login
Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while?
-
No new posts
 2015-04-09 2:51 PM |
Master  3195     Just South of Boston |  Subject: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while?Just found out I'll need my gallbladder out later this month, which will be about 7 weeks out from my first race of the season - a HIM on June 20th. Not sure of the recovery time for this, or impact on training, etc. Anyone out there had this done? Would be interested to hear your experience. I've not had a discussion with the surgeon yet, but know this is an inevitability which needs to be done sooner rather than later. |
| 2015-04-09 3:37 PM in reply to: 0 |
701 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Unfortunately, my experience is now over 35 years old. And even then, I was in first grade, so I don't recall everything. It was different then, not the more or less outpatient that it is today. Hospital for almost a week recovering. A drainage tube sticking out of your gut. And a lovely 4" scar as proof. Yeah, first grade. It took them forever to figure out as it was the last thing they thought could be amiss in a first grader. Doctors came from far and wide to see the boy who had a wrecked gall bladder. I know a retired doctor who recently had it done in the morning and was at a party I was at later that evening. He was certainly in some discomfort, but he was out and about. I can tell you this, you will be VERY happy when it is done. There is nothing like gall stones. My wife used to give me the "you don't know what it's like until you've had a baby." She did that up to the point that a friend of ours was having gall bladder attacks in the midst of her fourth pregnancy. She confirmed that giving birth was a cakewalk compared to gall stones. Edited by jhaack39 2015-04-09 3:42 PM |
| 2015-04-09 6:49 PM in reply to: Mike_D |
Official BT Coach 18500 Indianapolis, Indiana Gold member | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Originally posted by Mike_D Just found out I'll need my gallbladder out later this month, which will be about 7 weeks out from my first race of the season - a HIM on June 20th. Not sure of the recovery time for this, or impact on training, etc. Anyone out there had this done? Would be interested to hear your experience. I've not had a discussion with the surgeon yet, but know this is an inevitability which needs to be done sooner rather than later. I had an acute gallbladder attack and pancreatitis in September 2012. I was in ICU for a day to get stabilized, then a total of 9-days in the hospital. Trust me, you want to get this done as an elective surgery rather than as an emergency. The surgery was done orthoscopically so it was minimally invasive, however the doctor said 4-6 weeks before I could swim, bike, or run. He also said no weights for the same period of time. I have no idea if the time will be the same for you as I had pancreatitis on top of the surgery. The doctor did say that I could walk as far as my body would allow which he assured me wouldn't be very far. I suppose it was in large part because I was in a hospital bed for so long but the first time I tried to walk about 2-days after I got home, so 11-days post op, I walked around the pond out back of our house. It was only a third of a mile around it, and all I can say is, thank goodness there were benches because I would not have made it non-stop. I walked every day. By 3-weeks post-op I was itching to run, so I asked Dr. Scott (my reflection in the mirror) if it would be OK to start easy runs. Dr. Scott said not a problem. On my second short (+/- 2 miles), easy run, I started having pain in my abdomen. I ended up going to the real doctor and I had strained something that was not fully healed from the surgery, sorry don't remember what it was, and was told absolutely no exercise for another 6-weeks. The moral of the story is, accept whatever time constraints the doctor puts on your training. Trying to fudge and start training before you are cleared will only delay getting back to it. Good luck! |
| 2015-04-09 8:47 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 3 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? I had my gallbladder removed laparoscopicly the first week of January. Surgeon told me not to lift over 20LBs, swim, bike, or run for a month. I started walking the day after the surgery once around the block. Kept adding distance to the walk, up to 3 miles. I started running, swimming, and biking the first week of February. It took most of February to get close to being back to where I was before the surgery. It also took almost that long for my digestive system to get back to normal. Edited by kpejr 2015-04-09 8:48 PM |
| 2015-04-10 5:46 AM in reply to: kpejr |
Master 3195 Just South of Boston | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Thanks, everyone. Seems to me this may be a bigger impact thing than first thought. Will talk to the doc, even if it means DNS for the race. Better to be healthy, even if it is frustrating. |
| 2015-04-10 5:47 AM in reply to: 0 |
Master 3195 Just South of Boston | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? |
| 2015-04-10 9:02 AM in reply to: Mike_D |
Master 3127 Sunny Southern Cal | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Originally posted by Mike_D Thanks, everyone. Seems to me this may be a bigger impact thing than first thought. Will talk to the doc, even if it means DNS for the race. Better to be healthy, even if it is frustrating. Sounds like your race may have just been sunk. Sorry man, that's no fun. Just ease back into the training as you are able to and schedule something for late season if you can. |
| 2015-04-10 11:13 AM in reply to: Mike_D |
| 52 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? I also had an acute gallbladder attack, which came out of nowhere (no symptoms other than severe pain in the middle of the night which prompted me to go to the ER). I had surgery the following day (laparoscopic). I spent two days in the hospital. However, it was a super easy procedure and the good news is that once you have it removed you will never have any issues. I was training for my fall marathon and thought I wouldn't be able to do my race. My surgeon knew I was a runner and how important it was for me to recover quickly and get back out there. He told me that generally, it takes an average person 4-6 weeks to heal and feel back to normal. However, since I was in great shape and healthy, I would probably recover much quicker. Two days after my surgery I was walking on the treadmill and doing the stationary bike. Ten days after surgery I was running (slow and low mileage). Three weeks after surgery I was back to my normal weekly mileage and pace. I did have to hold off on doing any kind of core/lower body weights for about 4 weeks. I think recovery has a lot to do with what kind of health and shape you are in. I find that those that are in good shape, physically active, and healthy recover faster. My surgeon also confirmed this. One thing I do want to add is that I was not into triathlons so I was not swimming, which I'm sure would have delayed my return. Whatever you do, just listen to what your surgeon says and if he says no to the race (which will suck) follow his direction. There will be other races. |
| 2015-04-10 11:18 AM in reply to: Mike_D |
Master 2802 Minnetonka, Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Recover time will depend a lot on how the surgery is done. If it can be done laparoscopically, recovery time should be shorter. I had my appendix out the day before my first race of the season a few years ago - sucked! Sorry to hear and best wishes/good luck. |
| 2015-04-10 4:50 PM in reply to: ejshowers |
Champion 6993 Chicago, Illinois | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? I had it out 2 years ago right at the start of the summer. Ruined the whole summer. recovery can be SO varied based on how it goes. Mine was way really big I had over 100 stones in it. It took me about 2 months back to training. My stomach was so black and blue from trying to get it out. I was told not even to swim for 2 months. Even then my training was pretty limited because I had core muscle issues. Goods news is they want you walking right away and my uncle had it about the same time and recovery was way easier for him. You might miss your tri but there is always next year. |
| 2015-04-10 8:52 PM in reply to: Mike_D |
Master 2094 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? I take out a few hundred gallbladders a year mostly as straight outpatient. Most people are back to full activity, including heavy lifting, at 2 weeks. I would try to put the surgery off until after the HIM but that does carry the risk of an acute attack and worse, pancreatitis but only if you have stones. If it is a "poorly functioning gallbladder", do the race and have it removed later. 4-6 weeks before a HIM is where you really benefit from the long rides/runs. To miss them for surgery and recovery would probably make me re-think doing a race. |
| 2015-05-31 7:54 AM in reply to: pschriver |
Master 3195 Just South of Boston | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Update -- surgery happening tomorrow, and couldn't wait to post race. Should be same day in/out. Recovery about a week, full recovery in under 3. The downside is my 2 June races are not happening. I had a long talk with my doc about it, and he thought it was not the best idea. My training has been impacted by how miserable I've felt as well, so taking it all together, I'll get back at it next week, and move forward. have an Oly in late August, so that is my prep goal. Will see how it goes. Thanks for everyone's input! |
| 2015-05-31 3:26 PM in reply to: Mike_D |
| 928 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Good luck with the surgery. Is it laparoscopic? If so, you should be back to full activity pretty quickly. Good idea to put off the June races, though, since you will have lost some training time either way. |
| 2015-05-31 4:55 PM in reply to: jennifer_runs |
Extreme Veteran 959 Greenwood, South Carolina | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Good luck with the surgery. Good choice on skipping the race. There will be more opportunities to race. |
| 2015-05-31 5:21 PM in reply to: Mike_D |
| 245 | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Good luck with your surgery. I had mine removed on 02 January this year, latharoscopically, and was back in the gym one week later, doing light lifting. I was back to nearly-normal one week after that, but it took nearly a full month+ to get back to solid abs / core work before it stopped hurting. Also, be mindful of your diet - you may find that certain foods trigger a, um, "response". I had to cut out fatty foods and greasy foods. The benefit is I am eating WAY healthier than I ever have, and feel better than I have in a long time! Good luck, again, and recover well! |
| 2015-05-31 6:42 PM in reply to: robertChiefsFan |
Champion 6993 Chicago, Illinois | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? |
| 2015-06-01 5:37 AM in reply to: Mike_D |
Veteran 269 Media, PA | Subject: RE: Gallbladder surgery going to sideline me for a while? Good luck with the surgery. Like pschriver said, I was given the same time lines he posted (2 weeks recovery if done laproscopic). Unfortunately, I didn't respect the fact I had stones and delayed having them out. I went in as an acute emergency and when I came out I had a 12" incision down my abdomen which resulted in a lot longer of recovery time. She tried the scope first, but my gallbladder was nothing but mush when she went to grab it. Good choice getting it done now rather than waiting! |
|
|
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK