I had my gallbladder removed laproscopically (sp?) during day surgery.
When I had my scan and they showed up I was already suffering a lot and when my GP rang to confirm the scan result (on my Birthday too!) she told me to look out for dark urine and paler poo which I was already having, along with the pain.
A few days later I got acute cholecystitis wen it got inflamed/infected, thought it was food poisoning initially I was so ill. Ended up in emergency surgery ward and there was talk of putting me on the emergency waiting list though they then discharged me after nearly a week to be called back for an elective one. It took from November to March and I suffered a lot in that time and understand the lady in the ward with me who refused to leave unless they took hers out.
They surgery was fine, in and out in a day. Very sore, moreso when moving about, but had my mum up to look after me. I was a bit overly optimistic about my recovery time and needed her for longer than I thought I would and did need the 2 weeks off work they recommended.
I'm not a generally well person though and had been quite ill beforehand with it though and they said it had split and was going septic when they took it out. I'm sure people who replied to my posts saying they recovered much quicker.
Word to the wise - find a taxi driver who understands enough English to get "avoid speedbumps" when coming home from hospital! :)
In the interim though - avoid fat and large meals.