New post from Bebe: post op pain

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2003
New post from Bebe: post op pain
2
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 2:15pm

Hi!
Ok, here's my new post... in the other string I wrote:

My question was more around "should I be worrying about the occasional tiny pain?"
Not sure if any of you can answer that question, but for those of you who have had your gallbladder removed, what is your experience?

When this happened about 3 months ago, my surgeon said he'd only be concerned if the pain was sharp and accompanied by jaundice, nausea, etc. Pain by itself doesn't concern him at this point, and it is really really tiny as it is.

It's just that after what I went through last year, I am super vigilant and nervous and have become somewhat of a hypochondriac, which I hate! I also don't want to be like the boy who cried wolf, running to the dr. for every little thing.

What is your view? If you were me, when would you run to the doctor and what is to be expected, less than a year after open gallbladder surgery for a gallbladder that was apparently PACKED with stones? For the record, I'm relatively young (31) and small (about 100 lbs), so I apparently don't fit the profile for any of these.

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 9:24pm

Hi - thanks for re-posting.

I can really just share my experience. I had my GB removed in Feb/04. I was 42 and not over over weight with no family history of GB problems.

I continued to experience nausea, bloating and felt even worse if I consumed more than 25% of my calories from fat (based on info I gathered at www.fitday.com )

I was at the doctors every 3 months and they kept telling me that it was my 'body adjusting'. Basically the surgeon doesn't want to see me since the surgery is done - and the problems I'm not expereienceing are not related directly to the surgery (ie. he just does the surgery - he doesn't diagnose problems expereinced after the surgery)

After 9 months they finally ordered an ultra sound I and discovered that my common bile duct is 50% larger than it should be. A great relief to know that it wasn't just my imagination!
For me they are just going to 'wait & see" and as long as the symptoms don't get worse they will do another ultra sound in 6 months time if the symptoms haven't gone away.

So - I guess my advise would be to follow up on it. Keep track of your food intake to see if you are eating a balanced diet. When I could tell my doctor that I'm only consuming 20% of my calries from fat he knew that when I said "low fat" I was serious.

Please post again to let us know how you are doing,

Jo

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2003
Fri, 02-18-2005 - 10:41am

Thanks for sharing your experience!
I can't say that my experience right now is the same... it's just a little pain that if it was on my left side I would completely ignore!

My surgeon is phenominal and always willing to see me, so I'm very lucky in the respect. I made an appointment with him for next week, so let's see!

Thanks again,
Bebe