Gall bladder removal - what was your experience?

Health related question and not weight loss related. I'm having my gall bladder out laproscopically on Friday, it will be my first every surgery.

Lots of online resources on what recovery looks like, but I'm an "as many details and as much info, and consider as many possibilities as possible" person, so I'm curious - other gall bladder yeeters, what was your experience post surgery? Any advice or things you wish you knew beforehand, or wish you'd had prepared?

Replies

AnnPT77

I wish I had gone to maintenance calories, or at least close, for a short number of weeks during the acute phase of healing. I was lucky, healed fine, but got unnecessarily weak and fatigued, took a while to recover. These days, I am pretty strict about maintenance calories under any healing/recovery-from-illness/injury situation. (Yeah, I'm in maintenance now overall, but usually bank a few calories most days to indulge on other days, or decide it's time to drop a few pounds slowly . . . nowadays I cut back on any of that while healing/recovering.)

I was annoyed by exercise restrictions, but did as I was told. I could walk, so I did, much more than usual. When the surgeon told me I could resume lifting 5 pound things around the house (yeesh, I hate that restriction), I asked if I could start lifting 5 pounds for reps. She said to wait a week, so I did . . . then it was the only time in my life I can remember lifting for reps to boredom instead of to near failure or 2 RIR or whatever. 😆

I was told to stick to a lower-fat diet for a while post surgery, then re-introduce more fat gradually. They gave me an info sheet on what they meant by lower fat. Since I was still in the weight loss phase, I found that my regular routine at the time met their criteria, so I didn't do anything major on that front . . . would've if it had applied, of course. My understanding from talking with friends is that some have . . . incidents . . . long term if they eat a very high-fat thing, but that hasn't been true for me so far. I've had giant baskets of deep-fried battered onion rings or mushrooms or whatever, for example, without incident. YMMV on this one, since other people's does.

Right after surgery, I had and held onto pounds that I presume were water retention, but they dropped off within . . . I don't remember how long, few days to a couple weeks, I think - noting that I'm in menopause, so no extra complications on the scale from hormonal water fluctuations as background.

This was all back in 2015, so that's about all I remember, but other than the exercise/lifting restrictions - which I always hate, personally - it was kind of a non-event. Well, those restrictions, plus my stupidity about staying in a calorie deficit.

Best wishes for a smooth surgery and speedy recovery!

Alatariel75

Thanks Ann!

I admit, I'm not looking forward to the exercise restrictions, I've started making awesome progress at pilates and in my hiking, and I'm not thrilled about the loss of condition that will happen.

Diet-wise I don't eat high fat really (even when not calorie counting I don't really like deep fried food, my issue is carbs haha. Lots of them), so I was planning on staying the same, but I hadn't thought about eating at maintenance - you're right, that will be something I do.

totameafox

Honestly I was up and dancing around the day after I got home. I would definitely not try to lose weight until you are healed if you are doing that. I try to keep my meat lean but I did that before I had the gal bladder out due to ibs. I do find that the more fiber in the diet the easier it is for me to eat fatty foods without a negative affect. I've never had carbs give me cramps so you are on your own on those 🤣.

Good luck and i hope you are complication free

yirara

Expect some bloating due to anesthesia meds. It might take a few days until things move again. Eat what you feel like eating; some food might taste yucky after surgery. Eat enough as healing takes energy. Sleep when you need to sleep.

When I lost my gallbladder I was fairly ok after two days. I was just not able to get on my bike to get food I fancied and hence had to get something else. So I put on my inline skates as walking also hurt ;) All went well though. No long-term effects. Note that the average European cuisine is not super high in fats, and hence no problems thereafter.

Alatariel75

Thank you for the insights, @totameafox and @yirara !

I'm especially fascinated at the food might taste yucky! I have pre-prepped meals for convenience, but I'm prepared to DoorDash at will haha. LOL at the inline skates for minimal impact! I've been told no driving for a few days, but my parents aren't far off and are willing to do mercy dashes as needed.

I think my biggest worry is keeping the puppy from bouncing on me, right now I'm his favourite toy (all 45lbs of him) and he loves to sit on me.

springlering62

no experience, but sending many hugs and warmest wishes your way! 😘

yirara

Oh, one more thing: if it's stones and you're like me: ask the surgeon to preserve the stones for you. They might be quite pretty if they're anywhere as big as mine 😂

AnnPT77

Also - though this may be a matter of personal style - I'd recommend getting and reading the pathology report, post-surgically. For me, here, it showed up automatically in the medical practice's portal.

chette78

What they don't tell you after gal bladder surgery is the constant trips to the bathroom after eating lettuce. Yes, lettuce. Be careful that all your lettuces are washed very well and be very careful of bagged lettuces and when you are dinning out. This might cause you trips to the restroom. They also don't tell you that you will gain weight if you are not careful with caloric intake. I brushed it off and now am usually about 20 lbs heavier than before. So please be careful and mindful of that. Best of Luck! You should feel better in no time. Oh anything fried will send you right to the bathroom for a few months to a yr and now years later i still have to be careful after eating fried foods even if not very greasy.

yirara

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48534302#Comment_48534302

That's your experience though. Doesn't mean it'll happen to anyone. Never had any problem with lettuce (though I still don't like lettuce), nor with friend food, and I also didn't gain weight.

nossmf

When my wife had hers removed, she completely lost her appetite for weeks after and had to be strong-armed into eating. We didn't adjust our diet much, as I already had us limiting most fried foods. Fast forward to today a couple years later and she doesn't have any real dietary limitations per se, but her appetite remains lower than it was pre-surgery. At least, meal-time appetite: I don't know how much snacking she does during the day while I'm at work! lol

Alatariel75

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48534302#Comment_48534302

Thankfully in Australia, we don't seem to have the contamination issues the US has with lettuce, it seems really prevalent over there!

Alatariel75

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48534385#Comment_48534385

I wish, so far! I've been on a comfort food binge since I got home, today I'm getting my *kitten* together!

Thank you all for feedback so far, recovery has been swift and pretty painless, I was off hard painkillers on day 3, and have been off all painkillers (including over the counter) since day 5. I'm moving fine, sleeping normally on my side (which I missed the first few days!) and have started taking dressings off. I'm up about 3kg, some inflammation, some self pity food. I'll get back to walking today and look forward to resuming normal exercise in a week or so!

Alatariel75

One thing I do notice - so burpy!! I hope that settles.

yakkystuff

Glad your recovery is coming along, burps and all.

lisakatz2

I got my gall bladder removed several years ago. My recovery experience was similar to Alatariel75. I was uncomfortable for a few days, then things improved pretty swiftly from there. Three days of opioid pain meds, two days of over-the-counter pain meds, that's it. I remember my appetite took a little bit to bounce back, because prior I dealt with a lot of stomach upset and nausea. My surgeon said, "You'll be able to eat anything you want." He was right. I gained 10 pounds pretty quickly, but I lost a lot of weight too quickly prior to surgery (the reason for the gallstones, he said) so the gain was not unwelcome. Unfortunately I gained more after that……….😝

springlering62

belated hugsies and wishes for a fast recovery!