Is gallbladder removal scheduled for next week premature?

I had a cholecystectomy 12 days ago. It was after I had two months of pain including two visits to the ED. When I woke from surgery I was in a great deal of pain. It felt like someone broke my ribs, The pain is subsiding but was more than I expected. The surgeon found sludge and chronic inflammation so it was a good thing I had my gallbladder removed.

Was the inflammation on pancreas? Or gallbladder? I asked my Dr if I take my gallbladder out if it would fix pancreas she said no, I'm just wondering if that was your case thanks

My inflammation was in my gallbladder.

My inflammation was in the gallbladder.

In one of my routine annual physicals 20 years ago, my physician noted that some of my liver profiles were off. I had no other symptoms and I felt fine. My blood work continued to indicate that something was wrong and 9 months later, and My GI ordered a liver biopsy which was normal. A few months later I started having a tingling sensation in that same area so he ordered a scan with dye contrast and discovered that my gallbladder was not functioning, so surgery to remove it was scheduled. It was done a few weeks later, as outpatient arthroscopic surgery and I went home a couple of hours afterwards. I experienced very little pain and the recovery was easy. I hope that will be true for you.

I would def get 2 nd opinion on that before taking gallbladder out .
Esp if it was just one episode.

Sometimes it causes more issues for people once it’s taken out .
I have 7 horrible digestive disorders for 10 long hard years daily .
I still have my gallbladder. I’ve had c scans and doesn’t seem like I have a problem w/ it .
Keep us posted ok ✅.

I had mine out five weeks ago. So far so good but I have to be careful with my diet. I have been good before the laproscopic surgery but now I have to be better. No fried foods, easy on dairy. My only issue is diarrhea. I have it almost daily, sometimes 4-6 times.

It sucks.

No pain though.

CindyC

Just an update almost a year later - I postponed my gallbladder surgery for 11 months. It finally got me last week and I had an emergency cholecystectomy on Saturday, so four days ago. One tidbit that may be useful for others - all of my abdominal ultrasounds prior to surgery said I had sludge and mobile gallstones, but otherwise my gallbladder was intact, no wall thickening, no fluid, etc. I actually went to the ER about 10 days ago and the ER doc sent me home because it didn't look worse on the scan. Then all hell broke loose - pain a booming 10. The surgeon who did my surgery on Saturday said, "I can't tell you how many patients I see who have had ultrasounds that didn't reveal anything acute, but when I got in there, they were infected, inflamed, etc. My best advice is, if you've had at least one attack and been advised to have a cholecystectomy, do it! Four days out, I'm doing OK. I've had a lot of pain, but each day is better. Unlike a lot of folks here, my post-surgery issue has been constipation, not diarrhea. But I'm working through that and being really careful about what I eat, drinking enough water, walking every day, etc. I resisted as long as I could, but I'm so glad this operation is now behind me!

Hi, @wisewoman10 - glad you returned to tell more of your story. I, too, am glad this operation is behind you.

I recognize the pain at a booming 10 level that you mentioned. That is what I experienced. I thought it was worse than labor pain, at its height. It hurt so badly that when I got to the ER, I could not even sit on a chair. The only place to lie down was the floor. My decision to then lie down on the floor of the ER waiting room will tell you how much pain I was in, as I am not someone to ever lie on the floor in a public place. That got me taken back into the ER and roomed very quickly.

My pain from my gallbladder started out of the blue at the hairdresser's while my head was full of foils. I thought it was menstrual pain, so I mentioned it to the woman coloring my hair, who asked around for some acetaminophen. I took that and it made absolutely no impact, which was odd. I finally was sinking down in the styling chair in agony, but I could not really leave as I was mid-color. The stylist seemed to feel really bad for me. I went home afterward and asked my husband to take me to the hospital.

I remember a not too bad recovery, wisewoman10, just like @cahabagirl mentioned in her case.

What is your surgeon having you do for the constipation, wisewoman10?

Lisa, that is quite a story! Between the hairdresser and lying on the floor in the ER, it really captures the experience of a gallbladder gone bad! My surgeon hasn't been all that helpful as far as the constipation goes. Standard advice - drink more water, take stool softeners, get exercise, all of which I've been doing. I had this same experience after my appendix ruptured in 2020. I think my abdomen is just cranky at this point and tired of being invaded with instruments and scalpels. Always grateful for a laparascopic procedure vs an open incision, however. I'm just doubling up on water, adding fiber gradually, walking as much as I can, etc. I tried both a Dulcolax suppository and a Fleet's enema, and both were useless. So now I'm just trying to relax about the whole thing and let nature take its course. I've had enough gas and brownish mucus production (gross, but that's how it's worked in my case) to know that I'm not impacted or anything. I guess it's just my common bile duct trying to figure out how to operate in its new home!