Cholecystectomy

[Dizmo]

Hi, has anyone ever had a Cholecystectomy before? If so how painful was it and were you given a local or general anaesthetic?

[Eve]

No, you're only under for a short amount of time so no need to catheter people unless there is some other reason for it.

[Eve]

Sorry, I stand corrected, I meant as opposed to big surgery like where you are in hospital for a while after to recover etc... - not that I know much about surgery so I should probably just shut up.

It was the nurses saying it's just pocket money stuff for the surgeons.

[BlackadderV]

Sqad, I can only tell it like it was. I had more pain with my first hernia op than any other. The only reason I was not sent home immediately was because I live on my own and they keep you in for 24 hours after a general anaesthetic in such cases.

[Dizmo]

I'm assuming they are going to do the procedure after my pancreas has stopped trying to jump out of my body. I'm in hospital now so I'm wondering when they would do such a procedure. I can't speak to a doctor till tomorrow.

[Psybbo]

Dizmo, just want to wish you well x

[BlackadderV]

Actually Sqad, in all fairness I should own up to the fact that I took into hospital with me a bottle of lemon barley water which consisted of 30% barley water and 70% alcohol. That may have speeded up the healing process.

[Sqad]

LOL^^^^

[DTCwordfan]

Sorry to hear that, Dizmo. Any operation has its risks - one of the ones with a gall bladder is it erupting/read 'bursting' and at that point it's the knife and four hours cleaning you up to avoid peritonitis or septicemia. However, the operation is a standard one and the beauty of laprascopy is that it avoids large cuts and masses of stitches and staples - or catheters. Essentially, three nicks to take the camera, lights and the pipe that inflates your tum area to give them room and one bigger nick just south of your sternum through which their cutting and stitching equipment goes. 40 mins to an hour under the gun and you are in recovery. For some that is straight up and out to the ward, a short rest and bingo, for others the recovery is a little longer with morphine and then back to the ward. Whether it's overnight depends on time of day and how quickly your oxygen levels stabilise. When I had mine, I was number 3, the first one down (who I knew) and they found his had gone bang, hence the clean-up. Consequently it was around 5.30 when I went in, back to the ward at 7, a little time to get me stable and they suggested overnighting - that was pretty horrendous.

[BlackadderV]

My only complaint was that I was told to report at 9 a.m. and was operated on at 6.15 p.m so had missed supper. A kind hearted nurse managed to dig me out a left over sandwich, a bag of crisps and a banana.

[DTCwordfan]

One of the worst things was the form filling - eight bl--dy times to repeat oneself - inc when in front of anaesthetic...."We're not on the same system as the hospital," I was told - and they say there aren't savings to be made in the NHS! There is........ this was Treliske in Truro and a fairly disastrous place.

[Eve]

I was lucky as I was first one in for my surgeon, I was a little disconcerted when they moved me to bed 13 before the op though!

[BlackadderV]

Got the T shirt on that one, DTC. Just been today for a diabetic eye screening text. Three times the same woman asked me to confirm my d.o.b and 1st line of address. I was only there for 20 minutes!

[anneasquith]

do you have pancreatitis or cholecystitis ?

[bensmum]

I had this procedure a few years back (keyhole) and it was as others have said - uncomfortable rather than painful although they will give pain relief if you need it naturally. It's infinitely less painful than the cholecystitis attacks anyway! I was kept in overnight as I have a problem with general anaesthetic and oxygen levels needed monitoring but most people are in and out quickly. The recovery time is better with keyhole but you have to remember that you've still had bits removed from inside and take it easy even if you feel like doing more. Good luck

[Dizmo]

Anneasquith: I have pancreatitis however the doctor thinks that the gallbladder keeps banging into my pancreas and causing the attacks