My tummy hurts...

HRQ · December 2003

About six weeks ago, I went to the emergency room because I had intense pain in my side, fever of 104, and I didn't eat for four days because I was tired of throwing up.

Turns out I had a gallstone that was 1.2 cm's in diameter. The gallstone apparently was feeling claustrophobic, was attempting to exit the gallbladder and got itself stuck in the opening to wherever the gallbladder is connected. The ambitious little sucker tried this twice.

The doctor removed the gallbladder surgically yesterday. I've never had surgery before, other than having my wisdom teeth removed, but I wasn't too nervous. The part I was most concerned about was being knocked out for hte surgery. I'm kind of a control freak and didn't like the idea of being knocked out. On the other hand, I certainly wasn't interested in being AWAKE for the surgery and so I chose the lesser of both evils.

I slept from 1PM yesterday until 9:30AM today. I have four incisions on my belly. They are pretty sore, but other than that, I'm just kind of groggy.

Any of you out there ever been through this? If you have been through this before, is there anything I should expect to experience as a side effect? I was waaayyy too out of it to remember anything my doctor told me. He did give me written instructions re: bathing, pain pills, etc.

ray a · December 2003

Did your doctor warn about the side effects of posting on the HR forum too soon after surgery?

I've never had surgery and after watching my wife go through some difficult surgeries with complications, I would prefer to be shot and buried in the back yard.

Hope you recover quickly, HRQ!!!! xhugs

mushroomHR · December 2003

HRQ: My sympathies. I had quite extensive surgery three years ago. I was in the operating room for 8 hours. I was so sick when I woke up from the anesthesia but when I got up and moved around I felt better. It just takes time to recover so go ahead and sleep it off and be patient. In no time you'll be feeling your old self again! Happy Holidays and best wishes for the new year.

FHR · December 2003

HRQ,
I hope you are feeling better!
I have been through surgery. You may feel just a little strange for a while. Don't fight it, just go with the flow.
I hope that this doesn't affect your holidays!
Cristina

SDDCHR · December 2003

I've found that it's not the surgery that hurts so bad, it's the darn pain from the removal of the catheter. Talk about trying to hold it for as long as you can.......

blw · December 2003

Sorry you're under the weather. Take advantage of it and the holidays and rest and relax! Prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. Barbara

HR in NY · December 2003

I had my gallbladder removed about 5 years ago. The surgery was so much better than the pain I was feeling with the gallstones. I was down for about a week then basically felt like myself after that. I remember feeling really tired for about 3 days (good excuse to just lie around) and I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. The worst part was the sore throat from having the tubes stuck down my throat. Believe me you will be glad you had the darn out. Gallbladder attacks were worse than giving birth for me. I have no side affects now from not having a gallbladder. You did the right thing.

HRQ · December 2003

Thanks everyone for your kind response to my blatant plea for sympathy! x:D

I am back at work today - feel great. When I talk, I sound like a barking seal - but no pain. My belly button feels like someone poked me really hard there, but other than that, I'm fine. AND I get to wear sweatpants because anything else would rub on the incisions.

Parabeagle · December 2003

Did they let you keep the gallstone? And are you going to make a pendant out of it? x;-)

I'm KIDDING, people!!

HRQ · December 2003

Actually, I had planned to ask to see it after the surgery but was too out of it when I woke up. Didn't dawn on me to make a keepsake out of the thing. x;-)

I'm curious to see what caused all that pain! I was kind of picturing actual stone-like objects, but my sister-in-law who is a nurse said they are kind of like little masses of tissue or something. I'm picturing a raisin that's been sitting in water overnight.

Hope nobody's eating raisin bread right now... xflash

ray a · December 2003

No he's not... he's serious.

rad · December 2003

HRQ, I feel your pain! I ended up in the ER about 3 weeks ago with pain so bad I thought (hoped at one point) I'd die. Turns out my gall baldder was to blame but there are no stones, it did not empty completely or some such nonsense. But my god, I can't get over the pain and nausea I was feeling. I took a cab to the ER and ended up on a gurney in the hallway for 5 hours until they found a bed in the trauma room for me. My family and friends all yelled at me for not calling them. I tried to explain that I was in too much pain, they were not even on my radar, I was so singly focused on seeing a doctor that I could not form any other real cognizant thoughts.

Hopefully this will never happen to me again, if it does I have to go for all sorts of tests and possibly have it removed but that will be a last resort.

I hope you have a speedy recovery!!

slogan · December 2003

I have had two bouts with kidney stones and that was no fun. The nurses kept telling me it was God's way of getting even on us guys compared to what women have to go thru for child birth.

Back the end of October my wife & I had jsut finished dinner at Johnny Corino's (Italian food). We had to go over to the Home Depot to get stuff for re-building our bathroom and when i got out of our truck I was struck by this severe pain that doubled me over. Long story short, it's my gallbladder. It is only working 9% of the time so the doc wants to take it out. Compared to the kidney stones, this pain was not as severe, but it did put me in the emergency room till the doc got the pain under control.

Earlier this year i had two surgeries in one day (knee & ear). I was under for 3 hours. My wife said I looked like a 4 legged drunk trying to get into the house.

All said, take your time in healing and enjoy the pampering. Yes you will be sore for a while, that is normal.

HRQ · December 2003

slogan and rad, recovering from gallbladder surgery is FAR less painful than the actual attacks. Just knowing that I'll never go through the attacks again was well worth the surgery.

Every day is a bit better. The incision in my belly button is surrounded by an ugly blue/green/yellow bruise, and that is the only part that hurts now. The other incisions just look like tiny little half inch stab wounds.

Every night, my kids ask to look at my "owies". They like to touch them through the first aid tape and are pretty good about not poking them. Every night, I get to explain AGAIN why I have the owies. (:|

System · December 2003

HRQ, I'm glad you're up and around. Years ago I had a kidney removed, and I learned that abdominal surgery is a pain because you use those muscles to walk, sit, breathe, laugh.... For a while, I walked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and talked like Mickey Mouse. x:-8

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

psrcello · December 2003

I've had a couple of abdominal surgeries, and was never lucky enough to have just the little incisions. I was "gutted" last November, and came out of surgery stapled together along a vertical line from my belly button down - looked like I had a zipper! Actually, the worst part of the recovery was removing the staples!

I was supposed to have been out of work for six to eight weeks, but I recovered really quickly for an "old broad". My only words of advice are don't overdo it, but conversely, don't underdo it either - I think part of my quick recovery was attributable to doing however much I felt I could do, listening to my body, and not being afraid to move around.

Leslie · December 2003

I had an emergency appedectomy January 28, 2001. How does this date stay so near and dear to me? After feeling lousy all day, I tried to go to a Super Bowl party. The game barely got started and I was on my way to urgent care. Half time was spent traveling from urgent care to the emergency room, and the second half, post game, first episode of the first Survivor, local news, and anything else that runs on tv until about 2 am Monday morning was spent sitting in the emergency room groaning. When they finally got to me, it was about ready to rupture. Surgery at 6 a.m. could no longer be arthroscopic - oh no, now it had to be a full blown incision. Five days and some internal bleeding and infections later, I was finally released from the hospital.
I'm glad yours seems to be a much easier surgery, release and recovery.

HRQ · December 2003

Holy cow, Leslie! I feel pretty fortunate! I'm sorry your appendectomy was so invasive - I know it just works out that way in some cases, especially when they let you sit and stew in your pain for so long.

Prior to my surgery, various people told me that recovery will be painful, I should expect not to be able to work or even sit up for several days, I'll have diarrhea, I'll be constipated, I'll have gas, I can never eat meat or greasy food again, I'll throw up a lot, I'll be miserable, doom doom doom.

I decided to EXPECT everything to go smoothly, and that'll just have to be it. I figure if I expect to be miserable, then I WILL be miserable. Same went for both pregnancies: I expected childbirth to go quickly and smoothly, and it DID, both times.

Ah, the power of positive thinking! (I realize in those emergency cases, you just had to take it as it came. I had six weeks between my attack and my surgery to "ponder" how the surgery/recovery would go.)

rad · December 2003

I am glad you are recovering well. I am not worried about having a scar ( I can always get another tattoo!) but I am terrified of being under anesthesia. I have endometriosis - thats a whole different world of pain- and my fear of anesthesia is why I have not had that removed.

My friends did tease me a bit afterward when I told them that I was examined by 5 male doctors. One friend wondered if they were married and I said yes, I saw their rings. As she put it, "girl, its good to know you were down, but you weren't out!"

HRQ · December 2003

rad - being the control freak that I am, I was NOT thrilled about being under anesthesia. Now that I've been through it, it's no big deal. The anesthesiologist added the tube to my IV, and I was making small talk with my mother-in-law. (Husband had to work) I don't remember falling asleep. The next thing I remember was waking up because they were ripping off the tape that held my tubes to my arm. I'm assuming I didn't do or say anything embarrassing prior to falling asleep, because nobody was snickering at me later. x;-)

Roberta · December 2003

Just to give you an idea about gallstones...my grandmother had gallstone surgery years ago (I was a kid then). She kept her stones in a clear medicine bottle--one was the size of a large peach pit and the other one was the size of an apricot pit. She just wanted proof that the surgery was necessary, I guess!

For my own surgery (in August this year), I was scheduled for the cholecystectomy when I called the surgeon's office to ask about having a lump removed from my back. Apparently the office thought I wanted it removed the same time as my gallbladder, so I got to have front and back surgery (outpatient). The surgeon removed the back lump first and sent it to the pathology lab. Unfortunately, it was malignant. So the pathologist called the OR and told the surgeon to "look around" while he did the gallbladder surgery. Guess what? The surgeon found another tumor, also malignant. There is nothing like finding out your gallbladder troubles are the least of your worries.

On the plus side, I have gone through treatment and have returned to work full-time and I expect a full recovery as soon as I regain some strength and hair. Ah, the joys of being bald!

HRQ · December 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-30-03 AT 02:18PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Wow - I'm glad to hear you are back to work, and I hope you continue to feel better.

Your experience is why so many people avoid seeing a doctor - they're afraid the doctor will confirm there IS a problem. Ignorance is bliss until it's too late to do anything about the problem.

My tummy hurts...

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