I had a cholecystectomy on 6-13-2018

Digestive health
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I had a cholecystectomy on June 13, 2018. My gallbladder was significantly inflamed and there was a stone stuck in the bile duct. If I waited any longer, I would have ended up in the emergency room. This could have caused complications depending on the expertise of the doctor on duty on that day. As it is, I got to pick the best doctor in town with years of experience.

The surgery went smoothly. There was no need for pain meds. The pain level was from 2 to 4 for the first few days. Quite tolerable. There was zero pain in bed at night. No shoulder pain, no diarrhea, just slight bloating from the gas pumped into the stomach during the operation. There was some bruising and minor swelling around the four incisions. I was able to resume my workouts two weeks after the surgery except ab crunches (two more weeks for that).

I'm glad I chose to have the surgery in spite of misgivings from reading horror stories online. I do not know if my lifestyle and diet played a role in my fuss-free recovery. Here's what I did:

I'm a 56 year old female, 5'3 1/2" tall and weigh 109 lbs. I work out 5 days a week, mostly moderate weight-bearing exercises and stretches for strength and flexibility to reverse my osteopenia. In terms of medication, I take a Calcium Citrate tablet every day, and Centrum multi-vitamin and fish oil every other day. One month before my surgery, here's what I did:

Before breakfast - Juice with half a lemon and a spoonful of honey. After the juice, I drank 3 liters of water (normal routine).

Breakfast            - Quaker Oats, oat bran, chia seeds, hemp hearts and raisons

Lunch                 - a bowl of mixed fruits and a cup of non-fat Greek yogurt

Dinner                 - chicken or seafood with vegetables and fruit for dessert

After dinner         - two spoons of sesame seeds and two spoons of sunflower seeds

Right after the surgery, I stayed active with walking and light house chores. I’m still following the above diet for now before slowly transitioning to more diverse foods.

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Hi mschiffm, Sounds like you done good, well done you.  The only horror stories i'm suffering with is, getting someone to see sense that what I am suffering with is actually GB.  But high 5 to you.

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Hey Julian, did you do an ultrasound or CAT scan? 

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Hi mschiffm, yes I have had in respect of scans and blood tests everything you could ask for CT showed sludge and ultrasound also showed sludge and there is even a question mark regarding my Pancreas yet they refuse me a HIDA scan and say that only the Consultant can decide, I was yesterday told that the consultant has discharged me from their care which to me sounds crazy especially as I have disputed with my Dr's what the Stenographer has said compared to the Radiologist report.  I admire the Americans there health care is far superior to ours.  The reason I now want the HIDA scan is because I believe that the GB is sludge is blocking the ducts to not only the Pancreas but the Liver and this tests would prove beyond doubt that all 3 are working properly.

As a comparison I can tell you how I got my GB under a bearable management with diet.

MORNING:  Porridge with Raspeberries made with powdered milk

Lunch:  Chinese Chicken Chow Mein with added veg

Dinner:  An Apple, Banana and 2 satsumas

Nibbles:  a handful of Brazil and Hazelneuts  

This leaves me with an ache in my right hand side which comes an goes and mild sweating of a night when I lay down and loose stool.

I do want to say this is the ONLY positive thing I have done and all by myself to work out without any help from the medical profession.  I also lost 35 Lbs in weight in two months!!!!

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Hey Julian, you are right. Our American healthcare is far superior if you have a good health insurance. I'm surprised that you can manage powered milk and Chinese Chicken Chow Mein. With my gallbladder problem, I couldn't manage any milk products unless they are non-fat. And Chinese food is so greasy and fattening that I once gained 5 lbs in two weeks after eating Chinese buffet lunch everyday (we couldn't find all the pots and pans after moving to a new house). My cholesterol level and blood pressure shot up as well because of the Chinese food.

You are losing a lot of weight in a short time which is not healthy. For me, dinner is what keeps my weight stable as long as I eat before 4:30 pm. Late dinner tends to make me gain weight, all heading to the midsection where they are not welcome. I try to keep my belly flat, slim and strong in order to ease the burden on my lower back which has serious osteopenia issues.

Do you want to try my diet and see how it goes? What do you have to lose? I'm not a nutritionist or anything but this diet gave me relief from gallbladder attacks before the surgery until that gallstone got lodged in the bile duct. Then it was constant pain regardless of what I ate.

I tried kimchi with dinner last night. I'm not a fan of kimchi but fermented food is supposed to be loaded with probiotics. My body took it well even though it was a bit spicy. I'm going to try "kefir" from Whole Foods Market next week, anything to increase those beneficial live bacteria in my bowel tract.

At this point, my food intake is based on what is beneficial to my health rather than indulging those taste buds in my mouth. This gallbladder issue was a wake-up call for me. Restricting my diet to healthy food only is a small price to pay for a healthy old age.

 

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In Dec last year I was eating nothing except porridge.  The Chinese is not as bad as you say and it settled the GB and I did not put on weight it was a steady loss, keeping eating fruit even as little as it was, was still a huge improvement on my health than before the attack.   Once I had the Colonoscopy and ruled out other illness, was when I started to re introduce other foods then finding out exactly what you say, that Dairy was a main issue, milk in particular so right now I am eating like a vegetarian except with meat Ham and Chicken mainly, I try to look for lean meat.  Now bacon made me sick physically and brought out the worst of the GB and I mean really ill, you guys in the States call foods different to us so its hard to explain.

Lol you sound like a real fun person and something I love about Americans, keep smiling and be happy and I am sure your post will help someone else as wellcheesygrin.

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20 days after surgery. The scarring may not go away for life but it is healing nicely.

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HI Sporty Spice, wow you do have some war wounds, well scars do not matter sweety its you that counts and I reckon with your sense and wiseness to your body I somehow feel you will do well in life, I have always been shy in life so I never shine but I do care about people, which is why I am making posts in here if anything I go through can help others or reassure them then good on me.