Gallbladder removal - pain levels and recovery time?

[peanutter]

Hi there,

I had mine out with keyhole in Dec 2006. Obviously, there's always the risk they'll need to do it in the traditional way, but mine was fine and keyhole worked

It was done under general, surgery was in the afternoon (maybe 4pm?) and I only had to stay overnight.

I was completely out of it after surgery, and basically slept until morning.

When I was awake in the morning, I had to keep down some fluids to be allowed to eat some food, and once I was able to keep some food down, they would take out the drainage tube and I was allowed to go home.

I wasn't on any serious medication - panadeine forte and then panadol.

Surgery was on a Monday, I was back at work the following Monday, the gym the Monday after that (but no abdominal work for 6 weeks).

We had teenagers living with us when I had it done, but I was basically at home alone during the day, which was a lot easier than if I had babies!

I healed up really quickly, but I basically stayed on the couch for 4 days resting up. I worked but it was all on the laptop. I did housework, but basically nothing requiting lifting, etc.

I don't think I drove at this time.

Re breastfeeding, I had surgery under GA when DS1 was 4 months old, and I kept boobing until 10 months. You can do it!

HTH

[Amaunet]

Thanks so much everyone! Sounds like it will depend upon how the surgery itself goes and how my body responds. I might book the extra daycare days, even if they only go for a part of the day. My car is an automatic and the daycare literally 2 minutes drive, so I'm sure it will be ok.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences