Gallbladder removal - pain levels and recovery time?

I am scheduled to have my gallbladder out in January - keyhole surgery. I've never had surgery so I'm not really sure what to expect in terms of pain and recovery. (I have had anesthesia for an endoscopy and a d&c) My surgery will be a Thursday and I will stay overnight. My DH will be home Thursday to Sunday and then the boys will go to daycare Monday and Tuesday. So a few questions...

Will this be enough time to rest? Will I be able to take them (ie drive) to daycare and pickup? I will also have an hour or two either side of daycare on my own and then Wednesday and Thursday on my own. Am I likely to be sufficiently recovered?

I'm still breastfeeding, will I be ok (pain wise) to feed Thursday night if someone brings DS2 up to me? He is OK with just morning and night feeds now.

Thanks for any tips and advice :)

I'm having mine out then too.
Surgeon told me 1 -2 day in hospital and 4-5 days recovery

Thanks BS, good luck with your op. My surgeon said the same thing, but she doesn't have kids so wasn't sure if she understood what being at home with 2 terrors would be like post op iykwim :)

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I am scheduled to have my gallbladder out in January - keyhole surgery. I've never had surgery so I'm not really sure what to expect in terms of pain and recovery. (I have had anesthesia for an endoscopy and a d&c) My surgery will be a Thursday and I will stay overnight. My DH will be home Thursday to Sunday and then the boys will go to daycare Monday and Tuesday. So a few questions...

Will this be enough time to rest? Will I be able to take them (ie drive) to daycare and pickup? I will also have an hour or two either side of daycare on my own and then Wednesday and Thursday on my own. Am I likely to be sufficiently recovered?

I'm still breastfeeding, will I be ok (pain wise) to feed Thursday night if someone brings DS2 up to me? He is OK with just morning and night feeds now.

Thanks for any tips and advice :)

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Question what does DH do?

How old are your little ones?

Can your husband and /or mum (family) stay as depending on the surgery it probably will be straighforward but having plan b c d is good to have as well !

Pain: different people react differently after lap hole procedures..... so again i would reasses this as your going thru it...

I think you will be pushing it.

I had my gall bladder out about 12 years ago. It was very painful. I was actually in hospital for a few days after. On of the incisions I had was directly under my breasts (in middle), so bf may be difficult. Also the painkillers and anaesthetic may cause an issue???
I also had a laparoscopy on Wednesday (three incisions). I am still very sore and pretty much couch bound.

yes it is major surgery.... so please dont feel you need to be super women(not trying to sound rude or sarcastic) as it wont happen ... your husband if he can will probably need to take at least the week off work and let you rest :)

Thanks :) My boys will be 3.5 and 1 so fairly high maintenance lol. My DH commutes to an IT job (1.5 hours away) and doesn't really have the option of any more time off... I can book both boys into daycare for the Wed and Thurs, maybe that is a more realistic option? My parents are close by, but they both work as well. My surgeon said I'll be ok to BF with the meds so I hope she knows what she's talking about!

I think I'm actually taking it too lightly, maybe ill be more worried when it gets closer.

book those kids in for the whole week and have your husband help drive them there for you in the mornings and pick them after :)

There's a good chance you won't be able to drive for up to a week.

I couldn't drive for 2 weeks without massive pain!

It all depends on the person. I was in hospital until day 4, and then on strong pain killers afterwards. for the rest of the week... I hope its not that bad for you xox Take it easy tho and if your in pain make sure you take pain killers - dont try be a super hero :D

Eeeek! Now I'm worried, my DH definitely can't have more time off and I'll have to do daycare drop off, DH leaves before it starts and gets home after if finishes :( Not sure how my boys will cope with a full week of daycare either! Oh well, just have to wait until it happens and see how I go!

your boys will love it :) how will mum cope lol

I'll give you my personal account and a professional account (I'm a nurse).

Personally, I had mine done in 07 when dd was 8 weeks old. I was in one night with a drain tube. As a private patient, I had the option o staying a second night but wanted out. The drain tube was a precaution and was out by lunch the next day. Pain wise, I woke in recovery in lots of pain but don't remover that. I just remember a nurse telling me he'd exhausted my options. By the time I was with it on the ward, I was pain free.

My biggest issue on the day was fatigue (normal after a ga) and a reaction to the morphine and pethadine.

I went shopping two days post surgery and recall being tired and sore at the incision under my bra line. But I was pushing a heavy trolley and refused to take my pain meds. Voltaren was a blessing! I was completely fine within 5 days. I was self caring for dd within 2. Including feeds but she was ff. the only other issue I had was shoulder tip pain which is normal for this surgery. It was gone by the time I went home.

Professionally: everyone reacts differently to pain and anesthetic. It could take a few days to completely process it put of your system. In the meantime, you will tire easily.
The pain and recovery also depends on the complexity of your surgery which they won't know until they start. The recovery for lap choli is much less than if they do a traditional entry. Most patients are back at full capacity after a week.
My tip is to rest when you can/need to, avoid lifting too much for 48 hours, keep up regular pain relief for 48 hours min. You won't know how you'll cope until you're there.

Have a few plans in place but give yourself some flexibility.

I had mine done this March. I was kept in overnight and also had a drain inserted. The next day following the op I was feeling okay pain wise but couldn't walk far and came home. I had a shower and just about passed out then I got very nauseated. Day 2 post op I had people coming to visit to ask how I was going, and I ended up asking them to leave as I was just feeling to crap to sit up in bed and maintain my side of a conversation.

By the end of the week I was doing better but couldn't really get up and do much. In total it took me 3 weeks to feel okay enough to venture outside the house for a long period. I was told to expect anything up to a 6wk recovery due to it being major surgery and I was told that I was not allowed to drive for the first 4 weeks. I was thankful enough that my recovery time fell over the kids school holidays. I had surgery the 2nd to last week of school term, and Andrew managed to get 3 weeks off. I had them on my own for the last week of the school holidays.

The incision above my belly button and the one under my bra line then got infected as a stitch or two never dissolved properly. So there was quite a bit of pain and distress from that. It took a few week for the stitches to finally eject themselves from my body.

Definitely don't rush into anything.

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 :)

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 :)

Mines gone too! Yay!

Mine came out in 2008 just weeks after DS1 was born. I adored my anaesthetist who promised me hand on heart that if i wanted to bf DS as soon as i woke up i could - he would ensure the drugs would not affect my breastfeeding. He is my hero! However he warned me that i probably would not want to feed him as i would be in a fair amount of pain. I did express for the next 24 hours instead of having him leaning on my incisions. I was given lots of lovely breasfeeding friendly pain medication and advice. I breastfeed DS pretty much as soon as i came home from hospital (one night stay). He was a newborn though.

I would take a few days off driving and picking up kids and all that. My DH stayed home for 3 days i think + the weekend. The pain was fine. Much much better than my lap for endo (that shoulder tip pain). My gall bladder inflamation was acute so the pain was a relief compared to what i had been having. Just remember that everyone recovers differently.

So my surgery is on Thursday and I'm starting to feel a little anxiety... Mostly about the pain levels ... and the random chance something goes horribly wrong and my children are left without a mother (this part is irrational I know)

So for those who've had it done, how bad is the pain? Tell me I'll be ok! I've never had any surgery so I have no point of reference...

I haven't had any issues but my grandma has had 8 kids, had her gall bladder out a few years ago at the ripe age of 76, she still insisted the pain from surgery was NOTHING compared to the actual gall bladder playing up! And said giving birth 8 times didn't hurt as much!
Good luck with your surgery, I'm sure you will be fine.

I agree, the post surgical pain is nothing compared to a gallbladder attack. I found that it was quite uncomfortable immediately after the surg but the nurses keep you topped up with meds. I had a drain in and after they took it out, it was instantly more comfortable.

Everyone is different. I was getting recurrent attacks from having stones stuck in my CBD. The pain was so much worse than the gall bladder op. I have also had more discomfort and pain from other operations - even ones considered minor, like egg retrivals. I didn't have time to wait or dwell on the op, mine was done very very quickly. I also didn't quite grasp how my digestion would be affected. You really do need to be gentle on your system for a while. But I'm pretty sure the op itself will actually make you feel better, not worse.

I felt ten times better pain wise after my op than before it. Having gall stones hurt way more. And as Lenny said having a blandish low fat and low salt diet with no alcohol for a little bit tends to help too. I made a big mistake and had a fish and chip meal a week after my op, and omg (tmi) I've never ran to the toilet faster in my life!

Thanks! The anaesthetist just called so its all happening!

Great!

Personally, the pain was no worse than bad bruising. It felt really *weird* when the drainage tube was coming out (I can still recall that sensation ... odd ... ) but it didn't hurt.

None of it was a patch on a gallstone attack for me.

I was back at work in a week, and the gym not long after, though I did hold off on abdominal work.

What WAS super different was my alcohol tolerance - previously, I had never one had a hangover, no matter how over-cooked I got ... after having my gallbladder out, I have had hangovers after nights when I wasn't even drunk. And my alcohol tolerance seemed to drop too.

So watch yourself in that regard :)

I'm all done :) pain good so far. A bit ouchie when I first woke in recovery and twitchy legs but some morphine soon sorted that out :) onto oral pain relief now and seems to be going well.

No drain and like PNsaid more just a sore muscle feeling.

I do have some seriously low blood pressure though and dropping which is freaking the drs out a bit!

Thanks for all the advice and reassurance everyone xx

Take care. Hope you're home really soon.

How are you doing now?

Hey PP :) I'm feeling good, still just sore, no pain ever actually, and stretching panadol or Neurofen out to 6-7 hours. The wound near my belly button is the sorest as DS2 has given a few kicks/ bumps while feeding but otherwise feeling great! I'm essentially back on deck at home, DH isn't the greatest nurse so I've been cooking dinner, doing washing and lots of kid wrangling since Saturday. Thanks for checking on me :)

Glad to hear you are ok. Take it easy.

You've got to take it easy still. It's still classed as major abdo surgery.

I know when I had mine out the worst pain was the belly button insision. Thew was a lot of bruising from the camera being jerked around in there... They are very rough when you're asleep on the table.

Glad you're doing well!

Just re reading this thread. I'm having mine next month.... On my birthday lol yay and :(
Some great advice. X

Good luck! My experience was great so I hope yours is the same!

Hope it goes smoothly, hun xx