My wife may be having her gall bladder removed. Anyone been through this? I've heard 4-6 week recovery time and I've heard just over a week recovery time. Thanks!!

My wife may be having her gall bladder removed. Anyone been through this? I've heard 4-6 week recovery time and I've heard just over a week recovery time. Thanks!!
I had my gall baldder removed about 18 months ago. I was having occasional chest pains and a sonogram showed I had gall stones. It's done arthroscopicly(spelling?) and its almost an outpatient surgery, except I stayed overnight. I had surgery on friday and was back at work on tuesday.
They said in about 15 percent of the cases they end up having to cut into your chest, and then give you the obligatory "there is a possibility of death", but it's really routine.
Funny, I still get the occasional chest pain. At first they said it was ghost pains or fake pains, but I still get them once in a while.

Hope this helps...

wikipedia_gallstone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallstone)

If you look under surgical options, it lists 2 types of surgery. My brother-in-law was unfortunate enought to have the first one: Open cholecystectomy procedure


Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) has a 99% chance of eliminating the recurrence of cholelithiasis. Only symptomatic patients must be indicated to surgery. The lack of a gall bladder does not seem to have any negative consequences in many people. However, there is a significant proportion of the population, between 5-40%, who develop a condition called postcholecystectomy syndrome [8]. Symptoms include gastrointestinal distress and persistent pain in the upper right abdomen.

There are two surgery options: open procedure and laparoscopic: see the cholecystectomy article for more details.

Open cholecystectomy procedure: This involves a large incision into the abdomen (laparotomy) below the right lower ribs. A week of hospitalization, normal diet a week after release and normal activity a month after release.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: 3-4 small puncture holes for camera and instruments (available since the 1980s). Typically same-day release or one night hospital stay, followed by a week of home rest and pain medication. Can resume normal diet and light activity a week after release. (Decreased energy level and minor residual pain for a month or two.) Studies have shown that this procedure is as effective as the more invasive open cholecystectomy, provided the stones are accurately located by cholangiogram prior to the procedure so that they can all be removed. The procedure also has the benefit of reducing operative complications such as bowel perforation and vascular injury.

So, I guess the recovery time depends on the type of surgery...

Thanks for the replies guys! We just got back from the Dr. and she is having her gall bladder removed next week, possibly Tuesday. He said that she should be out from work for a week and can't lift more than 10 lbs. for 4-6 weeks. He said it wasn't a big deal. Thanks again for the info!

I had mine done in an emergency fashion. It really sucked. they tried to remove it arthroscopicly(spelling?) but that wouldnt work because it was too infected and swollen so they did it the old fashioned way. I was layed up for quite a few weeks but alot of that was because of the infection. I did end up with scars from both procedures so now it looks like I was bitten by a shark.

The open procedure is much more invasive then the other method. It's a good thing she is getting it taken care of before it gets out of hand like mine did. I wish her the best of luck.

The good part of it for me is that I have never had heart burn since and I used to get it all the time.

I had mine done in an emergency fashion. It really sucked. they tried to remove it arthroscopicly(spelling?) but that wouldnt work because it was too infected and swollen so they did it the old fashioned way. I was layed up for quite a few weeks but alot of that was because of the infection. I did end up with scars from both procedures so now it looks like I was bitten by a shark.

The open procedure is much more invasive then the other method. It's a good thing she is getting it taken care of before it gets out of hand like mine did. I wish her the best of luck.

The good part of it for me is that I have never had heart burn since and I used to get it all the time.

Shark bite makes for a better story!!!
Glad to hear about the lack of heartburn now. She gets that occassionally.

I had mine out two months ago. It was able to be done laparoscopically, so I went in at 8AM and the procedure was done and I was released by noontime. The pain was not that bad. Surprisingly, the most discomfort came in the chest region, which they didn't even have to enter. But they pump gas up in there to expand everything to improve access and visibility to the abdominal region.

When I had the original consultations and presurgery examinations, they quoted the 1-6 weeks recovery time (didn't really mention working out at that time). After the procedure, I was told I could return to work whenever I felt up (desk job) but I couldn't lift anything about 10 lbs for two weeks (the time of the follow up appointment). I was back to work in a week and was given full clearance to resume all activity after the two weeks and went straight to the gym and lifted.

Surprisingly, my strength held up extremely well. My cardiovascular fitness suffered quite a bit.

Depalma-
wow- 2 weeks and you were working out. The dr told her nothing over 10 pounds for 4-6 weeks. Tami is mostly concerned about our 2 toddlers. Our 2 year old can be very 'clingy' at times. On top of that she is stubborn and her mom or older sister are the only 2 people that she clings to. Thanks for the info. Very encouraging!