u/WhatInTheWorldPart2

I just received a WhatsApp message from the Eli Group about their summer special. Just sharing in case anyone is interested. The special saves almost $3,000.

See below:

Summer Special – “Summer Rate” (Due to a New Hospital Department Opening)

Guangzhou stay: June 15–23

❗❗ RSVP by June 9.

Total price for the complete hospitalization package (4 days), gallbladder‑preserving surgery, and treatment: 48,000 yuan.

This is a one‑time offer as part of our summer promotion.

All terms and conditions match the standard service package, regularly priced at 63,890 yuan.

Secure your place now – contact us today to confirm your travel dates!

I’m on day 8 post op and have a slight fever and body aches. I’ve left a message with the on call answering machine. Anyone else deal with this?

I’m curious for those of you who are at least a month post-drain removal, what’s life been like for you? Any positives or negatives you’re willing to share? Have you changed your diet or now eat whatever you want? Are the attacks fully gone? Is the pain gone?

Went for the first time this past week. I didn’t realize how small it was for such a busy airport. There was a 35 minute wait to get in, which was fine because we had time. When we did get in, I was honestly shocked at how few seats there were and there were only two business/quieter spaces. The food and drinks were good but I’m pretty disappointed at the size of the space.

I just went through the Go-Scope procedure in the US where the interventional radiologist removes the gallstones, preserving my gallbladder. My healthcare team was amazing and I’m really glad I went with this option. Yes, I know gallstones can form again, but I think it was worth it to keep my organ intact. I’ve changed my diet significantly and will continue on a healthy lifestyle journey following stone removal. For reference, I am 41F with two kids and had two stones, no attacks for months prior to my procedure. Happy to answer and questions.

Thanks to everyone who has come along with me to answer questions and encourage this process. It’s been such a huge help to hear your stories. That being said, I wanted to include my experience so others can decide if they want to move forward with this procedure.

I am now 4 days post-op and can think somewhat more clearly. The first 48-72 hours were the hardest for me. We flew in for the procedure, about an hour and 20 minute flight so it wasn’t too bad. Went sightseeing the day before the procedure knowing I’d probably not be walking much after.

I’ll try to summarize this so it’s not super long.

Pre-Procedure Morning

- I was the first patient of the day for Dr S and arrived at 6am so I could get a private room.

- person at admissions said I’d need to go see interventional radiology approval for a room, but I insisted they should be able to sign me up for a room bc IR already told me to go there first.

- after some digging, she finally processed me for a room, which cost $459.

- went to IR in basement of hospital

- hooked up to IV and asked to change into gown

- took pregnancy test just to confirm before going into surgery

- nurses and Dr S came in to talk to me about procedure and answer any questions

- anesthesiologist came in to ask questions

- wheeled back to operating room, which was cold

- talked to me for a couple minutes and suddenly I was out

- woke up in recovery room and tbh don’t really remember much from this point

- overall process took 4 hours-ish

Recovery

- went to private room in 5NW

- personally, I’m glad I went this route because I was struggling so much and it was good to be able to get up and take care of myself without a stranger in the room with me

- lots of IV pain meds and antibiotics

- nurses were all really amazing, quick to respond and had really good bedside manners. Honestly so grateful for them, especially my night nurse

- lots of pain for me, especially in the mid section. Felt like a really bad stomach ache, which Dr S said was normal

- definitely did not get much sleep. No position was comfortable and mostly slept sitting up because too much pressure and bloating

- did multiple pain meds combos throughout the night, including oxy and two other ivy drugs

- did not find that oxy helped so I just didn’t take it anymore

- Dr S came by the next morning with Kala to see how I was doing and answered any questions. Discussed follow up and drain removal. Dropped off supplies to take home. He also gave me photos of my gallbladder, the stone, and what it looks like after. Pretty cool.

- Dr S explained how to flush out the tube and I video recorded his explanation on my phone so I wouldn’t have to try and remember it later

- nurse continued to check in on me and I was discharged at 5pm with a ton of medication (anti-nausea, pain, two antibiotics, steroids, nerve pain, and ursodiol)

We stayed in town for three days and flew back home. The bloating had been pretty bad even though I’ve barely eaten. Stomach pain is finally gone by day 3.5. I bought a belly wrap to help with my stomach. Been walking around the house a lot. Eating small amounts of food at a time. Emptying out the bile bag regularly. A few of the medications make me drowsy so I’ve been sleeping a lot.

I didn’t have pain for months leading up to this procedure but when they went in, he saw scarring on my cystic duct and had to put a stent in so it could heal. I was maybe passing some debris. I’ve been really tired mostly and didn’t think I’d feel so exhausted. Recovery is both a mental effort as well as physical for me. I wish I had been the kind of case where I could get up and go sightseeing but here we are. I had my procedure on May 26 and will be flying back to see him June 16. He said he had some names of people in my city he could remove the drain but because I also had the stent, he was more comfortable with me just going back to him, which I’m fine with.

Just some helpful things: we stayed at the courtyard Marriott downtown convention center and it was about 14 mins from the hospital. We used Lyft to get around, which worked fine for us. Where loose clothing with pockets to out the bike bag in or get a side bag for it. Going through tsa was pretty easy because I explained ahead of time that we had medical supplies. Get wheelchair assistance at the airport so you’re not exhausted walking through. I also masked through the airport because I didn’t want to get sick while recovery from this procedure.

Happy to answer any questions! Thank you to this community for helping me with an alternative to removing a whole organ.

I plan to post more once I feel more normal, but just wanted to share a bit now while I’m waiting for my meds.

I did not realize just how painful things would be for me. I tried to eat dinner but my gallbladder started spasming and it hurt like crazy.

I’m tired and really hoping things get better but wow has my first day been difficult. I actually think it’s worse than labor pains.

Will update more later but this is where I’m at right now. Encouraging words welcome!

I have an 8-9 hour layover coming up in July. I was thinking about leaving the airport to see Seoul for a few hours. Is this doable? I would have to take the train in which is about 50 mins. Is it worth it?

For those of you who did the Medstar procedure, how soon after were you able to return to work? I work from home at a desk job. Hoping I can get back online after a week, but not sure if this is realistic.

Does anyone know how much the private room cost?

I’m excited but nervous for my gallstone removal next week. I’ve read everyone’s posts about recovery, and what to expect. It sounds like recovery after this procedure is mostly not easy so that makes me a bit anxious, but I am ready to be able to eat certain foods again without worrying about an attack. I also have a vacation planned for a month out from the surgery. Not sure if that was a bad idea but here we are. Please leave a comment if there’s anything else I should be prepared for going into this! We are traveling in to DC and staying at a hotel for four days after removal.