Nissen difficulties 12 years later

I am glad to have found this forum. I had what I considered an extremely successful Nissen Fundoplocation (sp) in 1996. I have been very very happy with the results, after suffering for many years (perhaps since birth, the doctor said). Anyway, I have had 12 years of bliss...until now...

I managed to contract Influenza A and pneumonia about 3 weeks ago, and I have been coughing like there is no tomorrow. I am on cough meds as well as antibiotics. I am feeling better, but I'm afraid that something has happened to my Nissen during one of my coughing bouts. I have this full, uncomfortable feeling right where my surgery was, right below my rib cage near my diaphragm. If I eat more than a tiny little bit, I feel like I'm bloated and very uncomfortable. My esophagus is also spasming, like it did before and right after surgery. My chest feels very full, as well. In short, it feels like I just had the surgery done yesterday.

Could I have coughed something loose? Is my diaphragm just sore from all of the coughing and irritating my surgery? I will definitely be calling my physician, but she's not in until Tuesday, and this is a very uncomfortable feeling. Plus, I'm a bit frightened that something bad has happened, so the anxiety is unpleasant, as well.

Thank you very much for any advice or experiences you can share.

Lynn

Stay calm and give things some time to get back to normal. Your doc can tell you if anything has changed in the area of your surgery. I've seen SEVERAL recent posts on here about people who've had trouble due to recent flu/cold/coughing bouts.

I know my own GERD had greatly improved until I caught a serious cold/ bronchitis. All that mucus and coughing just set everything off again. It's been miserable.

Hope you feel better soon.

Some people can vomit and some cannot after the Nissen. Just like some people can burp and some cannot. It depends on the technique your surgeon uses and how tight the wrap is. Some surgeons make the wrap so tight that burping and vomitting are impossible. Some surgeons are able to hit that sweet spot that enables the patient to burp and vomit. I can burp with ease and according to the gastroenterologist who has done 2 endoscopic procedures recently, I should be able to vomit because the wrap is of a size to allow that function (I've not had the pleasure of testing this out yet). The wrap is also tight enough to prevent reflux - I know this because I recently enjoyed a batch of amazing hot wings and onion rings and suffered no ill effects.

What you personally experience after the surgery depends on several variables - a surgeon may have done many of these procedures, but each person is different inside so no two surgeries can be totally identical. Your surgeon may have a technique that allows his most of his patients to vomit and burp after the procedure - some surgeons have perfected this ability. The standard is to expect not to vomit or burp and if you can, consider yourself lucky.

Oh, yeah, also expect to become extremely "windy" after all meals.

Good luck.