Dan
I am not an expert on this subject, but I do have very current life experience on the subject. I had laparoscopic surgery just three days ago to remove my gall bladder. I went into surgery at about 1pm, was out of the operating room at about 2pm, and went home at about 4:30pm. I had some pain when I was in post-op, but a little demerol through the IV took care of that. Other than that, pain has been minimal. I took one pain pill at about 5 hour intervals over the next 16 hours (3 total) ... mostly to help me relax and sleep. Since then, I have been taking an occasional Ibupofen to help my back relax, as I seem to be using my back to releive a little pressure from my abdomen. To be completely honest, I have had more pain from the CO2 gas dissipating through my shoulders (they use carbon dioxide to expand the abdomen and give them room to work). A little bit of the gas remains in the body after surgery and usually dissipates through the shoulders. I still have a little pain from that, but none of the pain that I have had compares to the pain during the gall stone attacks that I had. I was up walking around, including stairs, within three hours of getting home. I felt much better by 24 hours after surgery. By 48 hours after surgery I was moving and feeling pretty good. If the weather was nice, I would probably have gone back to work today. I felt it best to not take the chance of slipping on some ice and hurting myself. I cannot image how my surgery could have gone any better. I may be the exception, but "almost" every person that I talked to that had this surgery before said it was very easy ... as far as surgery goes. Best of luck in whatever you decide. BTW: Just for reference, I am nearly the ideal candidate for laparoscopic surgery ... young, 32, male, athletic, generally healthy and in good physical condition. As with any surgery, there are risks involved. I would encourage you to spend some time discussing your individual case with a surgeon ... or two.