Thread: Gall Bladder Surgery

I'm meeting with the surgeon on Wednesday to discuss my imminent gall bladder removal. I've heard some conflicting reports from others on recovery time. Of all the women I know who have had their gall bladders removed, none of them is a belly dancer. So if you have had your's removed talk to me. What was your recovery time like? How long till you dancing again? How did you feel afterward?

I had emergency gall bladder surgery, but they were able to take it out with the smallest possible incision. They told me it would take six weeks before I felt completely back to normal. I thought I could recover faster than that, but they were right. They want you to be somewhat active right away, and that is probably a good idea, but I over did it by going back to a full time job too soon afterward. Give yourself time to rest and heal properly. In six weeks' time you should be feeling better than ever.

Some people have much larger incisions, so that may require a little longer healing, I'm not sure about that.

I agree with Dunyah. Give yourself tome to recuperate and don't push too soon. For activity, take walks, do very GENTLE yoga poses that don't involve stretching the incision site (no twists and no hot/power/flow/vinyasa/etc!). If you must bellydance, work on shoulders, arms, and hands, footwork, facial expression, finger cymbals, or balancing. Again, nothing that stretches the incisions.

For faster healing, try taking homeopathic Arnica tablets (available at your local health food store), or using an Arnica cream (NOT on the incisions, only on the surrounding unbroken skin). Another homeopathic that can be useful for proper healing and minimizing scar tissue formation is Thiosinaminum (a bit harder to find, but you can probably order it online).

You can also do alternating hot/cold applications around/over the area to increase blood flow and nutrients for tissue healing. 3 mins hot washcloth --> 30 secs cold washcloth (repeat cycle 3x total) and do this everyday. Make sure to keep the wound site dry (you can cover it with plastic wrap, for instance).

And take your multivitamin regularly!!! More nutrients = faster tissue repair!!!
Hope your recovery goes smoothly...

Thanks for the advice ladies. I'll try to pick up some arnica tablets. I take a multi-vitamin and B12 complex every day.

I'm hoping everything goes smoothly. I'm going to try very hard not to push myself too much afterwards. Hopefully I can just pop Killer Ziller into the DVD player and that will help me get my dance fix.