Gallbladder Surgery...Post-Op POV
First post ever, but I did want to share how my recovery is going/my POV of the whole process. PLEASE NOTE: this post is for over thinkers and those who like decent detail; I know this post is long but I at least hope to ease someone's mind, thank you!
For reference: I'm 6'1/220lbs/male/athlete/no allergies/2 gallstone attacks/Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy performed. Okay, to start off, I had my first gallstone attack in March 2026 with gallstones being confirmed via ultrasound 1.5 days later. Furthermore, the second gallstone attack happened 6 days ago. Here is my POV of the events that occurred between the attack and till present day (only 6 days lol).
2nd gallstone attack: amidst the night around 12:45am, I felt the same way as I had the night of my first gallstone attack. That being said, it was a sharp/tight pain in the middle of my chest, which creeped down into the upper section of my stomach. It crippled me to the point that not even the fetal position would provide me comfort. I ended up being driven to the hospital where I was begging the triage nurse (front desk nurse that first see's you), to please help me as I knew I was having a gallstone attack. As for the triage nurses' POV, I would assume I frightened him as it was an extremely quiet night in the ER as there was no one even in the waiting room. After about 10 minutes of pleading, begging, pacing, and throwing up, I was finally allowed into the ER. Once in one of the rooms, I was quickly sat in a bed, put on a hospital gown, and my vital were taken. No vitals were out of the normal, yet I had a 99% idea of what was happening. The doctor/resident comes in, asks what's going on, we go through the same old process of allergy questions, past medical/surgical history...blah, blah, blah (I have none besides for the 1st gallbladder attack); he agrees with me, so they order medications to sooth the pain and nausea/vomiting. Note, as I am talking to the doctor, the nurse assigned to me is putting in an IV in order for easy IV medication administration. 4 hours pass...chest x-ray was done (as I complained of chest pain - ended up coming back clear) & ultrasound was done (hinted at more gallstones passing through and sitting but unsure to confirm) and the doctor paged general surgery. General surgery from there decided not to opt for surgery (because my "wall" wasn't thick enough yet) but to try a food trial run. They gave me a water and a plain turkey sandwich. Right as I was about to take the first bite, I started to gagged, and the doctor/resident swooped right in and grabbed the sandwich and tossed it! (lol - feelings were not hurt just confused). I wasn't told anything, but another hour passes and I'm now being admitted to the observation unit (per transporter).
Admitted to Observation: as I transfer from the ER gurney to the hospital floors bed, I meet my night nurse. She states I will be having surgery and I questioned as no one has told me anything, but in the back of my mind, I wouldn't mind the surgery as this pain has been unbearable and the lingering idea of more attacks and not wanting to eat started to brew in my mind as I sat in the ER bed for 6 hours. Anyways...the residents from general surgery come in and let me know my options (which I was extremely grateful for - patient autonomy is the best!). The options were to wait it out and consult with my primary care provider to schedule a surgery date, have the surgery, or wait it out in the hospital and see how I feel. In that moment, after discussing with family, I immediately opted for surgery! For the next 14 hours I was NPO and I was put at the "disposal" of whenever the surgeon had time (I didn't really mind as I was blessed already to have the surgery happen day of). From now to pre-op surgery, it was all pretty static tbh, just awaiting my time to have surgery.
Before - Right After Surgery: Now a hour before surgery started, for some reason, I got into my head about the surgery. When the CRNA came to consult with me about using general anesthesia for the surgery. At first, I really didn't overthink it, but for what ever reason, after they had mentioned using an intubation device (small little piece that is put in ur mouth ONCE your under general anesthesia), I started to think of every single possibility of this procedure all going wrong. Don't get me wrong, the CRNA was nice and caring, but just the words itself frightened me. Anyways, once I got transferred to the pre-op room, the nerves were definitely there but I tried to put on a strong/macho-man mindset that everything would be alright and things like that. Now that I think about it, it kind of did help, as they gave me this like anti-anxiety med in order to calm those nerves down. Then from the pre-op room, I was transferred to the actual OR, where I climbed onto the operating table LOL. From there, I just remember talking and then BOOM (lights out)...that is literally it. I don't remember anything after (I hope I wouldn't...that would suck). I remember waking up and I was already in my bed back in the room I was in during the Observation period. I feel like since the "happy" meds knocked me out so fast, I just had no time to overthink and I didn't think I would wake up so calm as I did.
After Surgery: the first mistake I made was trying to boost myself up in bed. I have never been so humbled by pain in my life. I tried to sit myself up and oh my, did the pain humble me in an instant! The next mistake I made was trying to eat right away so I could go home that night. Horrible idea for me (it may be different for you, so pinch of salt with that), as I ended throwing up everything I tried to eat. A gentle reminder too, if you throw up, let me tell you, your stomach and incisions WILL NOT thank you. It will hurt, don't think it wouldn't, but luckily there's medication for that lol. As for the rest of the day, I just rested in bed. If I could go back to that day of recovery, I would remind myself to take everything super slow and not rush out of bed (it would have saved me a lot of pain in that moment). I will say, if your body allows it, please try to get up and walk. I feel like that was one of the main things that helped me still feel some sort of "strong" and sort of independent (kinda). Also note, that same night, the sleep is bad (pinch of salt here too); I opted into taking a more mild pain reliever that being tramadol, which was a heaven sent for me as Tylenol nor Advil was working at all for me. That night, I would rate my sleep a 4/10. Please don't turn the first night at least, as turning was super painful.
Next day: the next day I was finally able to eat 50% of my foods for both lunch and breakfast. I stuck to foods like a dinner roll, chicken noodle soup, and more bread. Besides that, either nothing else looked appetizing or I couldn't have as now for the next 4 weeks at least, I would be on a low fat diet. Pain was a little bit better but still sore all over my stomach. I only went pee that morning nothing else, not even if I tried my hardest (tmi sorry). I was finally discharged and yay! back at home. Although I will say, who ever is picking you up, bring my a small pillow or plushie or something as the seatbelt felt super uncomfortable especially if you would go over bumps or potholes in the road; just a FYI. I finally got home mid-day and that's where it sunk in that I really wouldn't be able to go out a lot or do much besides recover.
Recovery days after surgery: gosh...first thing I would start with is getting your low fat diet in order. I would say, take the first couple of free hours you get and map out how to optimize your diet the best for you and your recovery. Next, find positions you like and also that your incisions like, that are best for you! Next, see when you could start weaning off of medication (obviously that's a personal decisions for everyone so pinch of salt there too). Next, and this one is important, pick a hobby! As of almost a week in, I still struggle with this one (ie writing this post). As a super active person and college athlete, it is insanely hard sitting here at home watching everything else move along without you. Anyways, it helped me appreciate walks, free time, and quiet time. Besides that, my best recommendation is to take short walks at least 3 times a day, if possible. Reminder to not push yourself insanely hard, as your posture probs wouldn't be great so you're gonna end up with a super sore back! Also please DO NOT forget to be doing your incentive spirometer 10x a hour! (progressively going up and up). For me, I found doing them after a walk gets kinda hard, I still need to figure out why lol.
Final thoughts: if you stuck to the end, thank you for reading, I would assume as always, I have left out details that flew over my head that maybe someone either interested in the surgery is having or already had that my perspective opened up another perspective of questioning for you. Please feel free to comment and hopefully someone may answer with an intriguing answer. Besides that, I do pray for those either awaiting the surgery and post-surgery that you all have a wonderful day and speedy recovery to prospering health! See questions below if you have time to comment. Take care ;>
Questions for the reader: (1) when did you start driving again? (2) when did you start lifting or working out again? (3) what foods did you have as comfort food post surgery? (4) how did you combat all the free time in recovery?