Porcelain gallbladder anyone ?

Posted , 4 users are following.

I was hoping someone had this & would love to here about their experience of this.

I am actually getting my GB removed tomorrow.

I am a Male 52yo.

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • Posted

    Hello, I had mine removed back this match because of constant problems but after three months of removal I'm not well again, I think it depends upon the person tbh some are fine some then are generally not I think it's luck of the draw. The surgery is fine least painful part of having gallstones issues in all honesty the worst part is the gass then pump into your as it's very uncomfortable but after 24 hours it passes. You may have diarrhea for a while and dont go back to eating fatty foods straight away because it can block up the bile but it becomes trial and error in all honesty like you try something don't agree with you you don't eat it. No one understands the Gall bladder the consultant will say that to you also it's strange. You can't shower with the dressings for at least two days they give you more to change into but they are available at the pharmacy too x

    • Posted

      Thank you Rachie38.

      Well 8 days have passed since my op and I agree whole heatedly the pain caused by the gas inserted, outweighed any other pain I had experienced with my GB previously. It took 4-5 days to actually pass most of it and it made me feel tired a lot of the time. I had constipation for the first 2-3 days and probably moved my bowels 4 times during the past week, although this morning I had my first bout of diarrhea (yellow water would describe it better) this is after having a very light diet yesterday which consisted only of Toast & Soup, although I had drank coffee during the past week and will change over to decaffeinated to try and assist this. I was instructed to change bandages after 4 days and remove and shower on the 6th day, which I actually did on the 7th. My wounds are healing well and nothing untoward at this stage. The surgeon noted no complications or anything a miss in the actual surgery, although I now await a biopsy result, as Porcelain GB's have a high risk of Cancer. I am hopeful that if it had been more serious the surgeon may well have seen this within the removed GB at that stage, but I am not sure they tell you this or not. So each day has got better after the gas had finally passed, disappointed to have the diarrhea today as I thought maybe I had missed that, but not to be, I guess, I will keep you posted.

  • Posted

    i am having my gallbladder out on tuesday. i am getting nervous. i guess thats normal. i just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experiences. it helps me to know what to expect. i am not looking forward to the pain from the gas. i have heard that over and over. one lady told me to try to sleep in a recliner for the first few days to help. did you find anything that eased it?. i really want to take as little pain meds as possible.

    • Posted

      It is manageable and will pass, my comment was not to scare, it was just the toughest part for me and as we can read on these boards everyone has a different story. I dealt with the upper pain chest/shoulders by laying flat, this dispersed the gas more evenly around the body which helped, although when you walk to try and ease the gas in the lower part of your body it does rise again, so it was a process of up and down a little a first but it did help. I also kicked the pain meds fairly quickly after about day 2 and started to take "active charcoal tablets" I did check with my Doctor that these where OK to take before discharge and started taking less than prescribed on the bottle and although I can not say they 100% helped, the information regarding them appears positive and they may well of assisted. It is Day 10 for me today and I do feel better, the operation gas has gone, although there is still gas and "burping" after food & drink, I think that is to be expected. I have kept my diet pretty bland to allow my system to get used to no GB, I had like many, been on a low fat diet for the past 3 years, so the desire to go get that Pizza etc. although is there, I know its something I have done with out, so I am not really missing it. One thing I would say, you will feel tired, I was surprised how tired I felt for the 1st week, so get as much rest as possible. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. P.s I was almost off the hospital bed when I arrived for my Op, as anxiety of the operation was high and I really thought I couldn't go through with it, I was so scared of the Anesthetic but so far all has worked out positive.

    • Posted

      do you think sleeping in any particular position was more comfortable?

      they are going to need to knock me out as soon as they put the iv in. haha. i just had foot surgery in february and i was having to fight back tears the whole time in preop i was so scared. ugh. the surgeon is pretty popular around here. everyone says he is great. the preop nurse told me he will come in right before and talk to me...which usually consists of okay you ready to get this done? lol.

    • Posted

      I slept on my back for well over a week, although it did cause some neck and head pressure when I awoke & I know a lot of people find this difficult, I may have leaned the technique from broken collar bones, where the only option was your back. But I now sleep on both sides fairly comfortably. As an update to my general condition, all things seems well, finally my BM's appear to have settled and I feel ready to start to introduce some different foods and almost 2 weeks down the line and feeling better day by day.

  • Posted

    OK nearly 3 week post OP & it appears my upper incision is either herniated or infected. I have a large swelling above the incision the length of the scar, which is sore to touch, no weeping etc from wound which appears to be healing well.

    Still on a fairly dull diet and BM's are now regular & more solid (urk! sorry) than the past 3 years and although still yellow in general. Still a lot of gurgling from tummy and odd sharp pain but nothing I believe to be sub normal after surgery.

    Still no results on my histopathology of my Gallbladder.

    I visit the Acute Care team at my local practice later today so hopefully can report back regarding the wound.

    Happy to hear from anyone who had similar wound issues.

  • Posted

    Update: wounds all good, the ridge/swelling is caused by the sutures above the wound, I have been given some hydrocortisone creme to thinly apply as it was a a little red but nothing to worry about.

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