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Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery
Digestive Health | Last Active: Apr 27 6:42am | Replies (266)Comment receiving replies
Hi there,
I had my gall bladder removed on March 28th. On March 31st, I was taken to hospital with severe crippling right sided rib pain. They did a CT scan, ruled out any injury to bile duct and any infection (have never been feverish) since the 31st I have been dealing with this rib pain. It is most severe shortly after I wake up to the point of not being able to move, hurts to breath and I feel nauseated. Hydromorphone barely takes the edge off and Robaxin barely takes the edge off. Incusions are healing as they should, I have very minimal pain at incision sites.I have exhausted my Google searches and just want to know if this is normal? Has anyone experienced something similar? How long can I expect this pain to last? Anything else I can try to minimize pain? Thanks!
Replies to "Hi there, I had my gall bladder removed on March 28th. On March 31st, I was..."
I am angry on your behalf! Your situation does NOT sound normal to me (I am not a doctor).
Get someone to advocate for you, even if they have to take time off from work to do so.
I suggest some phone calls, which is hard to do when you can't breathe! but could be the most direct route to help. Get your "advocate" to make them with you. They talk the most and you confirm what they say and give HIPPA permission for them to talk for you.
Call your surgeon's office and give them an ear-full. Demand some answers! Demand treatment. They are responsible for this situation.
This is really important: Call your primary care doctor or whomever recommended the surgeon, and get them on your side to demand answers.
Call the hospital where you had the surgery done. Hospitals really, really hate when patients have to be readmitted within a certain time period. And you have already had a ER visit.
If you have to go back to an ER, go to the hospital where they did the surgery. Then all of your records will be together, which also might be very helpful at a later date.
On the topic of your "advocate": If you are female, try to have a male relative/spouse make the calls. It helps if he 1) believes you are suffering, and 2) is pretty angry about how you are being treated-- or NOT being treated.
Sadly, it has been my experience that women tend to get dismissed by medical professionals-- even female medical professionals. One phone call from my husband resolved a problem that I (female) had been working on for weeks!
I had a similar, not identical, experience after my gall bladder surgery. And I still regret not having been more forceful in demanding answers and treatment. I had to go on short-term disability and wound up with pneumonia. Almost 20 years later and I still feel it sometimes. I'm not saying that this will happen to you, but I do urge you to try your best to get answers and treatment. Back then, my husband still believed that all doctors were infallible, so he wasn't much help. He has learned better now.
This sounds anti-doctor. I know there are good ones out there, but they aren't all-knowing, just human.
I hope you feel better soon! Good luck!
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Hi @tasha00, this must be disconcerting. To help you connect with others who have had a cholecystectomy, I moved your question to this discussion
- Dealing with symptoms after Gallbladder surgery: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/gallbladder-surgery/
Your surgery was very recent and it is a major surgery. Even from laparoscopic cholecystectomy, recovery can take several weeks. Was your surgery laparoscopically done? May I ask what led to your needing surgery?