Post operative recovery for Gall Bladder removal

Hi all

Saw this forum and thought how good it was that people are sharing experiences. The NHS is a very good system but having worked in it at one point know that sometimes the details get missed even if overall the service is good. In this case I would have liked to have had far more tutoring in the way the post op recovery goes.

Briefly my history is

Had operation. 2hrs later I was given a large meal of steak and kidney pie, potatoes and veg which set me off and had to have morphine to see me through the night.

Been taking the odd pain killer and Lactulose to keep me regular as opiates like Tramadol do bung you up. Waterworks OK which was a relief as my hernia op the year before they packed up for 24hrs due to the anaesthetic they used but being ignorant of this I was in a right old panic.

So 10 day went by and on the fast track to recovery... oh deary me no. I tried to do too much in physical exertion and full of confidece went out for a meal which  was a bit spicy on the friday 10 days after the op . 

About 1 hr later  I keeld over at home with great pain in the side, hardly able to breath and sat up all night watching TV as I simply could no lie down.

Went to the local Out of hours service on the Saturday and Sunday but in the end decided to hang on till I could see the consultant instead of the convoluted A&E pathway.

The PALS service in the hospital is so good if you need help do contact your local one. Anyway got to see the consultant on the followig Tuesday and had an x-ray and bloods taken showing no infection of respiratory problems. Still in pain it seemed all the good recovery was set back to worse than zero but during the following few days it has got very slowly better.

I have noticed severe bruising on my side which I think someone else said they didnt notice till 10 days after the op.

Any way I am taking it very easy, no walks just pottering and Hanna my wife does any lifting. It is now just over two weeks since the op and I guess I feel about 2-5% better per day.

I have 1 tramadol at night around 10pm to help me sleep but at least I can just about sleep lying down with 2-3 pillows under my head.

I take 15ml of lactulose once at 9am and one at 9pm to help things go through.

Foodwise I am now eating smaller portions maybe 5 times perday eg breakfast is about two tbl spoons of alpen plus skimmed milk (< 1% fat)

and mid day its clear home made soup and or 1 ham sandwich,with lettuce 

Evening is 1 ham sandwich and maybe 1/4 tin of manderins in fruit juice .

So as I am also diabetic it is low fat, low sugar,carbohydrate and only Ham or white meat so not a gastronomic experience but it hlps.

So far the regime is working but the recovery rate I calculate puts me up to average fitness in a minimum of 4-7weeks ie: driving, walking light lifting ad normal low fat diet  not the 10 days that is indicated by the NHS doc which says this is the time before return to work!!!!!!!

So much detail has been left out of the information provided by the NHS but I guess if I had read this site before the op I might not have had it. As it is my gall bladder didnt have stones it seems but had an abscess due to all the reinfections so removal of this was paramount to prevent worse things happening over time.

Dont get me wrong the NHS system is I think one of the best in the world and the staff at the hospital wonderful. I am in next week for a follow up ultr-sound to see if there are any retained micro stones or any other untoward problems, but hopefully the post op problems were down to my impatience to get better too soon so beware after the op TAKE IT EASY for a minimum of 4 weeks.

Anyone care to comment please let me know

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