Hi Cass,

Good luck for the Op. As the others have already said, it is a pretty straight forward op. You will get 4 little nicks (cuts about 1cm long) - one just under the bra line about the middle of the distance between your BB's; another in your belly button, one almost directly in line with you belly button (the side will depend on the side the surgeon prefers to stand but is usually on your right side) and one a little higher up than that.

Pain afterwards - it depends on your pain tolerance really. It can be expected that you might have some discomfort in your left shoulder as a result of the gas they use to inflate your belly so they can see what they're doing. You might also get some pain around the incision sites. I had intense pain at the incision site lateral to the belly button because I had a drain tube in which was just awful!!!!!!!!!! It is not the norm to have a drain tube in.

The hospital stay is usually only overnight and, depending on your pain tolerance etc, you could anticipate some mild discomfort for a day or two. I was able to pick up DD (who was 8 weeks so not all that heavy) within 24hrs of being discharged.

In relation to all the hooha you've received about diet, weight etc - ignore it. It is a well known fact that gall stones are very very common after pregnancy and child birth. So common that I am surprised your medical team didn't actually tell you this when diagnosed with gall stones!!!! When I got mine, they put it down to my recent pregnancy and birth of DD.

Anyways, best of luck with the op and recovery!!!!

MG