Question about recovery time after gallbladder surgery

I am 50 years old and just had my gallbladder removed laparoscopic May 23. I am still very sore as well and very tender 5 days later. I was told to use a pillow to get up and down with and that helped a lot. I had to quit taking loritab as it made me sick. Just taking motrin now. It still hurts getting up and down from a chair or bed. Eating very light as well. Trying to be very patient but it is challenging.

I has my gallbladder removed on May 27th, with laparoscopic surgery with 4 incisions, surgeon came at the recovery home, when my wife asked if it will be 3 to 4 weeks, or 4 to 6 weeks, he told her off, said " no today is Tuesday next Monday he should go back to work, which is less than a week, my wife responded ( I was still recovering from anesthesia so half drugged ) that's not possible, that following my 2 months of suffering at the same hospital from mistakes they made and complications such as post ercp duodenum perforation and post ercp pancreatitis the second time and twice in hospital, losing about 10 kilos in 2 months, and being a very hardcore diet for 20 days before surgery, it's unlikely i ll make it that fast, he responded that he wasn't actually negotiating with her!!, he wrote his doctor's note and came back and told her off again saying she really pushed one of his bad buttons, now that I think about it more awake, i m like WTF was that for ? , it's Saturday May 31st, one day away from the fully recovered and going back to work suggested day by the famous surgeon, and let me tell you, he is ****ing out of his mind and i m checking my legal option for that unnecessary disrespectful treatment, as if he was going to pay my sick leave not my insurance, after surgery i experienced unbearable amount of pain, followed by fever for 2 days, severe nausea up to now, eat hardly, can't stand up by myself, cant keep straight, walk more like a bended "l" at about 70 degrees, tried to push myself hard and stand straight, walked long distance as I read it's beneficial on the internet, yet the moment my lungs feel like taking a big inhale, feels like some knife moves around my gallbladder position at the same time, some people call it being sore, i call it a kniefe, stop the bullcrap it's ****ing painfull, I had pneumonia, bronchitis and a broken rib in the past and 12 years of gallbladder attacks that were very severe, and post sergery is no fun, the surgeon said it took him and his wife 18 hours to go back to work, good for them, I will ask them what they eat so I can heal that fast or what kind of Coc they were on, cause every person is different, I have close friends and colleagues that took them all no less than 4 weeks to go back to life, and 3 months to stop feeling anything from surgery, so for those 1% that get up and go to work like there was nothing in 18 hours, either it's lies or their bodies are not like ours. right now, constant mild pain even with pain killers under the right rib cage, breathing heavily hurts, coughing is my number 1 enemy as I feel the incision in my belly is going to pop and it hurts bad, so I drink water and try not to. walking does help over time, but they you get tired, when you lie down completely ( you are tired you need to rest ) the problem after it getting up, it feels like starting all over ****, can't stand up without feeling that you are ripping something underneath my liver and my belly, mostly where the gallbladder was, sleeping is hell, still cant turn on my right or left at night, so you get bad aches on your back for lying on it alone, I know this will go through and probably all will heal, but i m being honest and trying to recover at optimum speed by taking vitamin supplements, eating anti inflammatory food like grapes, apple juice, vitamin c and good food, walking, sitting under the sun for few minutes, shower once a day lighthly, no tubs, just shower.it's being almost a week, going back to work tomorrow as the surgeon told my wife off for ? hell ****ing no, i am really pain tolerant, following my pancreatitits, duedonem perforation and 12 years of gallbladder attacks, most of you rush to hospital and beg it to be removed on day 1, i tried to find out if there was alternatives, there isn't period so this year i wanted to remove it, but the complications pilled up on ercp, will determine if medical error or negligence or just plain coincidence, but there is nothing more painfull than your surgeon telling one of your family members off for asking more than 1 week of recovery time, especially after what she had to go through for me during the past 60 days, that just went over the limit of what I can bear as pain, talk about healthcare, sounded more like a nasty stock holder at my insurance company extremely worried about how much I will cost my insurance for the recovery, getting some legal advice as we speak on this. good recovery to everyone, take your time, it's your health and Your life we are talking about, take no crap from anyone, your doctor, don't negotiate your health, without it, you are garbage or even worst. rest and recover fully at 100%.

Update, It has been 4 weeks, still bloated and sore. Can't lift a lot and get tired very easy. I can't eat fatty food or cheese but other than that I have cut down food intake to half the amount and doing pretty good. Will update in a couple more weeks. Trying to be patient as I am a hyper monkey down to a crawl, ugh!

I appreicate everyone's input. I had laproscopic surgery to remove my gall bladder last week and the Dr. said I had no lifting restrictions so I carried my 20+ pound grandson yesterday. This was a mistake that I won't repeat. I am a 59 year old, in very good health, who works out 4 times a week and has a sedentary desk job. The Dr. suggeted 3 weeks before returning to my workout routine at Curves and Zumba. I'm also rethinking this advice. I know everyone's body is different as is the healing process. I will listen to my body, walk every day and eat foods I know my body can digest. The upside is I may be able to reach my goal weight before the projected date. Do you also have suggestions for food and supplements you took during recovery?

I had mine removed laparoscopically on August 1, and it's August 27 now. I still have sharp pain if I raise my arms above my head, arch backward (like you would to start a backbend), or stand up straight and breathe in deeply. The pain's about a finger's width down and to my right from the incision wound between my ribs. I am not ready to do strenuous exercise yet, and I get tired very quickly.

I've definitely struggled with recovery a bit more than I expected. Everything I read, and my doctor, made it sound like I'd be back up and running by two weeks. I spent two months prior to surgery being lazy as heck because any activity caused my gallbladder to flare up, and then was expecting to finally start exercising again pretty quickly after surgery.

For the first three or four days, I was in serious pain. I'm kind of glad I didn't stay at the hospital long after my surgery for the costs, but all day after my surgery at home I couldn't move on my own or find a position that wasn't grippingly painful. I thought something was wrong, but I also thought maybe I was overreacting since they made it sound like it shouldn't have been a big deal. It hurt SO BADLY.

It sounds like everyone has different recovery times... I think it's unfair to expect anyone to fit into a specific window. They didn't give me any major painkillers at the surgery center afterward and it took two days for the meds they sent me home with to make any noticeable difference. I returned to work (with quite some difficulty, but I had to) 6 days after my surgery, where I sat at my desk all day. I couldn't walk very quickly or easily.

Car rides HURT! For like two and a half weeks, it hurt to go anywhere where I was being bounced in a car!

I'm thankful I don't have kids to take care of and I had a significant other who was very helpful and non judgmental (I needed help getting onto and off of the toilet for the first two days, ) ... not everyone has those luxuries, and I strongly encourage anyone preparing to have this surgery to at least have as much help available as they can get for the first 3-4 days or so. It was tough for me. If you bounce back, awesome!

(btw, I'm a 29 year old in a healthy weight range who was doing hot yoga 3-5 days a week regularly until two months before my surgery... so don't assume that your age or physical health are going to mean a super speedy recovery. I'm sure it helps, but give yourself time!)

I am so glad to have found this thread. I had my lap procedure 5 days ago (last Thursday, 8/28) and, like so many others here, was led to believe I'd be up and around "in no time." I really wasn't prepared for the amount of discomfort I'd have in my upper back/shoulders - especially on the left side - I'm told this is from the gas they used during surgery. When I take a deep breath it really bothers me, especially after I eat. I woke up the Sat. morning after my procedure in such discomfort that I contacted the on-call surgeon twice. I have a high pain tolerance and it really didn't feel the way the surgeon predicted it would feel. There were no surgery complications; I've never had a gall bladder attack but when two pretty good-sized stones were found "by accident" on an ultrasound, it was recommended that I go ahead and have the procedure and avoid the very high probability that I would have problems in the future. So basically I walked into the procedure feeling okay, and came out hurting! :-) It's very comforting to know that there are others who weren't feeling up to snuff within the first week like the docs said! I normally walk about 5 miles a day and I can't imagine doing that any time soon. I'm going back to work in a week; I'll be fine since I have a computer job and don't have to be running around every day...but I'll need the full seven days ahead to rest at home and take it slow. I wish someone at the hospital had given me more information like taking Gas-X to help with the gas pain (I found this out after the fact when some friends shared their experiences with me). Also, the on-call surgeon said that acid reflux was also very common after surgery and to start using Gaviscon when I ate to minimize the discomfort. Both the Gas-X and Gaviscon seemed to help pretty quickly. Taking it slow and listening to your own body really does seem to be the best advice. The "week-to-10-days" recovery time I was told just doesn't seem realistic to me - I'm now expecting it to be more like about 3-4 weeks.

Eat thin for Life or anybody that could give me some suggestions!

When you said you picked up your 20+ pound grandson and it was a mistake canyou tell me the symptoms you had? I am 2 weeks post op for laproscopic gallbladder and today not thinking I picked up my granddaughter and early in evening I got an achiness in my right side it was render to touch my ribcage and when I walked just with the right foot it ached. I called surgeons office and they said it just sounded like I strained something, but should be fine just take an easy this weekend and take Tylenol or Motrin as needed. Is this something I should worry about...like getting a hernia or could I have damaged something? My incisions look good they are not raised or swollen. Just wanted some input on this if ANYONE could comment I would greatly appreciate it. It is making me a nervous wreck!! Thanks so much