Does anybody know?

[mistyeyes]

I don't know if anybody would know the answer to this, but I thought I would ask.


My mother had her gall bladder removed Friday night. As of right now, she is still in the hospital and has not even sat up yet. They do have her on a liquid diet now, things like jello, apple juice, soups, etc. She is having no problem with those.They said the next step would be dairy products.


My question is: How long is this going to take, before she is ready to sit up, walk around, and then be ready to come home? My mother is in her 60s, so I know being older may be a factor. Her gall bladder was also an emergency situation, it was ready to burst and had to be removed immediately.


Also, when she does come home, does anybody know if she will have D* a lot? I am not too worried about V*, but the other thing kind of scares me, too. When I see somebody running to the bathroom frequently, I FREAK!

[aguerra29]

My mother in law just had her gallbladder out about 2 months ago - right after Hurricane Rita. She had her "attack" in the middle of hurricane rita at my house. That is a whole nother story - I digress. She had her surgury on a Monday afternoon. She spent one night in the hospital and either one or two nights at my house. She is old (71) and pretty unhealthy. She only needed help getting up and down from the couch. Except for the fact she s*** all over my bathroom, she didn't require much of us. She didn't quite make it to the toilet. Don't worry, there won't be any 'running". They won't be able to move fast enough to run to the bathroom. The doctor said that diarrehea is normal for the first few days. The doctor told her she needed to eat, but everytime we offered to fix her something - she refused. She's a bit honory (pain in the ass). Then we took her back to her apartment and my sister in law checked in on her once a day. My mother in law is a pill popper , so she just stayed pretty drugged up on the hydrocodone. I think she felt back to "normal" after a week or two. She didn't really need to much help during that time. Just for us to bring her groceries, but that isn't any different that any other day. It sounds like your mom's surgery may have been a little more intense, but that should only affect her pain level, not the body's adjustment to being without the gallbladder. Just make sure she has plenty of pain meds.

[mistyeyes]

Ahhh, thanks for the reply.


I just found out the reason they have not tried to help my mother sit up or walk around a bit is because the doctor had not signed the order that it was okay to do so yet! He finally signed it today so tomorrow they will start on getting her to move around more. I was too afraid to go to the hospital (too many sick people and just too many people in general!), but my dad says she looks a lot less pale and sounds pretty chipper. She is ready to get up and about and get out of the hospital asap. Her stomach issore, but after surgery that should be expected, I suppose.


Getting a bit nervous about her coming home, but I think I will get through okay, as long as there is no more V*.

[meercat]

Usually the v*ing takes place the same day after the surgery is over. But there are many ppl who don't v* at all from gall bladder or any other surgery for that matter. So i wouldn't be concerned at all about her v*ing after she comes home. They won't allow her to leave the hospital if she can't keep food down. Also you have to remember NOT to be alarmed if she can't get up or walk around well when she's home...think about it, she's much older than you are, and won't heal as quickly as you or I may. I think you'll do fine :-) So will she...just please be patient with her...cuz YES, surgery HURTS!!! hehehe! Especially any abdominal surgery due to the cutting of the abdominal muscles. That was the worst part for me after my appendectomy. I had to walk around holding a rolled up towel against my belly for a few days due to the incisions in my muscles...it was an OUCHIEE!! lol

[babygap5]

My mother had her gallbladder out a few years ago when she was 62, she didn't have to much pain at all. They did the surgery laporoscopy, with the 3-4 small incisions w/ the camera. She was only tender, like she had a bruise on her abdomen area. I hope she recovers as quickly as my mother did.


I also had my gallbladder out and didnt experience much pain. As for the d* afterwords, mine lasted almost a year as my body adjusted to not having the organ. My mother only suffered with that for about 2 months. I guess everyone is different.

[gubba]

I had my gallbaldder out and came home from the hospital the same day. I was younger, but I did have a little D* once every so often and still do sometimes if I eat food with toomuch fat in it. Your gallbladder is like a fat filter and if it is not there, the fat in foods just ours into your stomach and it causes a little poopy problem from time to time. Do not worry, she is going to be fine. She must have had the old type surgery where they open you up more. I had the laser surgery with only a few small cuts. I was actually out and about in 2 days and to tell you the truth, I did feel like V* a lot before I got it out, but after that, I was much better. It is not a fun surgery, but she will be fine. My mom had hers out when she was in her 60's and she did fine as well. It does take some time to feel great, but know that yu cannot catch anything and yes it is still stressful having to hear V* or D*, but think in terms of knowing that it is not contagious and you will be fine and that should help.

[mistyeyes]

Thanks for the responses! It really is helping. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


I am trying not to think about my mother right now. She is still in the hospital and is getting better, but she is NOT happy there. I feel so bad for her, but I am definitely too scared to visit her in the hospital. I have a great fear of hospitals because of BOTH of my phobias, emet and my social phobia.