I just had a laproscopic cholecystectomy on the 16th of June. Since May 2nd 2009, I had an abdominal CT, an abodminal ultrasound and a HIDA scan which showed a 5% ejection fraction rate. after weighing options (and pain) i decided to get the gb removed.
the interesting thing is that i had no gallstones and no sludge. apparently that only happens in 5%-10% of the cases where a gallbladder needs to be removed. Mine just stopped working. They can't say for sure WHY but probably due to having a chronic illness (lyme).
My question is for those who had their gallbladders removed and who had no stones...what was your recovery like???? or for even those who did have stones?
My surgeon said i could resume "normal activities" the evening of my surgery. ahem. i didn't even resume "normal activities" by a lymie's standards. still haven't and its 6 days later.
My main concern is that i have a great deal of pain up under my ribs in back and side and in my lower back that shoots down to my hip. (right side..and its not sciatica). I called the surgeons office today and was told it was just gas.
Anyhting remotely jarring (yawning to stepping off a curb) really make it hurt. i walk hunched over clutchign my side/back. I know they inflated me during surgery but...could it STILL be form that 6 days later? still so much gas in tehre that it causes this level of pain?
I also asked the nurse/PA in the surgeons office if the inflammation from teh surgery could trigger a really bad case of lyme arthritis. they had no idea.
I thought i saw that some have herxed post-surgery? or that symptoms of a new infection emerged after surgery (like babs etc).
I can't find info on the effects of a gallbladder removal on people with lyme (surprise surprise) so i'm looking to you to share your experiences or ideas.
thanks so much!
oh..and for those who sent GB samples to Igenex...what were your results???!!!!
Sinjun
Posted by Al (Member # 9420) on :
I have been having similar symptoms and had many tests. One thing that did finally show up is,
Papillary stenosis is a disturbance of the sphincter of Oddi, a muscular valve, that prevents the opening and release of bile or pancreatic fluids into the duodenum in response to food entering the duodenum.
Obstruction of the valve can cause:
pancreatic pain jaundice - bile leaking back into the blood stream. attacks of pancreatitis Causes:
passage of stones scarring Gluten-sensitive enteropathy[1] Autoimmune pancreatitis[2]
pancreatitis can cause your symptoms also.
I'm not saying that this is you but I would look into all possibilities if it were me.
P.S. My daughter in law had her Gall Bladder removed ,(Laproscopic) About a week on the couch with pain meds.
Al
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
I had to stay home for work for one week, but it
Really took me about two weeks to even think
About returning to work.
Still much better than the old type of surgery.
I had stones.
Had a pancreatitis attack about 4 years after my gall bladder was removed.
Unfortunately I was 36 weeks pregnant at the time,
So I just had to suffer through it.
Get your liver enzyme levels checked.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by JesseSapp (Member # 16630) on :
It's just gas. Sometimes the simple answer is the correct one. For laproscopic procedures CO2 (carbon dioxide) is insuflated in the belly to facilitate visualization with the laproscopic instruments. Removal of the instruments at the end of the case allows the majority of the gas to escape, but some remains under the diaphram. The pain you are describing, which sometimes also radiates to the shoulders is very typical for the procedure. It is not lyme related, not related to inflamation - it's just gas. The carbon dioxide is absorbed by the body in 3-5 days. I PROMISE it's nothing to worry about.
Posted by JesseSapp (Member # 16630) on :
It's just gas. Sometimes the simple answer is the correct one. For laproscopic procedures CO2 (carbon dioxide) is insuflated in the belly to facilitate visualization with the laproscopic instruments. Removal of the instruments at the end of the case allows the majority of the gas to escape, but some remains under the diaphram. The pain you are describing, which sometimes also radiates to the shoulders is very typical for the procedure. It is not lyme related, not related to inflamation - it's just gas. The carbon dioxide is absorbed by the body in 3-5 days. I PROMISE it's nothing to worry about.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Your pain sounds a lot like my pancreatic attack. When you talked to the doctor about the pain, did you mention the pain level by number? Certain medical procedures can trigger acute pancreatitis and it can be dangerous if not taken care of.
I had a pancreatic attack after a colonoscopy. I was still in the hospital recovering. My mom kept telling the nurse I had severe pain and she kept ignoring it saying it was common. As soon as I had my mom tell the nurse it was a 9 on the pain scale, she jumped into action.
Most people are not used to the same level as pain as we are. So they complain to doctors about much lower levels of pain. We must tell them our pain level when it is severe.
Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :
WTH?
You could resume normal activities that evening?
My doctor told me at least 2 weeks, and I had the same surgery.
I didn't feel better for longer than that--and add to that the fact that I had a 3 year old and a 7 month old to care for at the time.
Yes, some of the pain could be gas released into your body during surgery, but if your pain continues and is severe, especially if you would start running a fever, I would call your surgeon and demand to be seen.
Posted by hoot (Member # 19281) on :
Homeopathy works great for my kids... one had dental surgery (gum graft) and only used homeopathic remedies afterward for the pain.