On the day of and day after my surgery, I was pretty constipated. I was told this would be the case for a number of reasons. First, anesthesia shuts down your organs for a while, bowels included, so it takes them time to get going again. Secondly, you probably haven't eaten much food in the last 24 hours since you have to fast after dinner and usually don't eat anything until the next evening. Third, the painkillers and meds will cause constipation.
So my experience was one very solid stool the day after my surgery. After I went off the painkillers things got a little more normal.
Diarrhea
I had heard the tales about this. Some people talk about how months or years after their surgery they struggle with this. That was not the case for me, but for a good 3-4 days starting on day 3 I started to get it in spades. Coffee seemed to really make it worse, but I was getting really nervous at this point that it may be a chronic thing.
The good news is that it was temporary, and to be expected after such a surgery. By the 6th or 7th day I was back to normal again and have been that way since (I am not about 15-16 days posy surgery).
Make sure you keep yourself within striking distance of the porcelain god. Don't get caught out on a nature trail or in the middle of a mall too soon after your surgery :)
I never had constipation and diarrhea,I had prune juice to help me pass gas but it didn't help so I stayed extra day at the hospital because of that.My pain was mostly gas pain which is the worst I heard.I didn't even asked for pain killers.This is my fifth surgery what do you expect? lol!The nurses were like "Are you sure Miss?" by the way,thanks for the comment you made on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the comments, and it adds to what others who are going through the process (or are about to go through the process) can envision. It's nice to read some positive comments about these surgeries, instead of the primarily negative that tends to be on the Internet. When things go well, we tend to post less about them.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for taking the time to post all of this. I have been reading it since before my surgery (12/20/12) and it has been helpful. I am on day 2 of recovery and trying to remember that I shouldn't be feeling 100% yet. I got lucky and my surgeon was able to get mine out making just 3 holes total including my belly button. I honestly don't have much pain near my liver (former gallbladder area). My 2 small holes near my ribs don't hurt at all. However my belly button is very tender and it hurts to change sitting positions and walk around. The pain in my shoulder from my CO2 is overwhelmingly painful, its just a constant ache that is mentally driving me nuts! My belly button looks swollen and deformed still. I am hoping that goes away because right now it looks like a football and my stomach is still pretty swollen all around that area.
ReplyDeleteThe constipation is starting to get to me mentally. Knowing that I haven't had a bowel movement since Thursday morning makes me concerned, but honestly it hurts my stomach to make an effort.
How long did it take for your swelling to go down? I think my swelling around my belly button is improving, but it's hard to tell honestly.
I had lost 20lbs in 4 weeks waiting to have this surgery because I couldn't eat without feeling an awful pain. Since Having the surgery I haven't gone nuts eating, but so far so good!
Hope you are doing well and have no lasting affects from the surgery!
Hey boilermaker, the pain around the belly button was rough for me, very sensitive area and it was uncomfortable to sit for a while. It does go away, however, in time. Remember to try getting yourself slightly upside down to get the CO2 moving, it helped me a lot to shift that gas around and out of the shoulder.
DeleteI have to say, I am doing well in year 2. My digestion is a bit slower with heavy foods (pizza, wings, fried stuff), and I try to not eat that all the time, other than that things are great and it's amazing to be pain free now for so long, when I used to have a horrific GB attack every 2 months or so before the surgery.
I had surgery 12/26/12 emergency gallbladder, apperently i was really infected also...stayed in the hospital for two days went home and was back in a day. I had issues going to the bathroom right away but then I couldn't leave the house cause it was like running out of me. As of today I get sick off of any thing with fat in it, which is a good thing i guess but to eat anything with fat i get diaherra, nausea. But everybody is different and are affected differently also. Also soda pop makes me ill too. to much gas!!
DeleteThanks so much for taking the time to write this...stumbled on it since having mine removed on 1/30/13 and it has really been comforting to read your experiences. As I think you posted somewhere, there are so many terrible horror stories out there, and most people with a good outcome like you don't take the time to write about it so the rest of us have an idea what we're facing!
ReplyDeleteCan I ask a personal, and gross question? You mentioned the diarrhea you experienced and that is truthfully the worst part for me at this point. Was there a correlation between that and what you ate? I have been eating lower fat for years leading up to last week's surgery(probably what caused at least part of this in the first place) and as I slowly started introducing low fat foods back in yesterday and today, I have terrible gas pains and diarrhea...much like tammiedarling wrote above. Again, sorry for this nasty question, but I'm just afraid of something chronic happening.
Thanks again for this post!
Nmk
DeleteFor me it was largely a period of healing. Not sure it was correlated to food so much. I was blocked up for a few days and then that reversed. I do know coffee made me have to go quickly. It's probably good to eat foods with protein and rice for absorption
Very nice post, thanks for post and keep updating.
ReplyDeleteLaparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery Delhi