As many of you may or may not know, I underwent Laparoscopic surgery yesterday morning. They took out my gull bladder, which is an organ that is connected to the liver and small intestines. Its job is to store and release bile, a chemical made in the liver that breaks down fats.
Basically what they did was cut four small incisions; one right below my belly button, one in the center of my chest, and two about an inch apart directly below the right side of my rib cage. In the meantime, a breathing tube was shoved down my throat. They then filled my abdomen with carbon dioxide in order to raise it so that they have room and can see during the procedure. A camera and a light were then slid into the belly button and chest holes. Clips were placed on my veins and bile ducts that run to and from the gull bladder, obviously to ensure that there was no leakage. Using the other two incisions, they then released the organ and pulled it out. They taped up the wounds and I was out of there.
It took about an hour and 45 minutes (a little longer and a little more gruesome than normal), but it went very well on the inside, better than was expected, actually. I just have a lot of healing to do. Until then I will be doing a lot of bitchin' and pill poppin'.
Angela