<p>Oh yes, do it sooner. One can die from a burst gallbladder. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. I saw the surgeon today. He said I had a particularly acute attack and should have gone to the ER. If I had, I would have probably had lap surgery that weekend and be all better. The problem now is that after the acute inflammation the tissues are more fragile and will be for several weeks and there is a risk of perforation if he attempts lap surgery right now and a high chance I would end up having a full open surgery. He said in 4-6 weeks lap surgery would be less risky. So the plan, as long as the pain is not too bad, is to wait and have the lap surgery. Probably right after tax season is over. He said if I get that much pain again, I should go straight to the hospital. </p>
<p>Kind of bummed as I was ready for this to be done. I almost went to the ER that Sunday when I was in excruciating pain for hours. Wish I had.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom, I am facing this possibility also. I started suffering severe pain in my upper middle stomach on Sunday, Feb. 16, that lasted 36 hours straight! There was some vomiting and I thought I had the stomach virus that several in my office had had. Exactly 2 weeks later, almost to the hour, I suffered another attack. I suffered for about 30 hours before going to the after hours clinic. Because my pain was not where the gall bladder is, the PA did not think it was gall bladder, but did lab work anyway. The clinic called yesterday and said the blood work indicated a possible gall bladder problem. They are supposed to schedule me for an ultrasound soon. I have a vacation planned for March 16, and am worried about another attack during that time. I don’t want to cancel (non-refundable ticket), but at the same time, I am scared to death of another episode. I am hardly eating anything for fear of setting it off. My sympathy to you–it hurts!</p>
<p>musicmom, be sure and watch what you eat. No fatty foods. This is a good time to eat all those vegetables that we put off eating. 
Enjoy your vacation.</p>
<p>It really does hurt musicmom! I have been very carefully watching what I eat as I am terrified of another attack also. The doctor said fatty food can trigger an attack but did not really give me any guideline of how high a fat content is safe/unsafe. So I have been trying to make sure anything I eat has a lowish fat %. I was the same as you and barely ate for a coupe of weeks as I was so scared, but then I was getting a bit weak and started eating again but am very careful - no burgers or chocolate and switched to skim milk for cereal (yuck). I was concerned about travel as my Mum (in England) had not being doing well and the doc said travel was ok but the only danger was another attack. Fortunately she seems to have been doing better so I hope I can have the surgery out of the way. (trying to get through tax season but if it happens again I will go to the ER).</p>
<p>FWIW, the surgeon said that an attack lasting that long is very severe - my ultrasound also indicated that. He told me to go to the ER if it happened again and not to try and tough it out.</p>
<p>Good luck, having experienced this I really feel for you!</p>
<p>Update - I had the lap surgery last Thursday. Felt great the first few days. Went back to work Monday and was absolutely wiped out by mid day. Took tuesday of and decided to just do half days the rest of this week. Don’t know if it is my age (60) or the fact that the surgery followed 2 months of 70-80 hour work weeks with no days off, but I feel really tired and as weak as a kitten. Felt vaguely nauseous all day today and having some mild “bathroom” issues - imagine both have to do with the body adjusting to the different bile delivery system.</p>
<p>Weirdly and unexpectedly I have been feeling quite weepy. My poor husband had to put up with a blubber session this morning after I got dressed for work. Plus my daughter didn’t even bother to drop by and see me and it really upset me. I know it’s not a major surgery, but she lives less than an hour away. Pretty par for the course for her to be honest, but I guess the anesthesia and surgery have me all emo right now. Hopefully I will start feeling a bit less blue as I start feeling better.</p>
<p>Feel better soon. I’ve been there.</p>
<p>Take care of yourself. Back to work after four days? Of course your body and mind are rebelling! Everyone I have talked to said they were back to work after two weeks!</p>
<p>I had an ultrasound and they detected gallstones, but I have not had any problems in the last two months after having two attacks within two weeks back in February/March. I have elected not to have the surgery unless I have further problems. Hope you feel better soon. </p>
<p>I was wondering what was happening with you musicmom. The doc said my gallbladder and the lesions from the last 3 day attack were bad enough i should have the surgery, though i did have some hesitation. </p>
<p>I think I was a bit optimistic about recovery time. </p>
<p>Yes, it takes more than a bit for the body to heal from the insult of surgery. I bet you are a very hard worker and this is a shock to the system in a number of ways. Hope are able to take it easy for a bit, swimcatsmom. </p>
<p>I had mine out after a few episodes. It was getting close to my busy time for work and I didn’t want to be caught in an attack and affect my work. So I scheduled the surgery and was in and out on the same day. The worst part for me was ripping out some of the staples from sneezing from hay fever a few days later. I had it out on a Friday and was out to lunch on Monday. I never had any food issues post surgery , though I don’t really eat the foods that I was advised to avoid. Good luck to you !</p>
<p>Friend had her gallbladder out and was tired for a few days, but it gets better. Also she says she can eat anything she wants, no problems. Her doc said that if the gallbladder has a few stones in it then it really isn’t able to contribute much bile to help digest a fatty meal; in effect your body had already gotten used to not having it there.</p>
<p>I really should stop terrorizing myself reading every forum with people who have had post op problems. That’s the problem with the internet and being at home with time on my hands. Decided to stick with half days at work for this week which I think is a good plan. I guess my recommendation to people (especially older like myself) is not to rush it… I think that really set me back. Getting a little less emo (weird thing all that as I’m not normally like that) which I imagine will be a huge relief to my husband.</p>
<p>Listen to your body. I was fortunate,I had mine out 7 years ago, and I had it done, was home the next day, and was at work the day after that, but that was me, I was in my 40’s. I haven’t seen anything with eating, I can get indigestion if I eat fatty fried foods (which I generally dont eat anyway), but I eat cheese, I eat meat (in moderation), I eat ‘healthy fats’ in nuts and such, and I don’t have any problems and haven’t, even when I have indulged once in a while. You had a pretty acute attack and it was inflamed,so it could take longer to recover. </p>
<p>How are you feeling now?</p>
<p>I’m actually feeling much better, thank you for asking. I’m over the weird emo thing thank goodness. The only problem I still have is that I wake up nauseous every morning and also seem to have a bit of night sweats (like in menopause). Doc says that is not something he would expect. It’s more tiresome than anything as it takes a while before I feel better. But as the day goes on, I feel better. Being cautious about what I eat and no probs so far. </p>
<p>Doctor said the gallbladder was a mess and quite difficult to remove because of lesions. Walls were over half a cm thick instead of a about a mm. And the lab results were something something corrosive something. (should have written it down cause all I remember is the word corrosive and thinking “that sounds unpleasant”). Probably hadn’t been working well in a long time.</p>
<p>I think I actually have more energy than I have had in a long a while. </p>
<p>I had night sweats too after my gallbladder was removed but they went away soon after. Hang in there.</p>
<p>Oh that’s good to hear! (well, not good as such - but you know what i mean)</p>