Gallbladder problems.

That stinks- hope you’re doing okay whatever you decided. I had my gallbladder removed 7 years prior to my j pouch and it was not a huge deal compared to my pouch surgery. It was laptops, so just 4 tiny cuts that they just put those little bandaids on to close them up. When in initially went to the ER for the stones, they sent me home with an appt to see a surgeon. The ER doc said they usually don’t operate immediately unless it’s infected (I guess they can tell by labs or the scans). They said that in the meantime, if I had severe pain I could take pain Meds or come back to ER, which I did bc the pain was horrid- I don’t remember having pain that bad- kidney stone pain is comparable, but stone pain just stops randomly.

Anyway, I was back in the ER about a month later but this was before I could see a surgeon (outside the ER for a consult) and unfortunately the stones showed infection, or the blood work did. Looking back, I wonder if the bloodwork didn’t and maybe I just a colitis flare on top of things, who knows. But they kept me overnight since it was late at that point and operated the next day (Halloween, lol). I was home that evening- same day surgery.

I tolerate pain meds generally well and only had to take 1-2 for that surgery- after that, I swapped to Motrin or Tylenol. I remember walking around on campus (I work at a university) by the end of the week but still being sore so I couldn’t go too far. Really standard surgery and didn’t see any change in how it effected how I eat, although I don’t eat super fatty food or anything on a regular basis.

I was 30 and relatively healthy at the time, so I’m sure that helped too. Hope this helps and hope you’re feeling better.

Hi, I just had gallbladder surgery on 2/24/22.  I had been having pain in my upper right abdomen along with pouchitis symptoms, which I thought was a flare.  I have been on a continual regimen of Cipro/Flagyl for years, and 3 days before I ended up in the ER, I had stopped that combo and started Xifaxan for pouchitis.  I went through the whole gamut of tests, and the ER doctor told me I had a very angry gall bladder and would need to have surgery.  That was a Tuesday and I ended up having surgery on Thursday.  Of course, due to my previous abdominal surgeries, and all of the scar tissue, I wasn't a candidate for laproscopic.  My surgeon said mine was not a routine case, and when they cleared the gallstones, they ended up placing a stent in one of the ducts that was badly blocked.  I will have that removed in a month when I have my pouchoscopy.  It was a rough go, but it was less recovery time than my previous 3 surgeries for my JPouch.  My surgeon had me on a low-fat diet and I really didn't have an appetite for the first few weeks.  I am overweight, so I was pleasantly surprised to have lost 13 lbs throughout the ordeal.