If you've had your gallbladder removed, get in here...

Andy J.

Andy J.

Doin’ it LIVE
Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Location
Winston
I just found out this morning that I need to have my gallbladder removed. Merry Christmas to me!

Assuming they can do it with the small incisions and not the old fashioned way, what's the real-life recovery time? Could I have surgery on Thursday and be back to work (desk job) on Monday? Or is that wishful thinking?
 
Depends a lot on you.

I have 3 friends that have had it done. One just last week. She is 74 and doing great. I think she is going back to work next Monday, so 10 days (at that age).

A buddy of mine went back to work on the 3rd day. But he also only took 6 days after a quad bypass before going back on half days

You'll probably have a driving restriction for a few days, and will need time to figure out the new diet and eating schedule. There will be changes.


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Desk job should be fine, still take is easy
 
Nothing of value to add here other than if you get your balls snipped...listen to the doctor when he says "I wouldn't get off the couch aside to take a shit for the next few days". Take it easy on the couch with a bag of ice/peas/okra/etc. and let your lady wait on you.












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Andy J. said:
I just found out this morning that I need to have my gallbladder removed. Merry Christmas to me!

Assuming they can do it with the small incisions and not the old fashioned way, what's the real-life recovery time? Could I have surgery on Thursday and be back to work (desk job) on Monday? Or is that wishful thinking?
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wife had hers removed. Shes is a pretty tough old bird. It whipped her ass for 2 solid days. Im talking not getting out of bed whipped. She was half functional day 3.
In contrast after child birth and even a tubal after the second she was up and cooking/cleaning/house work child care the day of. She says its the worst she has ever felt and still a decade later talks about it. Like all things medical, YMMV.
 
Thank you for the feedback! Sounds like I am probably a little overly optimistic and should plan to take a week off (or at least work from home).
 
rcalexander105 said:
Nothing of value to add here other than if you get your balls snipped...listen to the doctor when he says "I wouldn't get off the couch aside to take a shit for the next few days". Take it easy on the couch with a bag of ice/peas/okra/etc. and let your lady wait on you.












Ask me how I know...
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How do you know?
 
kaiser715 said:
There will be changes.
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And by changes, he means certain foods will give you grief...but if you're like most who've had it out....once you eat, you better stay close to a bathroom!


Andy J. said:
I'm planning to do it in the next 6 months or so. Your advice is not lost on me!
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Heed that advice...and also, make SURE they give you a Valium to take prior to leaving home for the procedure. They forgot to prescribe one for me so I went into the office so tense you coulda shoved a piece of coal up my ass and twisted it to get the hope diamond!

He had to hit me 4x with local before I couldn't feel the scalpel o_O (He told me the MOST he had ever used was 2x the local prior to me)
 
CasterTroy said:
Heed that advice...and also, make SURE they give you a Valium to take prior to leaving home for the procedure. They forgot to prescribe one for me so I went into the office so tense you coulda shoved a piece of coal up my ass and twisted it to get the hope diamond!

He had to hit me 4x with local before I couldn't feel the scalpel o_O (He told me the MOST he had ever used was 2x the local prior to me)
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HOLE.LEE.CHIT!!! I can't emphasize this enough. I didn't get one either.

I was able to get numbed up no problem and Doc got started and I could feel a little pressure but no big deal at first. About 10ish minutes went by and he and I were just shooting the shit talking about a bunch of nothing (hunting, fishing, riding, his lake house, etc.). Well, he was finishing up ball #1 and all of a sudden I got a little bit of a nauseous feeling. So I just kinda chilled out and stopped talking a bit and tried telling myself "you're good man...it's all in your head...just think about something else" which of course just made me think about it more. I spoke up and just mentioned to him I felt a little funny but was fine and he was like "you good...we can take a break if you want". At that time I was like "nah, I should be fine...just keep doing your thing, bud". It couldn't have been 30 seconds later and he went to cauterizing and I could see the smoke rising and then got a whiff of my nuts burning and all of a sudden my peripheral vision started going like I was about to black out and I could only see directly in front of me. Next thing I know, I had multiple nurses in the room taking my blood pressure, heart rate, the Doc had my feet propped up on his shoulders to try to get the blood to flow back to my core (btw, you're obviously naked during this procedures from the waste down with those blue medical towel things draped over you with nothing but your nuts sticking out, so while my legs were up I know all that one nurse in the right spot of the room could see was my ass cheeks and a laid open nut sack). My blood pressure ultimately ended up dropping to like 60/20 and my pulse was like 40bpm. I finally came back around w/ the ammonia stick that was waved in front of my nose. Once I did, they knew I was fine when I looked at the one nurse and said "you sure as hell got a good view from standing there, huh?" and the Doc and I got to finish up ball #2 with an audience of nurses there to "shadow" him. I say shadow him because they all seemed in awe of this procedures as any time I looked their way they were just staring directly at my nuts. Hope like hell I don't see those people ever again!

TLDR version...your brain can really fawk you up. Get a Valium before going in!
 
:lol: Yeah that tops mine for sure!!

I went in during a snow storm in February. My sack was shriveled up like a raisin and my nuts had done evacuated the sac and were hiding up IN me somewhere :shaking:

He had to make 2 incisions and tugged and fought me like I was a world class swordfish.

NEVER schedule for winter!!!! Make that appointment for July/August where they're swinging like a hand fulla sand in a tube sock
 
Andy J. said:
I just found out this morning that I need to have my gallbladder removed. Merry Christmas to me!

Assuming they can do it with the small incisions and not the old fashioned way, what's the real-life recovery time? Could I have surgery on Thursday and be back to work (desk job) on Monday? Or is that wishful thinking?
Click to expand...

my job is pretty physical, I was out for 2 weeks and on light duty for 2 Weeks last summer.
Mine was ragged edge of septic ( symptoms came and went for over a span of 2weeks and then it doubled me over in pain and puking, I’m stubborn like that :shaking:)

Drs had me on some serious antibiotics after as well
 
CasterTroy said:
:lol: Yeah that tops mine for sure!!

I went in during a snow storm in February. My sack was shriveled up like a raisin and my nuts had done evacuated the sac and were hiding up IN me somewhere :shaking:

He had to make 2 incisions and tugged and fought me like I was a world class swordfish.

NEVER schedule for winter!!!! Make that appointment for July/August where they're swinging like a hand fulla sand in a tube sock
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I am dying laughing! My coworkers are probably wondering WTF.

I wondered how I would handle the procedure both mentally and physically. I never even thought about asking for pre-op meds. Excellent advice!
 
Andy J. said:
I'm planning to do it in the next 6 months or so. Your advice is not lost on me!
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Hell, get it done at the same time.
You'll save $$ on anesthesia and the recovery time.
 
Andy J. said:
I am dying laughing! My coworkers are probably wondering WTF.

I wondered how I would handle the procedure both mentally and physically. I never even thought about asking for pre-op meds. Excellent advice!
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that you’re not in recovery NOW and this is being planned says a lot. You’re likely not that bad, but bad enough to need it to happen.

Mine was a 3am trip to ER, move to a large hospital for testing, as I’m laying in the ER waiting results of testing, the DR come walking in wringing her hands.....”yeah, you’re gonna be here a day or 2, it’s pretty nasty”
The DR that did the surgery (run of the mill stuff for him) said it was one of the worst he’s seen before it burst and caused major septic issues. Ya me, i again excel at something mundane and useless.

FYI, if you happen to have any sort of umbilical hernia, they fix that while they’re in there, part of the package....
 
rcalexander105 said:
Nothing of value to add here other than if you get your balls snipped...listen to the doctor when he says "I wouldn't get off the couch aside to take a shit for the next few days". Take it easy on the couch with a bag of ice/peas/okra/etc. and let your lady wait on you.












Ask me how I know...
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I was one of those idiots. What should have been a few days down turned into almost a month.
 
Wes said:
I was one of those idiots. What should have been a few days down turned into almost a month.
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I'm in the middle of those two. Got it done Tuesday, went back to work Thursday (desk job so not too bad but too much too soon nonetheless) and was washing cars and stacking firewood at the house on Saturday. Not smart...

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rcalexander105 said:
I'm in the middle od those two. Got out done Tuesday, went back ro with Thursday (desk job so not too bad but too much too soon nonetheless) and was waking cars and stacking firewood at the house on Saturday. Not smart...

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I didn’t wear the compression underwear as suggested, didn’t use a cold/ice pack, didn’t take it easy, started back skydiving too soon (Military at the time), got frisky with the wife too soon, and anything else I wasn’t supposed to do. I was stupid. Ended up having to go back to the doctor for the pain. On a side note, during my procedure they brought in like 5 young students in training to observe. I had about 7 people standing around looking at my twig and berries. I was feeling good on Valium and not giving a shit. I was cracking jokes until I felt the first donkey kick and then it got real.
 
Wes said:
I didn’t wear the compression underwear as suggested, didn’t use a cold/ice pack, didn’t take it easy, started back skydiving too soon (Military at the time), got frisky with the wife too soon, and anything else I wasn’t supposed to do. I was stupid. Ended up having to go back to the doctor for the pain. On a side note, during my procedure they brought in like 5 young students in training to observe. I had about 7 people standing around looking at my twig and berries. I was feeling good on Valium and not giving a shit. I was cracking jokes until I felt the first donkey kick and then it got real.
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Haha, that's good stuf there! I prob got frisky a little too soon myself, but I had to make sure the damn thing still worked.

We derailed the shit out of your thread @Andy J. ... sorry about that. Hopefully you got some knowledge and a good laugh out of some of it (I damn sure know I did).

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rcalexander105 said:
We derailed the shit out of your thread @Andy J. ... sorry about that. Hopefully you got some knowledge and a good laugh out of some of it (I damn sure know I did).
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Yeah sorry bro. Didn't mean to make this about "me" but thought you'd get a kick out of our experience
 
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