I experienced the worst pain of my life this weekend. I was awakened at 3:30 a.m. by the most terrible feeling in my gut. I was reeling with the pain, crying, shouting, wanting to rip my stomach out. I throughly freaked my husband out and after me violently throwing up, he told me he wanted to take me to the emergency room. After spending four hours in the emergency room and having x-rays and an ultrasound done I was told that I have gall stones and that they will have to be removed. While I'm relieved that I have been diagnosed and that it wasn't just some freak pain, I'm concerned because we're supposed to leave for a four day vacation to Las Vegas on the 18th. Should I wait and schedule the surgery after my vacation or just forfeit the vacation all together (first vacation in 3 years). I'd like to know what other folks who've gone through this experience think? The ER doc said I'd probably have laproscopy and I have Vicodan for any pain. So what was the surgery like? How long was the recovery time? Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you.

-- Anonymous, July 09, 2000

Answers

My mom had that surgery a few years ago, I remember her being sore, but not to the point that she was incapacitated (sp?) She had 3 or 4 very small incisions that are hardly visible now. I wouldn't put the surgery off .. wouldn't want another incident.. especially when on vacation .. whatever you decide.. I wish you luck. Take care

-- Anonymous, July 09, 2000

Amy, Like the previous answer explains a laproscopic procedure is performed through one or two tiny incisions. This method is perferred over the standard surgical "cutting open" method for the obvious less trauma to the body, less pain, quicker recovery, etc... Some people with gall stones experience increased pain when they eat fatty meals, so, for instance, if this is the case in your situation you can avoid what exacerbates the pain. Recovery from a "lap chole" is generally very short, and pain minimal. ALTHOUGH, people do have very individualized experiences to surgery, and pain. It will be very important to move around as soon as you can after surgery(this causes less complications, and speeds recovery. If your doc thinks your procedure can wait until after your vacation, then a four day vacation does not sound like a impossibility. If you started to have increasing pain you could always drive to the nearest hospital. Of course this is a decision you, and your doc should make together. Also, it would be a good idea to research the procedure you will have through resources that are available to you. Good luck.

-- Anonymous, July 10, 2000

I had my gallbladder removed when I was 21 and I remember it being quite painless. I took a week off after the surgery but I felt well enough to go back about 4 days after the surgery. The doctor gave me Percocet to take for pain. But I only took them at night because I found I was more sore before bed. I would put the surgery off until after the vacation just in case. My doctor put me on a low fat diet because it was a few weeks from my gallbladder attack to the surgery. Nothing fried and no fast food. That really seemed to help and I didn't have another attack. I have 4 small scars (2 of which have disappeared). Whenever anyone sees the remaining 2 scars they think it looks like I got a bug bite. Good luck!

-- Anonymous, July 10, 2000

My mom, the tough cookie, woke up in the middle of the night in horrible pain. Wandered around the house a bit to see if it went away. (does anyone else do this, or is it just a weirdness about my family? we all do it!) It didn't. It got worse. Rather than wake my dad up, the Freakshow That Is My Mother drove herself to the Emergency Room where they colored her insane and told her she had to have her gallbladder removed. She was out the next day or two and was just fine. Doesn't even have the kick-ass scars to show for it -- unlike my Gramps who has that hideous, cross-abdomen scar to show off -- because it was all laproscopy. Two little tiny marks is it. Coolio. Medical science is awesome.

It's Monday and I'm rambley. Sorry.

-- Anonymous, July 10, 2000

My husband woke me up at 3:30 on Saturday morning to take him to the E.R. (he'd been feeling bad for about 48 hours nausea and pain) because he couldn't stand the pain in his left kidney area any more and he was throwing up. They did a CAT scan and discovered large gall stones and sent him right over to the hospital. He had his gall bladder removed at 2:30 that afternoon and he is home now with 3 little incisions. He seems to be fine aside from the fact that he wants me to bring/make him food which is something I don't really do when he's WELL. He's on a low-fat, no carbonated drinks diet now and he's off work for 5 days. Good luck. D.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

I have had a laproscopy done (twice) and really, I am the biggest pansy, but it was *nothing*. The worst of it was the groggyness of the general anesthetic a few hours after, and I was really tired the next day (also because of the anesthetic), but the incision area didn't hurt - a wee bit achy around the navel, and I wouldn't want to enter a sit-ups competition, but I went to work the second day after and was fine.

I didn't take any pain killers - it really is quite painless, because the incisions are so tiny - I had a few stitches in my navel, but they were the 'melty' kind, and the other incision, lower down, was so small they just butterfly bandaged it. Scars are totally unnoticable. Neither incision is over half an inch.

If you have to have surgery, this is the easiest surgery to have - I have a few friends that also had laproscopies done, and they didn't have much in the way of discomfort either, and the bulk of that was just from the anesthesia.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

I guess I was lucky - I only had minor attacks. But even my minor gallbladder attacks were barely tolerable, so I can't imagine what y'all went thru that had severe cases.

I had the "lap chole" - my first surgery in my entire life. I was scared to death - the first words out of my mouth when I woke up was, "Did they have to cut me open?" The nurse told me, "Honey, if they had, you'd know it." I had arrived at the hospital somewhere around 6:30am, and I was home at 5:00pm. Not bad, eh? I had been told that I could go home when I could walk to the bathroom and pee without any help. Well, I got to the bathroom okay, but once I was done peeing, I was lightheaded and scared to stand up. I ended up staying on the toilet for about 45 minutes (!) until one of the nurses gave me something for the nausea and finally talked me into giving the walking thing another shot.

I have 4 small scars - the one in my bellybutton is pretty well invisible, and the two on my left side are only slightly noticeable. The one on my chest is a little larger (where they stuck the camera in), but I think it's kinda cute. It's like my war scar.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

I forgot to mention...

I was out of work for a week after the surgery. I had planned 6 days off (per doctor's instructions, that was when I would be released from her care), but took an extra day just to make sure I was going to be okay.

I'd skip the vacation for now - the last thing you want is to end up having emergency surgery in an unfamiliar hospital in an unfamiliar city.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Gee, a topic near and dear to my heart. Yeah, right. Anyway, I've been having gallstone attacks on and off for over a year. The doctor that I saw encouraged me to get the surgery done, but due to school stuff, I kept putting it off. That and I'm terrified of surgery. Now I've been seeing an herbalist to try to avoid any surgery. My advice is to not put off that vacation, but be very aware of what you eat. What really gets my gallstones moving around/causing me pain is if I eat too much of anything that's cooked in oil. Supposedly there's some painkillers you can get from the doctor (that wasn't ever offered to me though, so it might be a rumor) in case of any attack. Or supposedly putting camphor oil on a rag (and heating it a bit, I think) and putting that on the site of pain is supposed to minimize the pain. I haven't tried it yet, since I've been pain free (knock on my wooden head) for a few months now. I agree with everyone that said that recovery time is different--a coworker had it done and she was out for over a week. If you do decide to go on vacation, make sure your insurance takes care of out of state/area hospital visits. I learned the hard way mine doesn't (sigh). Wow, this rambled a bit. And yes, if the herbs don't work, I might have to try surgery. I'm just absolutely terrified of all things doctor.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

Just so you have the range of this dismal experience--my laproscopic surgery had to be abandoned for the cut-you-open-from-breastbone-to- bellybutton approach because of an advanced infection (I had just started a stressy new job and it was misdaignosed as an ulcer for quite a while). I think it was about as bad as GB surgery gets: 11 days in the hospital followed by maybe 3 weeks at home, tubes sticking out of holes in my body, transfusions, etc. Awful, but eventually over.

Up side: Lost 12 pounds & get to annoy my friends by asking if they wanted to see my scar. (Pamie may think here eye pus is sexy, but nothing--NOTHING--is as big a turn-on as a gall-bladder scar.)

And I know loads of people who have had the lap & also reported it was no biggie.

Advice: Don't give up the vacation unless you're really hurting--for nonemergency surgery you probably won't get scheduled in until after then anyway. Check with your insurance about out-of-town providers just in case & hope for the best.

-- Anonymous, July 11, 2000

I had mine out when I was 21.

I had 2 episodes and they both hurt like HELL!

I went to the doc one morning...and he set me up with the surgeon....ok....I was to go see the surgeon the next week. WRONG!!! I ended up back in the ER that night...they admitted me. Long story short, my liver was inflamed, too......so they had to shove a tube down my throat to pump all the shit out so that they could operate. YAY...not. Luckily, laproscopic surgery was an option. YAY! I ended up being in the hospital a week, but only because of my liver. And my recovery was really quick....just a couple little incisions....hardly any pain....and I'm a total wuss, if that tells you anything.

A friend of mine has hers one morning, and was home that evening. So, mine just happens to be a horror story.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

I had this surgery done last September. I started having problems with it when I was pregnant which my third child, which is pretty normal I hear. I had surgery in the morning, it took about 2 hours. I woke up and went home in the early afternoon the same day. I had laproscopic surgery so I have tiny scars that are pretty much gone already. The only discomfort I recall was some gas pains because they pump your stomach full of air before the surgery (that must look really cool, I'm glad I was asleep)but the pain meds were more than enough for that. I had the surgery on Thursday and went back to work on Monday. Not a big deal at all, and my surgeon said my gall bladder was the UGLIEST one he had ever seen. No doubt from too much caffeine all my life. Good luck Amy.

-- Anonymous, July 12, 2000

Hi Everyone! Thanks for the advice, unfortunately, I never got to read it as I was admitted to the hospital Monday afternoon. I was throwing up a lot Monday morning and when the doctor saw me around 3 p.m. I was yellow with jaundice from my bile duct being plugged up. Had two procedures--on Tuesday I had the one where they dropped a tube with a camera down my throat to my bile duct where they removed one bastard stone that was causing all the trouble. Wednesday I had the laproscopy (postponed for 2.5 bloody hours!) and am finally home resting with my three "flesh wounds." Thanks to everyone who posted with advice. The Vegas vacation is off but we luckily had travel insurance so we'll get the cash back minus the cost of the travel insurance. We'll go another time when we're both healthy. Now I just have to figure a way to keep my little pet cat from jumping up on my belly and "making biscuits." Thanks again!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000