Nutrition and healthy eating

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• May 21, 2013 7:33 a.m.

  I had my gallbladder removed on Saturday and feel fine but I just found out that I gained 7 lbs just after the surgery!?! Is that normal?

  - Cathy

• May 20, 2013 9:04 p.m.

  I had my Gallbladder out today, so far no problems. I asked what I could eat they just said stay away from hamburgers today. After reading the comments I will try eatting small portions. I also had no problems before surgery. They discovered it during a catscan. I wish eveyone luck. 5-21-13

  - Roe

• May 20, 2013 8:40 p.m.

  Today has been 2 weeks since I had my gallbladder removed. I am feeling so great. It was amazing, they sent me home that day. I was up and walking for dinner. I ate yogart and broth. I started eating regularly after 4 days. I did not take any stool softners, have had no diareah. I am noticing that I can only eat a little bit at a time. I eat 6 small meals a day and I am dropping weight. I started eating healthy a while before it was removed and now I can't believe how great I feel. I was sick for 15+ years. Now I am just doing great. I am ready to live the rest of my life in a thinner and healthier body! I am so excited. Wounds are just about healed! I am so grateful that I did my research and told the doctors what was wrong vrs waiting on them to figure it out! Life here I come!!!!

  - Sarah

• May 20, 2013 3:35 p.m.

  I had my gallbladder taken out 3.5 years ago . it was removed the day after I delivered my 5th baby. The things that still bother me, are faty things and sugary things. If I eat a low -fat diet and limit my sugar intake, than I am fine. But I notice if I have pancakes or waffles for breakfast, it goes right through me. That happens with too big of meals also. -Moderation and smaller portions is the key, I think..... It is for me, anyway.

  - Holly

• May 18, 2013 1:44 p.m.

  Gall bladder removed April 17, no do's or dont's from surgical doctor. Leaening from internet. Had terrible stabbing pains on May 17, do not know from what. Try to keep low fat I learned from internet people. Thank you.

  - Earl

• May 18, 2013 11:33 a.m.

  I had my first attack on Jun 6, 2011. they found nothing. My second attack came July 14th, 2011 and the gallbladder had been "cooking", causing a pre-gangrenous condition that left a 6-8 inch scar on my right stomach. They say I almost died. I've found the use of a probiotic (Activia) once or twice daily helps with the regulation of digestion. Big meals cause a problem as its too much for the system to handle. Fatty/fried foods is a BIG no-no. 1-3 beers are my limit, or else the next day is spent in and out of the bathroom. I recommend frequent, non-fat meals throughout the day....or else....good luck!

  - Paul

• May 17, 2013 6:31 p.m.

  May 17th,2013 5:22pm It has been very helpful to be able to read these blogs. Not that the information solved any of my problems but just to know that I am not the only one struggling with issues after surgery. My gallbladder was removed in Nov 2012 after being sick and loosing 50 pounds since April of 2012. Here I am six months later and basically about the same except the horrific pain isn't there. I cannot tolerate meat at all, soda, spicy or fried foods. So basically if I stick to yogurt, fruit , puddings, and fresh veggies in small amounts I manage okay. I am still very tired and loosing weight. If I do eat something that is not very bland my stomach puts me in knots although I don't have bowel problems much. My liver was also "knicked" with bleeding they were able to stop but the doctor has no suggestions or directions. It is very frustrating and I am so sick of being sick.

  - Lori

• May 17, 2013 5:16 p.m.

  Having a lapropscopic cholesystectomy on Monday. Have been eating small meals (grazing) in preparation. Hope I'm one of the success stories that I've read about here as I live alone and I'm 70yrs. old.

  - Dedy

• May 17, 2013 5:04 p.m.

  My gallbladder was removed May 15, 2013. It was severely inflamed to the point of bursting with an "egg" size green stone inside. The surgeon called it "horrible." I went home the same day with a cache of Hydrocodone. Today is the 17th of May and some pain persists. I have deduced that pain is due to Laproscopic punctures. A large exit to help the "egg" and Sac removal without bursting or spillage. I plan to switch to motrin and regulate my own healing as the body does have the miracle of healing itself if we cooperate with it's natural rythms. God watches over us as we watch over ourselves. I'm 71 and pressing On! "Mr. Andy"

  - Mr Andy

• May 16, 2013 12:14 p.m.

  I had gailbladder surgery eight years age. Everything went well. I even went back to work for about four hours the day after the surgery. The surgeon never discussed any dietary restrictions with me and I went back to eating anything and everything right after the surgery without any issues. I had major spine surgery six months ago and the pain medication really messed up my digestive system. I have been off the pain pills for three months now and I still have a diarrhea attack about once a week. It comes on very suddenly. I'll have abdominal crams and pain. I will go into the bathroom and have a normal bowl movement then ten minutes later the diarrhea will hit. I will have two or three bowl movements that progress from very loose stools to almost totally liquid, then I will be fine for another five to seven days. Could the fact that I am no longer getting regulated amounts of concentrated biles into my intestines be the cause of my problems? And, if so, do I need to start experimenting with some different dietary restrictions?

  - Craig

• May 15, 2013 12:04 a.m.

  I have just had my gallbladder removed. ..there was done by robotics and a by a brilliant Dr. Sort of dr House....Saturday at 8pm it happen 3 days ago...and yesterday I had a delicious chocolate cake..the only down fall was the calories on it...and filing made of a milk which i Have intolerance ... as i had lose stomach i ate rice and chicken with veggies, which rice corrected it this happen as I did not ate for 49 hours......... as is only 3 days ago ..i imagine i have still to Care what i eat ..So far thanks God allis fine... The Dr arranged for the clinic to give me the correct medicamemts and continue antibiotics ....for what. All I am reading the diet is very important .......and all who have the gallbladder removed. Must follow it....thanks for all information given on this blog .. Very until....

  - Rosi

• May 13, 2013 10:50 p.m.

  I am about to have gallbladder removal surgery and don't really know what to expect. I have gallstones, so many so that it has enlerged the size of my gall bladder. After reading some post I realize thats how I feel now! Anytime I eat I get pain, heartburn gas, have to use the bathroom. I get nausea, lightheaded and I alomst cant fiunction. I have to lie down and sweat through the horrible pain in my belly. This takes about an hour or so after every thing I eat, whether a bannana, yogurt, granola bar or a meal. Carrots are my only savior! I hoipe the surgery overall will help. I am willing to go lowfat-nonfat. Since I already have too to help with the pain! Any advice would be appriciated!

  - Samantha

• May 13, 2013 1:43 p.m.

  I just had my gallbladder removed and boy am I in a lot a pain yet. I only could eat very small portions and after I am in a lot pain after I eat. I only can drink soda without pain.

  - cheryl

• May 13, 2013 11:07 a.m.

  I had my gallbladder removed a week and a half ago. All the guidelines I've followed don't help. I can't eat anything. Not even broth without getting sick or sever pains. I have spoken to my doctor. We are trying new things everydaywith the same results. I'm so hungry but afraid to eat anything. I would rather have my non working, infected, dead gallbladder than what I'm going through now! I know it takes time to adjust, but I'm getting bet impatient.

  - dana

• May 13, 2013 10:56 a.m.

  I had my gall bladder removed 1.5 years ago. I have trouble eating nuts (gives me a bad belly ache), I get pain in my gall bladder area after eating fatty food or meat(even fatty fish)and get very bloated the day(s) after. I try to limit the amount of fat, nuts and meat. Doctors should be a lot clearer about the possible (significant) effects of a gall bladder removal and inform patients on what foods to avoid for a healthy digestion afterwards.

  - Ella

• May 13, 2013 7:40 a.m.

  I have had my gall bladder removed for 7 years now , I ave no diarrhoea problems or pains since ,I can eat everything I did before but Brussels sprouts and cabbage can cause a lot of heartburn . Other than that no issues at all

  - Jo

• May 12, 2013 12:37 a.m.

  I should have waited for the best surgeon, not the next available. I thought, surely, it's such a common procedure, this doctor wouldn't be in practice if he couldn't do it well enough. He decided before I even went under that he was going to make four incisions, not even try with just one. When my mother had hers out at 50, the doctor (who everyone recommended to me!) only made one, and she never had any trouble with any foods. That was 14 years ago. I'm 21, had my surgery 05-08-13, and the after care was TERRIBLE. The doctor and nurses ignored me over and over when I asked for non-hydrocodone-based pain meds. I spent the first two days on Tylenol before he finally gave me a Tylenol 3 script, which I'd asked for 3 times prior. No one gave me an after care sheet. I had to call and ask, or I would've removed my bandages too early. As for food, they told me the same bull about a normal diet after the first 24 hours. I've had chicken noodle soup, chicken, honeydew, and crackers in five days. I tried toast with grape jelly -- my first bowel movement! Then a salad seemed like it wanted to do the same thing. I'm scared that I won't find anything that works for me besides those four things and I'll become malnourished. I'm scared that I'll be one of those people that never goes back to normal. And I'm scared that this doctor messed something simple up and I'm screwed here on out. I wish people hadn't sugar-coated this surgery for me. This sucks. I just wanted to feel normal again.

  - Helen

• May 10, 2013 3:01 p.m.

  Wanda's comment posted on April 29, 2013 describes my experience to a "T". If she happens back to this site and sees my comment, I would love to find out how she discovered that it was the IV antibiotic that destroyed her gallbladder. Now I am wondering if the hardcore IV antibiotics that I was on for 8 days in the hospital a year or 2 prior caused this. I had sepsis and would have died without them, so I wouldn't have changed things but I am curious. It has been about 3 years without a gallbladder for me and my system is finally more stable. However, I too have gained tons of weight, even in my upper stomach area which has always been muscular and thin even when I was carrying too much weight elsewhere.

  - Stephanie

• May 10, 2013 1:02 p.m.

  I had my gallbladder out April 2012. I have always been careful of my diet for the most part only eating chicken very little dairy hardly ever a potato, pasta or rice. I eat alot of berries, nuts, apples and salads. I eat lots of brocolli, bussel sprouts and carrots. I put flax seed and some other grains in just about everything. I have IBS so some of all these good foods do begin to bother me and I have to cut back and rethink everything for a few days. I think I feel somewhat better after surgery this far out but I don't think I feel great that's why I came onto this website. And after reading many of the comments today it's evident that I need to reconcider what I'm eating. I feel kind of like I did before my surgery uncomfortable on my right side. I have more bowell movements each day than before my surgery. I guess I keep reading everyones comments, get with the doc and come up with another plan.

  - Joan

• May 10, 2013 11:27 a.m.

  I had no problems after my surgery. I suppose new that I was simply lucky. My husband recently had his gallbladder removed and is having a very difficult time with the food he eats. He's afraid to eat at all. Every meal brings him severe cramping and bloating. The doctor nicked an artery on the liver due to the gallbladder being so enlarged that he had to pull part of the liver out through the hole that one of the trocars was in. I made baked chicken and a salad. He ate the skin and also the lite balsamic vinaigrette. All night he was miserable and into the next day. It has been three weeks with the same symptoms. He can't seem to tolerate much more than jello and popsicles. I wonder if he'll ever recover and be able to eat regular food. I don't mind going low fat and learn meats but this isn't really working for him either... I really feel bad for him. I don't know where else to turn, as no one seems to have the answers...

  - Teri

• May 10, 2013 4:05 a.m.

  I had my op in dec my doctor told me i could go bk to normal eating dnt its the worse thing i did i couldent get off the toilet i wasent keeping my food dwn me i was very bad so i went on a diet with the doctors an luckily im better now i put on weight now ive got it off but never eat bk normal when u have had the op i am just recovering after 5 months it took me time but im gettin there

  - mandy

• May 9, 2013 4:29 p.m.

  I had my gallbladder removed 3 weeks ago. I have struggled with nausea, and a lack of appitite. I am very week, and have lost about 15lbs. When will I start feeling like doing tnings again? When will food taste good again?

  - George

• May 7, 2013 7:24 p.m.

  I had my gall bladder out 3 weeks ago, and all I can say is - I feel so much better! I didn't even realize that I was feeling that bad before. I just thought it was part of getting older (almost 50). I am a kindergarten teacher. I went back to school 2 weeks after surgery (I think I could have gone back sooner, but didn't want to over do it). After reading some of these posts, I really feel like the lucky one. I have had no problems with anything. I have been able to eat everything that I ate before. Good luck to all of you experiencing troubles. Hang in there!

  - Penny

• May 6, 2013 8:55 p.m.

  My gallbladder was removed on April 29, 2013. I went to hospital on April 21, 2013 and released on May 2, the day after my birthday. My stay in the hospital was a journey. I went through emergency with what I thought was a bad case of indigestion that affected my breathing and that I would be going home after ER did their thing. Not the case. Because I thought that I had indigestion I walked and walked from the first day there even though I was in pain. I believed that this helped me. Now that I am home I now have a challenge of what foods to eat and how much at one setting. How my condition will affect me when I return to work. I teach school. Whatever the challenge, I will deal with it and not let it control my life.

  - Lynn

• May 6, 2013 8:20 p.m.

  I had my gallbladder removed march 21, 2013....The worst part for me is the horrible indegestion that i get almost everynight. it starts about 3:00am , I have to walk the floor for aprox. 2 hours until the gas calms down.... depending on what i eat. I have ate mainly .chicken, turkey or fish.....carrots, potatoes,green beans and peas. And a lot of rice and saltine crackers....and low fat chicken noodle soup. Blueberries my favorite cause a lot of pain where my gallbladder used to be ... Asparagus caused terrible gas. Truthfully i was able to eat more before the surgery.. I only try one new food at a time. ....Banana's are my main breakfast food and air popped popcorn is my evening snack....i look for fatfree bread and no yolk noodles.

  - Tally