Your gallbladder is an oval-shaped organ that’s attached to your liver. This 4-inch-long organ concentrates bile from your liver and releases it into your small intestine to help with breaking down the food that you eat. When you develop gallstones or an infection of this organ you may need Gallstone Surgery North Shore. After this surgery, you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable.

Dietary Changes

When you arrive home from the hospital you’ll want to limit your diet to clear liquids, gelatin, and broth for the first few days. You can then start to gradually add solid foods back into your diet. However, you should eat small meals that don’t contain any spicy, fried, or high-fat items (less than 3 grams per meal). Make sure you slowly re-introduce fiber into your diet (e.g. cruciferous vegetables, nuts, cereals, legumes) because if you do so too quickly you may experience cramps, bloating, and diarrhea. You may need to substitute some basic ingredients here (e.g. water and flax seed instead of eggs, applesauce instead of butter for baking) but it’s important to maintain this type of diet for the first three or four weeks after your surgery.

It’s a good idea to keep a journal of your diet during this time. Doing so will help you identify what foods have an adverse effect on you. This may also help you see that you do better on a vegetarian diet because meat is typically much more difficult to digest. Of course, you may be tempted to return to your old diet here but if you want to feel better in the long term you should do your best to stick to this new diet.

Lifestyle Changes

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to drive for up to 7 days after your surgery. You’ll also want to make sure that you only walk short distances or lift anything weighing more than 25 lbs for the first two weeks while you’re home. While this may sound like a daunting process these changes will help you avoid any changes during your recovery. Once your doctor tells you that it’s OK to do so you should try to include some aerobic exercise in your life on a regular basis.

The Bottom Line

After Gallstone Surgery North Shore you’ll be ready to keep yourself comfortable while you’re healing at home. While there are a few changes you’ll need to make doing so should help you avoid most discomfort.