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Recovering from Gall Bladder surgery, How long should I layoff?


fairwayguy2
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I am 57 years old, almost 58 and had my Gall Bladder removed 5 days ago.  I am in pretty good physically condition and I have the itch to get out and play.  Has anyone here ever had this type of surgery and how long was your layoff?  Dying to get back out and I am feeling good but the torque on the mid section might be a little much for having surgery less than a week ago.

My saving grace so far is the weather has been so crappy in the Mid-Atlantic.

Stephen T.

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I assume you had scheduled rather than emergency GB surgery, or you wouldn't be "itching to play." If it was done on an orthoscopic, outpatient basis, your recovery should be fairly quick.

I'm two years ahead of you both on age and the surgery, and the thing to do is take it back slow.

For starters, you can do detail work done on your putting - plumbline string on the practice green, 5', 10', 15' etc. - and in a couple of weeks do some partial chip shots.

To gauge your progress, attempt half-speed, full swings without hitting a ball. If the motion feels comfortable, try a full speed swing without the ball. If you feel a pain or a pull at the incision area, back off. What you want to do is avoid rupturing the incision , because recovery from that could take longer than getting over the original surgery.

Some half wedges would be the next step. This time can also help you with your tempo, if you had a past tendency to swing too hard.

I would suggest you contact the surgeon for  a timeline. Make sure there's no minor complications that would prolong your recovery.

It also might help if you could volunteer to help at a fall tournament - a job without heavy lifting. Then, you can get get your golf fix without hurting yourself.

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Thanks for sharing your experiences.     I just returned from hospital after having a miserable pain attack last night, and was diagnosed with gall stones but fortunately no infection.   While not good news, it sure beat the alternative that I was having a heart attack!    I'm now ordered to be on most bland diet imaginable while waiting to schedule surgery to have the offending organ removed.

My wife is thinking I'm crazy because I'm trying to figure out what the recovery time is so I won't miss a couple long-scheduled golf outings - they involve invites to a couple private clubs that I wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to play, and I don't want to miss them!      Fairwayguy2, I hope your recovery is speedy and please comment on how it goes.    I'm optimistic that I'll recover quickly being 53, in good shape, and otherwise in good health.      Damn, this getting old thing seems to always have a surprise or two around the corner!

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My girlfriend had her gall bladder removed a year ago and it was a month until she started to get back to her normal strength in her abs. The bigger problem she has now is an excess of scar tissue that causes her some pain and has reduced her flexibility. She is currently doing PT that is supposed to break up the scar tissue and help her gain the flexibility back that she lost.

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I just read yesterday in a Tee Shirt novelty catalog: "Old age comes at a very inconvient time"... For me 52, is on next months callendar...

I just spoke to my 33 year old daughter earlier this week, who had her GB removed 2 years ago with emerg. surgery. While  I can't speak of her physical recovery, except to say it's been two years and she's back to normall. But diet wise, she needs to be carefull of foods with a lot of butter, and bacon is off limits... unless she's upset with my son-in-law. She say's she's figured out what foods she can have " a little bit of and still not suffer alot of consequeinces for, later on".

She lives in Charlotte, N.C. and is planning a trip to Ct. in a few weeks. I haven't seen her or my grandchilderen in a year and a half, and I am planning a big dinner, spanning 5 generations. Just trying to get the menu right for everybody. Right now the guest list is up to 14 people, friends and family.

I truely did like the idea one poster had for you to volunteer at tournaments in the mean time, to get some sort of Golf fix. I just played 2 weeks ago in the one charity event I make sure I go to every year. They could have used a couple of more  volunteers out on the course, as compared to previous years. I know on my favorite golf courses websites, on the callendar pages they list what days are closed due to tournaments.

At the Travelers Championship in Cromwell in 2010, we "ran out of players" on the 14th hole, as we were walking the course backwards, and wanted to see back to the tenth hole.  We ended up walking for a while with an gentleman in his 70's. I don't recall exactly what he said was the reason he couldn't play any more, but that was what he was doing now, volunteering at events. For me, that is one of those very memorable Golf Memories, a nice walk with a fellow golfer.

I'm keeping that idea in my back pocket for whatever my future holds... Best wishes for a speedy recovery... And yes, It's raining again this morning in New England also. The  TV say's by tonight we'll be over 20+ inches over the normal yearly average for rain fall.  I started up my snowblower last night and ran it for about15 mins. As I do every month on the last day of every  month, because sooner or later it'll stop raining... and start to snow.

~Tom B.

~Tom B.

I ordered a Chicken and an Egg on the Internet, to find out which came first... I'll keep you posted!

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Originally Posted by Clambake

I'm now ordered to be on most bland diet imaginable while waiting to schedule surgery to have the offending organ removed.


Well, last weekend my problems flared up again and I developed an infection quickly, so I ended up having the surgery last Saturday on an emergency basis.   I was actually really glad to hear the doctor on Saturday say it was time to rush it and get me in for surgery that afternoon, as I was not looking forward to the misery while waiting a few weeks to do it on a scheduled basis.

Yesterday I started a little putting practice, hitting 6-8 footers for an hour just to get a little motion back in the body.   From how I feel right now I guess I can probably start chipping and pitching sometime next week and start doing some easy fully swings in a couple weeks.    Timing is going to be tight - I've got a round at a nice private club scheduled for the 31st, and I don't want to miss it!

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Well I played yesterday , October 9 th which was 18 days after my surgery and besides being inconsistent as always there was no consequences.   My doctor cleared me to play and I've been feeling pretty goo but a little weak.  Mine was done with a scope  and my doctor fixed a slight hernia while he was in there.

Stephen T.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My wife needs to have her GB removed. Although she is not a golfer, I have no idea on the effects it has on every day life, and I am scared to look into it as its a lifetime thing. All I know is its got something to do with processing fats or something along those lines. Im glad to hear some good stories from those of you who have had the surgery done with no serious after effects. Good luck with the recovery.

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  • 2 weeks later...


Originally Posted by mymizunosrock

My wife needs to have her GB removed. Although she is not a golfer, I have no idea on the effects it has on every day life, and I am scared to look into it as its a lifetime thing. All I know is its got something to do with processing fats or something along those lines. Im glad to hear some good stories from those of you who have had the surgery done with no serious after effects. Good luck with the recovery.



From my personal experience, you (i.e. she) has nothing to really worry about.    I'm one month after having my GB removed and feel no ill effects whatsoever.   I started playing golf again about 3 weeks afterwards, and aside from the layoff there weren't any problems - the incisions they do now aren't very damaging to the abdominal muscles.   But more importantly, my diet hasn't been impacted at all.    It took a few weeks for my GI system to get used to it; a few times if I had food that was too rich it kind of hit me in an hour or so.   But now I'm back to my same old diet and don't feel any problems no matter what I eat.        Aside from just recovery from a surgery, I don't feel any serious or even minor effects.

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Note: This thread is 4528 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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