‘The whole thing is great. I’m so satisfied. It feels
really good to be…actually rid of it (the gallstone
pain). It’s been a cause for concern, thinking that it
could return. Things have gone well. Otherwise you
forget very quickly how bad you’ve been and that’s
lucky. When I think back on that time… I don’t
want to go back there.’ (Patient 11).
The importance of eating for general wellbeing
emerged as a theme and patients were happy at
being able to eat normally. Several patients also
said that during the time they were sick they had
an intense longing for certain types of food, which
they were now free to eat. One patient described:
‘The doctor said: Now you can try a little and see
how your stomach gets on; now you don’t need to
be afraid of having a gallstone attack because it
won’t happen. I thought: what a relief. What I was
really looking forward to was being able to eat a
big sandwich. I’ve really missed it.’
(Patient 26).