Hi all. I saw the surgeon yesterday, and he said that with my symptoms and ejection fraction, the gallbladder has to go. So, the big day is Friday. I'm pleased that I was able to schedule so quickly, as I am off now (teacher). Anyway, I have a few questions.

I am 32 and generally healthy--do have allergies, asthma, & rheumatoid arthritis.

(1) Is it standard procedure to require a bunch of labs, urine analysis, & chest x-ray prior to surgery?

(2) I was told I'd be staying overnight. Ummm....I thought this was an outpatient procedure with admits coming only if there are complications (e.g severe pain, nausea, etc). Anyone else told from the get go they'd be staying overnight?

Any words of wisdom are appreciated. I'm starting to get nervous. :o

1) Yes. And if they don't, find another surgeon and hospital! Seriously, they should be doing these for safety's sake.
2) Most places it is but some do keep you overnight - esp if your insurance will pay for it. My friend had hers out here in Birmingham (same doc as me) and she was out same day. Her daughter had hers out in DC and stayed overnight (standard procedure for that doc and facility). So it can vary.

Advice: Stay off fat...period, end of story...for about 4 weeks. Then slowly introduce it back into your diet. Doesn't have to be bland food just fat free.
Walk - get up and move around. You;ll recover a lot faster if oyu do.

Good luck!

Hi! Good luck tomorrow with your surgery!! I had mine out in April, and am glad I did. With a major surgery, you do need to have the labs and chest x-ray, as they want to make sure that anesthesia is safe and all that. I was told by my surgeon that it was a good idea to stay overnight, but if I was begging to go home that night, I could. I am glad taht I did stay, as at home I would have been SO miserable with the pain. But, not everyone feels a ton of pain. At that point I didn't have a strong pain tolerance, however I do now (have been in chronic pain in my back since I had kidey stones two weeks after gb surgery). You are in my thoughts!! Hope it all works out tomorrow, and the attacks will stop!!

cough as much as possible, as this will expand your lungs. Also, it really helped me to sleep with a pillow on my stomach as well as holding it over your stomach when you cough. It really helps the pain. Try and walk as much as you can the first day as it will help the gas they inflate you with settle quicker.. good luck. you will do great. let us know how it goes!

Hi all...I thought I'd update you on Friday's surgery. All went well. My doctor was able to remove it laparascopically through four incisions. The largest incision at my belly button has six staples, and the smallest on my right side has just one. He also did some procedure intraoperatively to check for stones in the common bile duct. I was admitted to the the hospital and ended up staying about 36 hours. My surgeon required an overnight stay, as he says the readmit rate for outpatients is 30-40%. In the end I was glad I stayed because I awoke from anesthesia very nauseous and in a fair amount of pain. I was treated for the nausea and pain and was NPO for 24 hours. Of course, I got absolutely no sleep while there, which added to the misery. I had to stay another 12 hours to show I could tolerate food (not so well), urinate, and pass gass. I got home late Saturday night. By this time, I was developing a "cold". I took my pain medicine (percocet) and got a pretty good night's sleep.

Fast forward to Monday morning. My cold had developed into full fledged bronchitis and caused my asthma to flare. I awoke with a fever, terribly painful cough, and I was wheezing so loudly it sounded like I was playing the kazoo. I called my PCP (didn't think the surgeon would care too much about a cough) and made an appointment for the afternoon. My PCP gave me a shot of rochephin and dexamethasone, told me to use my nebulizer, gave me a prescription for levaquin and prednisone, and told me to call back if not feeling better.

Gallbladder wise, I don't miss it so far. All I have eaten is some chicken broth, toast, and applesauce over the past few days. I really don't have an appetite at all. So far, so good. My stomach still hurts from the incisions, gas, and COUGHING, but hopefuly this too will pass.

I follow up with the surgeon next Wednesday...is this too long to wait to get staples removed? I've never gone nearly two weeks for something like this before....??????

Thanks for all of your well wishes. I'm going to bed for now, but will keep you posted. :)

Hey! I am sorry you got sick right afterwards. I had the same thing with my incisions when I had it, 6 for the belly buton one, but I had two for the smallest. Hopefully you are feeling better!! When I had mine out, my surgeon didn't even come to look at me until the NIGHT after I had stayed the night, and then he let me go. It was bedtime before I was let out, so on teh way home I just slept, but I hadn't slept at all in the hospital. Hope you feel better soon!! Thanks for the update.
Daisy
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