Hello @ogarabrandt and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It must be puzzling to find yourself with a lump in the location of where your gallbladder used to be and the additional on-going symptoms.

You will notice that I have merged your post into an existing discussion on gallbladder surgery so that you may review information shared previously by members as well as connect with active members such as @hopeful33250 @contentandwell and @rosemarya who may be able to lend you some support based on their experiences.

This comment that is quite a bit older may prove to be helpful to you as well as you explore possibilities: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/gallbladder-surgery/?pg=11#comment-176389

What has your doctor said in response to these symptoms?

@ogarabrandt

I have never had one but the bulge sounds like an Incisional hernia. You should let your surgeon know.

It is normal to be fatigued several months after surgery. Your body has gone through a change.

I had a the digestive issues. Best to stay away from greasy foods and sweets. Stay to a bland, nutritious diet for a while. Eat small meals.. 4-6 a day instead of 3 meals. This will help keep your energy level up during the day.

A probiotic… and some say a pre-biotic… may help with the digestive issues. I tried several probiotics until I found the right one for me… of course it had to be a more expensive one. Adding yogurt and other probiotic rich foods will help too. Bananas, oatmeal, and psyllium fiber will help bulk the stool.

Exercise… gently.. such as walking, yoga, tai chi .. stretching. You will want to watch the bending for awhile.

If possible set aside a time in the afternoon to lie down and rest for 20-30 minutes in quiet place or with soothing music. You don't have to nap. .. but if can .. go for it.

Best wishes.
ZeeGee

Hello @ogarabrandt,

I was reading about your post-gallbladder surgery problems. I see that you have had many good responses from those who have also had problems. I was wondering what type of surgery you had. Was it an invasive surgery (with an incision) or was it a laparoscopic surgery
While all of us on Connect are patients like yourself and not medical professionals. Your post did ring a bell for me. As another member had posted about similar problems.

It turned out that she had something called Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. It is not a typical diagnosis but I thought you might want to look into it given that other things have been ruled out. Here is a link to that post by @woodsiechris, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/233939/

Here is an article from Cleveland Clinic's website regarding this disorder, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14516-sphincter-of-oddi-dysfunction.

As you can see from this article this cannot be diagnosed from the regular CT scans, etc. It takes a special test. Here is a quote from the Cleveland Clinic article, "This is done with a procedure called sphincter of Oddi manometry, in which the doctor places a small plastic tube into the pancreas duct or bile duct near the sphincter of Oddi to measure how well it is contracting and expanding."

Since you indicated that you will be seeking a second opinion, you might discuss this possibility. Have you had this test, @ogarabrandt?