If you already have adhesions in your lower abdomen from previous surgeries then yes, it is quite possible that you have adhesions now where and around where your gall bladder was.  The best advise I can give you is make another surgery your last option, please read our stories on the adhesions quilt and then add your own.  This helps many people who visit this site, but are shy about posting a message or asking any questions.

Helen Gibson from Western Australia is one story you need to read, she had gall bladder surgery earlier this year and now is having pain in that area because of surgery.  Another one I know is Suze from Queensland Australia, by reading both of those stories may help you understand why you now have pain there too.

If you are taking pain medication to help with pain from the adhesions, there are other ways to help you keep it under control, heat packs filled with wheat are great, just popping it in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes.  If you don't have a heat pad then you can wet a towel and fold it to fit inside a large freezer bag, tape it shut  (make sure you squeeze most of the water out of it) and again pop it in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes.

Relaxation, visualisation, reading and gentle walks are also good diversion therapies.  It is better if you can accept the pain you have and experiment until you find ways that help you keep the pain at a tolerable level.  I know that this will sound disappointing to you, but when you read the stories on the quilt you will discover that the more surgeries you have, the higher the risk is for complications and far worse pain than you are in now.

I have recently had a consultation with a doctor who is a part of the Endo/Gyno clinic at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney Australia, and he was very happy that I wasn't looking to have more surgery at this stage, but rather go to the incontinence physiotherapist who works at this clinic, as well as the pain specialist who helps individual patients come up with a suitable diversion therapies and pain medication that will allow me to have a decent quality of life so that I can enjoy spending time with my husband, family and friends.

I have already accepted my pain, and work around it by knowing that certain activities will make my pain level increase.  So I know that if I attend a play at school, or have a meeting with one of my business clients I will need to block out time in my diary to allow me to recover from these activities.  I know that this sounds like the pain is ruling my life, but is isn't because had I decided that it would rule my life, I would very rarely bother to get out of bed.

I hope you continue to visit us here on the board, and we are a pretty friendly bunch who do our best to support each other and you are allowed to vent, rage, scream, yell and generally  let you show how you feel while dealing with pain.  We also laugh at each others jokes and many of us have become good friends, we accept all bumps and warts!

Welcome again Susan, I hope you feel comfortable enough to visit often and become comfortable with us.

Yours in friendship & support

Jo (Australia)