LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY

[gracey9347]

Kindly share you're views and experiences regarding gallstones, gallbladder, it's removal thru open surgery or laparoscopic cholecystectomy.  Thanks.

[grace08]

sis ako din due for sugrery pero advice sa kin surgeon ko lap  bilis daw ng healing next day on the go ka na daw ulit .  medyo pricey lang .

[icegurl]

hi!
with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, it can be done as an out-patient procedure, lesser pain, you can go back to work the next day.

With open cholecystectomy naman, you need to be hospitalized, so mga ilang days ka rin sa hospital and mas painful kasi i-oopen talaga abdomen mo compared sa laparoscopic, the surgeon will just make small incisions/holes.

[carms]

If your choice is between open surgery or laparoscopic cholecystectomy, I suggest to go for the latter. There are less complications and reduced downtime.

[prettymom]

i  am also leaning towards laparoscopy.... my mom had undergone chole and the healing period was very long, i think it took her 1-3 years to really recover...according to her she could still feel some pain the in area even way after the procedure...hubby's cousin had undergone laparoscopy and the procedure was not traumatic at all....
i do not have idea how much the latter procedure cost though...

[peaches]

i had open surgery for chole. laparoscopy was an open but chose the surgery. why? because my health card will only over up to 60k of the total expenses. e i dont have enough cash. so open surgery na lang.

[grace08]

my surgeon from ust gave me an estimate 120k

[ms.paige]

ang mahal pala nito  di pa ako nagpa-quote sa doctor ko pero im trying to prepare for the procedure, just in case kailangan na talaga. for now, pinag apple juice therapy muna ako ng doctor ko.

[grace08]

kaka lap lang sa kin yesterday. am home right now. 

[keyton11]

My mom had laparoscopic cholecystectomy in PGH with Dr. Hilvano. Spent more or less 80k. Mas mura sana kaya lang the room we got was 2.4k per night. eh 4 nights sya dun.

My cousin naman had the same procedure in Manila Doctors. He spent 75k, but the room he got was 750php/night lang.

Very, very fast recovery lang. Parang walang nangyari.

[grace08]

me is 127k  sa ust less 32k  sa philhealth.  stayed only 2nights.  nung monday me nagpaadmit ng 7pm and wed 4pm out na ko.  am home now and i am not taking anymore analgesic.nacharge me 2.5 days 1750 per day rate.  very good doctor ko pm me if you like to inquire.  and we also bought the cd wherein you can watch the whole lap chole process.

[wuvshoe]

^sis grace08, the CD showed your own operation?! Wow!

I had my lap-cho last week...
Now I have 3 small holes in my abdomen ~ may tahi pa so they look ugly talaga Here's my story:

Wednesday noon, I was experiencing severe pain in the spot below my right ribcage... kakaiba siya kasi walang comfortable position... whether you lie down, sit or stand, masakit siya. Also the pain would reach my back so I was twisting my torso trying to find a position that would ease the pain... pero wala talaga. I told my officemates I need to go home muna... When I got home, I vomited my breakfast and lunch rin...

Lahat pala yan signs na may gallstone ka na (also the pain attacks after a heavy meal of fatty foods and usually at night) and mine was pretty big. I checked into the ER because my pain was escalating to the point na parang nagsi-seizure na ko (kasi nga there's no comfortable position)... they injected me with painkillers and I had to stay in the ER overnight.... submitted urine, a lot of blood, x-ray... but finally they scheduled me for a sonogram and this concluded that I had a gallstone nga...

Once out of the ER, I was given Friday - Sunday to rest kasi nga high pa sa painkillers  Monday I went back to see the doctor and he scheduled my lap-cho because when he pressed that area (the gallbladder), I felt severe pain... I was also vomiting what I ate... dapat daw ASAP yung operation and he needs to remove the gallbladder and not just the stone/s... As the patient you have to approve this by signing papers and I did... so one week after the gallstone attack, I had my operation na.


Well about the surgery naman... 4:00 to 7:30pm akong out~ general anesthesia kasi... pero when I woke up I was in so much pain!!! Sabi ni doc, may complications daw kasi during my operation (large intestine) so may extra siyang ginawa don... plus ciempre I have 3 nasty holes in my body! Ouch!

In a lap-cho surgery, they make 3-4 holes in your abdomen... in my case I had one in the gallbladder side, in my navel, then in the upper middle (below the boobs)... oh, they pull out the gallbladder through the hole in the navel so medyo malaki yon (1 cm ata)... they also pump your body with CO2 so they can get a better view of your organs... kaya after the surgery, you are required to cough and fart to remove this gas... and that part was so hard for me because it hurts to cough and I don't know how to force out the fart... You can't eat until you've done both! 

I stayed in the hospital for 6 days and had a personal nurse... The operation was on a Wednesday but I couldn't do anything by myself until Friday... actually by the 4th day (Saturday) I can check out na but since I live alone, I opted to extend my stay until Monday. I am now home by myself and resting for 1 week (ang tagal ng recovery period ko because of the large intestine thing...) But at least I am fine now and slowly doing things on my own.

About the cost, the insurance coverage here is different so I guess useless rin i-share... but I didn't pay much which is another thing I am thankful for!

---

Hope this helps others who will go through this... sorry kung magulo yung narration. And sorry if my post is long... hehe, fresh pa kasi lahat!

I was scared to lose my gallbladder at first.... but I don't feel like I'm missing an organ now. So if you're worried about this, I think it's normal but things will get worse daw if you don't get the surgery... Actually, may sleeping stones that can go unnoticed until death but once nagparamdam the stone, chances are you'll get recurring pain. It depends if you can take that pain but I really can't! I learned so much from this experience... And I think I'll control what I eat from this day onwards... though there is no sure way to tell what caused one's gallstone, I feel in my case it's my poor diet, weight fluctuations, diet pills I used to take, dehydration and controlling my urine! Well this time I'll try to be healthier!!! Good luck to you mga sisses!

[grace08]

ako rin sis feeling ko sa herbalife ko nakuha ito.  kasi nung pagtake ko after nun nagkaulcer na ko.  ang sabi kasi sa akin after operation la na yung mga signs .  ikaw ba wala ka na naramdaman na parang ulcer.  ang weird nga sabi ng dr pagkain ako fatty foods mag lbm daw ako dahil la na ako gallbladder.  pero baligtad constipated ako ngayon .  and para pa din aking may ulcer.

yes .  i watched the whole process.  pero sabi dr ko yng gallbladder daw sa may baba ng boobs pinadaan and yung camera sa may puson.

ako well tolerated ko na ang operation.  this is my 6th already.  i had 4cs and 1 thyroidectomy.

[FridaGee]

^ wow sis ha. suki kana ng major operation. yung side effect ng anesthesia ang nakakatakot din.
kanina 2 open cholecystectomy ang major op namin. hay. natatakot ako sa mga operation.

[wuvshoe]

^^hi sis grace08, before the operation ko na-feel yang ulcer... parang maasim yung sikmura tapos i was vomiting some white liquid... gutom rin ako kahit katatapos lang kumain... after the operation I didn't feel the ulcer anymore. if you still feel it now, try to ask your doctor about it... baka yan yung acid reflux? i read something about that being connected to the gallbladder removal. hay, hindi na talaga ako take ng diet pills...
 
i was constipated after the operation (5 days ata) but after the doctor gave me 2 small tablets, diarrhea naman... until now lbm pa rin after kumain... what do you eat sis? i'm eating mostly vegetables and rice tapos very little meat... bawal na rin ako ng: fastfood, junk food, red meat, spicy food and most of all, oily food... baka constipated ka because of the food? Hindi pa ata pwedeng back to normal agad sa pagkain...

First abdominal operation ko ito! Medyo nag-panic pa ako hehe... ayoko na atang manganak... ay, single pa naman pala ako so di ko muna poproblemahin yan!

^sis FridaGee, bakit open yung sa kanila? hindi ba mas convenient na yung lap-cho?

[flexusob]

After the removal of your gallbladder (whether through lap or open chole), you will be more prone to have loose bowel movement (or you move your bowels more often) especially after eating oily foods.  Usually it takes around 2 weeks before it normalizes.

Lap chole has the advantage of a faster recovery time, smaller incisions, and less pain (which is usually due to gas and abdominal distension).  There are times, however, when a lap chole will be converted to an open one because of complications (like madikit yung gallbladder or there are too many adhesions).

Hospital stay is shorter with lap chole but it doesn't mean you can just go back to your regular activities and work.  You still need to rest.   

[grace08]

i don't know if it's only me,  but i'm now back to my usual activities.  and i don't feel any pain.  am so thankful kahit na marami na akong surgeries and openings sa katawan ,  di ko nafeefeel yung sinasabi nilang  kumikirot pag daw malamig.  ang problem ko lang ngayon eh constipated ako.  will be back to my dr on monday

[wuvshoe]

I'm back to my usual activities na rin, including bellydancing 2x a week... but I cannot go back to my old eating habits... Now I almost don't eat meat na... vegetables and fruits na lang. I've also added cereals, oats, muesli, low fat milk and sugarless yogurt to my daily food intake... I also can't eat a lot kasi kumikirot yung dating part ng gallbladder... well at least I lost weight!

[gracey9347]

i'm back, my cholecystectomy didn't push through ( oct 2 supposedly) since the night before i was set to have it scheduled, i found out i was pregnant.  then just last Oct 23, i had d&c...so sad i lost my baby...now i'm in no hurry to have my cholecystectomy whether open or lap...rest ko muna body ko...

from what my dr. from slmc told me estimated cost ng lap would not exceed 160K...i'm just scared that if i opted for lap chole, magkacomplication then open din kabagsakan ko...how paranoid? hehe

[mahbabynathan]

super afraid ako magpalaporoscopic mga sis, I've had several attacks before, we thought it was just gastritis lang, until nakita sa ultrasound na I have 2 gallstones 10mm daw ang size, I was looking for a non invasive way para maalis [textspeak!] gallstones, unfortunately wala daw sabi ng mga doctor, after my last attack a month ago, when I stopped eating fatty foods, so far wala pa naman gallstone attack, grabe ang pain tumatagos hanggang likod, you cant even sleep, sit or stand, lahat masakit. Sobrang laki ba ng tahi sa tiyan after ng operation? frustrated na nga ako magpapayat kase after ng 1st baby ko I increase weight talaga, di pa nga lumiliit belly ko magkakatahi pa..hayyyy ;(