My wife had the laparoscopic surgery and recovered very quickly. One of the worst parts of recovery (and they don't sufficiently warn you about it) is caused by the fact that they pump you up with gas during the surgery to get a little room to maneuver around in. That gas must then exit your body over the next few days. Unfortunately, it doesn't come out through the GI tract, but causes serious pains around the shoulders. They tell you it will feel like a case of the flu. Yeah right. Martian death flu, maybe. But, it is survivable and doesn't last as long as it seems to. You should be feeling pretty good within a week, but your stamina will take a couple of weeks or more to get back to normal, so don't push too hard too fast.

Unfortunately, the lab found a bit of early stage one cancer in Bonnie's gall bladder, so just to be safe, they went back in and did a partial resection of her liver. No cancer was found either there or in the lymph nodes, so no chemo or radiation. Just scans every six months. We'll find out the results of the 18-month scan in a couple of weeks.

The big surgery, if you need it (and you probably won't) takes much longer to recover from, about 6-8 weeks before you can go back to work. You can also count on your stamina taking longer to come back also. Of course a lot depends on your physical condition going in.

You will probably find a mild intolerance for fatty foods afterwards. This will abate some as your body adjusts. All in all, you'll probably feel much better without it than you have been with it.

Best of luck!

jeffp