advice then. I am feeling good with just soreness around incision areas and I i have noticed acid reflux and a lot of hiccuping. I was advised by a friend who had the procedure previously to take digestive enzymes immediately before meals to help with potential digestive issues. So I am taking that advice and doing that. My appetite is very good and I have no nausea. I am still taking co-coda mol and this is causing some constipation which I was advised of. Looking forward to having a bath and changing my dressings today as advised. Do find a feeling of being bloated by meals I think but the incredibly annoying gnawing feeling of inflammation and stabbing pain of my dysfunctional gallbladder has now gone. My only hope is that it lasts as my consultant was very loathe to take my gallbladder out as he is " not keen " on the HIDA test in general as a measure of gallbladder problems. Mine was showing a 20% ejection fraction. Which he then interpolated through somehow into a 50/50 chance of symptom relief from gallbladder removal. Initially it was 80/20, 70/30 but as it became more evident that all other tests were indicating no other issues that could be causing my symptoms the value of the HIDA became inversely and somewhat therefore perversely less important. I had to get the test privately at a separate hospital which I think annoyed the hospital immensely and then they just wanted to ignore the outcome even though it was the only test supporting a reason for my symptoms. Sorry to add all that it just still annoys me it took over a year after diagnosis to get in for surgery. Hope it all went well for you.