Gallbladder Removal Recovery: What You Need To Know If You Are Preparing For Cholecystectomy

Have you just been told that you need gallbladder removal surgery, or has someone you care about? While you may have questions about the condition that caused the need for a cholecystectomy in the first place, and about the surgery itself, how you handle your gallbladder removal recovery period is of prime importance. Here's what to expect after gallbladder removal surgery. 

What Is The Gallbladder, And Why Do Some People Have To Have It Removed?

The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located on the right side of the abdomen, under the liver. Its main function is to store and concentrate bile, an enzyme produced by the liver. The gallbladder remains a "storage space" until the hormone cholecystokinin triggers it to start releasing bile into the small intestine, where it gets through the common bile duct. This happens when you eat fatty foods, which bile helps break down. In short, the gallbladder helps maintain a smooth and comfortable digestive process. 

When your gallbladder functions well, you won't give it a second thought. Unfortunately, a number of things can go wrong with the gallbladder:

• Gallstones, the most common affliction of the gallbladder, form as the result of an overload of bilirubin or cholesterol. Most don't cause symptoms and are simply moved along the biliary system after which they'll never be heard from again, but some grow big and cause excruciating pain in the upper right quadrant. While medications and lithotripsy, a procedure to break down gallstones, can serve as treatment, patients with recurrent gallstones may be advised to undergo a cholecystectomy, the removal of the gallbladder. 
• Cholecystitis is an inflammation of the gallbladder, caused by gallstones (biliary colic), or blockages caused by tumors or scarring of the bile duct. 
• Cholesterolosis of the gallbladder, also called "strawberry gallbladder", is a condition where the gallbladder's lining is altered as the result of excess cholesterol. 
• Gallbladder poylps, which are often asymptomatic. 
• Should you have risk factors for gallbladder cancer, such as a "porcelain gallbladder" (calcium deposits in its wall), gallbladder removal will also be recommended. Gallbladder cancer itself is rare, but treatment likewise includes a cholecystectomy where possible. 

READ What To Expect When You Have Your Gallbladder Taken Out

Gallbladder Removal Surgery

Should your gallbladder problems repeatedly cause you pain or you are at risk for (or already have) gallbladder cancer, your treating doctor will recommend that you have your gallbladder removed. A cholecystectomy, or removal of the gallbladder, is most often carried out laparoscopically these days. During a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, four small incisions are made, through which a camera and surgical tools are inserted. In an open cholecystectomy, the more traditional surgical technique, a larger incision is made to remove the gallbladder.

It's very common to be able to go home on the day of the surgery. That in itself doesn't mean that your life will not change after gallbladder removal surgery, however — while humans can live without one, they do need to adhere to strict lifestyle changes after undergoing a cholecystectomy. 

Cholecystectomy Recovery: What You Need To Know

Your Gallbladder Removal Recovery Process

People who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy can usually return home on the same day, while those who had an open cholecystectomy can expect to need to stay in hospital for three to five days. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy will normally allow you to return to your normal daily activities within two weeks, while people who have had an open cholecystectomy require longer — up to six weeks. 

Regardless of how your gallbladder removal was performed, you will need someone to drive you home from hospital. After that, you can expect to be swollen and bruised, and to experience pain, which can be remedied with the over-the-counter painkillers your healthcare team will have recommended to you. You may experience discomfort in your abdomen and shoulders, and some people feel nauseous after their gallbladder removal surgery. These side effects should all pass very quickly. 

Diet After Gallbladder Removal Surgery

As the gallbladder is not essential to the digestive process, people who have had a cholecystectomy are not usually advised to follow a specific diet. However, you may find that you experience abdominal bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, and excessive flatulence after your cholecystectomy. If you do, there are dietary adjustments that can help. 

Eating a healthy and varied diet benefits everyone, and although it is true that a fatty diet will give some people who have undergone a cholecystectomy terrible discomfort, everyone needs some healthy ("good") fats in their diet. Avoiding processed, unhealthy fatty foods (AKA junk foods) may help you steer clear of the discomfort some people experience after their cholecystectomy, though. Pizza, French fries, chicken wings, and their cousins will likely no longer be your best friends after your gallbladder removal. 

Spicy foods are another common trigger for discomfort in people who have had their gallbladder removed, so stay away from those if you find that this applies to you. Besides that, you will want to rethink your caffeine intake, and make sure to increase your consumption of high-fiber foods in the weeks following your surgery. In order to avoid flatulence attacks, you will want to add notorious gas-producing foods, such as cauliflower, beans, and broccoli, into your diet  very gradually. 

What's more, many people who have had their gallbladder removed notice that they function more comfortably when they eat smaller portions (more frequently if necessary) than they did before their surgery. 

READ Cholecystectomy - Laparoscopic Surgery for Gallbladder Removal

The bottom line is this: as you return to normal life without a gallbladder, you will notice what foods you do well with and what your body would rather you avoid, now. Keeping a food journal will help you identify offending foods more easily. Pay close attention to your body, and talk any concerns you have over with your doctor, and you will soon find your new normal. Chances are that this new normal is much closer to an ideal, healthy, diet than what you were eating before your cholecystectomy.