Gall Bladder Removal
Yesterday was one of those days. It started with a short to-do list of big time-consuming things. I managed to get most of it done hurrah. We then spent a fun hour at my local trampoline park where I got a phone call from my gall bladder consultant’s assistant asking if I could go into hospital on Monday to have the operation to have my gall bladder removed. Okay, wow that’s like 4 days’ notice. I replied to her in a panic, oh I’d better check with my husband…then I thought no Lynn, there will never be a good time just book it in.
Now I am on a mission to reorganise the whole of next week, get practical and not think too much about the fact that I am going into to hospital to have a general anesthetic and part of my body removed.
The Facts
My consultant is a lovely man. I liked him a lot from our original consultation. He was fair and considered and answered my firing squad of 30 questions very well. Before the appointment I wasn’t sure if I should have the operation. I was scared about complications and a potential 6 weeks off work. He assured me that he had done this key-hole operation 600 times and he has only ever had complications with 3 people, I liked that statistic. The complications included being severely overweight, I am alright at the moment;-)
This is the man who will be doing my surgery on Monday. Recovery time is 7 to 10 days. I am hoping for quicker. As after 6 days I want to be going to my personal finance SHOMO awards. I promise to listen to my body and only go if I am feeling up for it, and I certainly won’t be using the tube. I’ll give Uber a go:-)
The Fear
Best to face facts and face the fear. And this maybe sounds irrational but I am scared of going under and dying. So I am thinking ‘OMG I need to call people to let them know I am having an operation, but then my human side of my brain takes over and looks at the facts and the probabilities and realises that this is very unlikely to happen. I did this when I had my C-section that was booked in with 14 hours’ notice. I called my sister and she cried down the phone, I ended up reassuring her that it would be okay, when all the time I was freaking out about dying!
I am truly worried about things going wrong, like being opened up, or losing blood (I have low platelets, ITP, so I could bleed a lot). I worry about needing several week’s recovery time, and not being about to work. If I can’t work I can’t generate income and then I can’t pay the mortgage and I have no insurance for this illness or loss of work/income.
The Reality
The reality is that I will most likely be fine. I can put my last few questions to rest later when I go see the doctors for my pre-op assessment. This will make me feel better.
I need this operation. I have the fear every time I eat something remotely fatty. I have had painful episodes that are unbearable, and I don’t want another situation of 6 hours of pain in a Las Vegas hotel room not knowing what to do. Or 4 hours in A&E being checked out and dosed up with painkillers then sent on my way when the pain subsides.
So many people have told me I will feel better after the operation so I am going for it. I’ll let you know how I feel afterwards. I probably wont be moving much for a few days so I will writing a lot:-)
3 Responses
I had my gallbladder removed 2 years ago. My operation took a bit longer than the 45 minutes they said, but then I am overweight. Recovery was fine. I think they chucked me out of hospital a day too early but my recovery really did speed up as soon as I was home. I was walking my son to school a couple of days later.
I too have a fear of going under and dying so much so I balled my eyes out when taken to the pre op room. They must see that sort of thing a lot though.
Mine was an emergency operation and so I was pretty poorly beforehand, yet like I said recovery was speedy, so if you are feeling well and are a healthy weight I would assume you will recover in lightening quick time. Good luck with everything and you are doing the right thing getting it over and done with.
Thanks Lorna…I am feeling much better now its 2 days after the op. Yesterday was awful though. I am going to write a post about it so others going through it can read and benefit from my experience. I had so much advice and help before the op it really reassured me so I wasnt scared at all on monday:-)