Gall Bladder Removal

You've got this behind you now, Ian.
Hey and they can only take it out once. 
We still may have this ahead of us.

Good to hear you're doing well.

Great to hear the good news Ian.

What happens to all that air? ???

Don't let them turn you into an old fart!!

Best wishes
DaveP

Three days later.

How are you doing, Ian?



Henk

micaddict said:

Three days later.

How are you doing, Ian?



Henk

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It is a long process, much longer than I anticipated. Saturday was bad - a lot of pain and I could not eat a thing. Yesterday was a bit better and today is better still. Still a lot of soreness, bloatedness and wind! I can actually get out of a chair unaided now.

Cheers

Ian

Glad you can complain.

Sorry your recovery is not as speedy as we hoped.

I've been off-line with a sore back, unable to sit at PC (or anything else).

> they can only take it out once.

That was the good news of my appendectomy.

Some years later they re-opened the appy wounds to take out my gall. (The appy job was much larger than most.)

There's a good chance the mechanical fix for my back trouble is a surgery.

Should have a zipper put it.

PRR said:

Glad you can complain.

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Angry more than anything. Angry that the docs told me nothing about what recovery would be like. If I had known what it would be like I would just have gritted my teeth and got on with it knowing it was par for the course. It is their 'cut and run' attitude I don't like.

Cheers

Ian

They told my brother that he should  " turn a corner " around three days after
but it's been everyday is a little better and back to the day job 2 weeks later
pumping you up with the gas, he also felt bloated even though he lost weight
so every day better until you don't notice it anymore or as much, you're on the road!

Today is an improvement. Not needed any pain killers intill now (4pm). When I got in the shower this morning my wife noticed a large bruise from below my belly button to my groin. Wasn't expecting that. Lot's gurgling in that region also today though I have not had a bowel movement since before the op. (sorry, too much detail)

Cheers

Ian

ruffrecords said:

Angry more than anything. Angry that the docs told me nothing about what recovery would be like. If I had known what it would be like I would just have gritted my teeth and got on with it knowing it was par for the course. It is their 'cut and run' attitude I don't like.

Cheers

Ian

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I wish you good recovery.
I had that about 5-6 years ago, and everything went as expected, except the docs told me before : "one lives well without it"., almost implying that a gall bladder was a superfetatory addition to an already too complex body.
This is not exactly true.
The result for me is that I'm reluctant to make any appointment in the morning, since sometimes I have to go to the bog 6-7 times at half-hour intervals. I can live with it since i can manage my time schedule, but sometimes when I need to take a plane, I'm a little nervous about it.
It seems the sequels are not the same for everybody though.

@abbey

They told me the same thing. I used to trust doctors but now they are beginning to sound like politicians and lawyers.

Cheers

Ian

Hope you heal up quick Ian!

abbey road d enfer said:

ruffrecords said:

Angry more than anything. Angry that the docs told me nothing about what recovery would be like. If I had known what it would be like I would just have gritted my teeth and got on with it knowing it was par for the course. It is their 'cut and run' attitude I don't like.

Cheers

Ian

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I wish you good recovery.
I had that about 5-6 years ago, and everything went as expected, except the docs told me before : "one lives well without it"., almost implying that a gall bladder was a superfetatory addition to an already too complex body.
This is not exactly true.
The result for me is that I'm reluctant to make any appointment in the morning, since sometimes I have to go to the bog 6-7 times at half-hour intervals. I can live with it since i can manage my time schedule, but sometimes when I need to take a plane, I'm a little nervous about it.
It seems the sequels are not the same for everybody though.

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The doctor explained the gall bladder's function to me as such: it stores bile. (And when you're from New Jersey, you gotta lotta bile.) Bile is made in the liver (which is why gall bladder problems often manifest the same symptoms as liver problems, such as jaundice), and as you digest your food, the bile gets injected into the intestine through the bile duct. Normally the digestion requires only the bile generated by the liver. But in some cases, like if you're eating raw meat, you need extra bile to aid the digestion, and that's where the gall bladder comes in. It's like a decoupling capacitor for bile, and supplies it when the liver can't.

Since most modern diets eschew raw meat (for some Real Good Reasons) and other difficult-to-digest foods, the need for bile storage isn't as great as it was when we were living in caves. Removing the gall bladder doesn't have much side effects, and of course leaving it in if it is diseased could be fatal.

My gall bladder went away nearly 20 years ago, and I didn't have any of the side effects discussed here.  My biggest complaint? The Jesus Lizard (at the time, the best live band around) were playing at the local club and I couldn't get out the door to get to the show. (Side note: the original gall bladder issues cropped up about eight or so years earlier, and I was so sick that I had to give up my tickets to see two Buzzcocks shows!) The doctor assured me that after the surgery I would be able to eat pretty much anything, which turned out to be true.

Of course, each person is different. I suppose there is a difference in recovery for patients who are 30 years old (like I was at the time) and those who are somewhat older.

The doctors go by what they observe in patients. But I suppose the question is: how often does the surgeon contact the patient say, three or four weeks after the procedure? I remember a follow-up with the surgeon about a month after the operation, and I didn't have any ill effects to report, so he said, "If there are any concerns, call to schedule a follow-up, and if you need your appendix out, you know who to call."

Andy Peters wrote:

it stores bile

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Exactly.
It doesn't make bile.

Eat in moderation ( a good idea even if you still have your gall bladder) and you should be good.
But if you like to swallow, say, um ... a big plate of fish and chips within ten minutes (I thought I'd pick a British example  ), you may run in trouble afterwards.
Of course we're not all exactly the same.

This bit was written brilliantly in the GDIY vein BTW:

It's like a decoupling capacitor for bile, and supplies it when the liver can't.

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Glad you're feeling better!
My wife was in for surgery a bit ago, and the recovery time was MUCH longer than expected.  Please don't push it.
Best,
Bruno2000

More like a reservoir cap... glad you are recovering, the gall bladder is one of the human body's several excess parts. Since we evolved from lower organisms, it may have served a different purpose in our distant past. 

Common misperception is that high cholesterol comes from eating cholesterol. The body makes cholesterol (bile) to digest fats inside our gut that can't be absorbed through the intestine wall without the digestive assist, then the body reabsorbs the cholesterol to reuse again. 

My momma had her gall bladder removed and lived a couple decades longer.

It seems having a gut that can't absorb fat efficiently is not a bad thing, while any undigested food energy left to fester in the gut may cause some mischief on it's way out.

Good luck

JR

More like a reservoir cap...

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Keep 'em comin'.

Today I feel like a microphone. ;D

Here's some more material. After a night spent expelling vast quantities of wind at regular intervals, today I feel like a football has been removed from my guts. I finally feel half human again. Actually managed to eat four buttered Krakawheat with Spam and cucumber without feeling totally bloated. Today I am a pretty happy bunny!!


Cheers

Ian

Does the medical community do anything to help restore the gut micro-flora?  They probably hit you with general anti-biotics before the operation that made life difficult for all the microbes that help with digestion (thus the gas and bloating).

Yogurt with live cultures could help, but it sounds like your gut is returning to business as usual. Beano (an enzyme  IIRC) might help too.

Be well...  now get back to work.

JR

JohnRoberts said:

Does the medical community do anything to help restore the gut micro-flora?  They probably hit you with general anti-biotics before the operation that made life difficult for all the microbes that help with digestion (thus the gas and bloating).

Yogurt with live cultures could help, but it sounds like your gut is returning to business as usual. Beano (an enzyme  IIRC) might help too.

Be well...  now get back to work.

JR

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You are right, they shot me with two different intravenous antibiotics just be I was discharged. They were unusual ones too because in the past I have had antibiotic induced C difficile. I have been taking Yakult daily in an attempt to replant some decent flora.

Cheers

Ian

> if you need your appendix out, you know who to call."

Guy who did my appendix incidentally found my hernia and used the app follow-up to offer a hernia job.

Gall bladder-- today we eat small mush 2 to 6 times a day. Before supermarkets, before farming, we would hunt for several days between kills, and have to eat the whole beast essentially at once. A gall-maker big enuff to break-down several pounds of raw  meat in one meal would be gigantic. The gall bladder let us make and store gall steady, then gush when needed. Filter cap, or even a battery. Like solar lights: slow charge all day, then a few hours of dusk light.