Lurker with new post.... soon to be member of the Wrapped Club

Welcome to HealingWell's GERD/Heartburn forum. I am glad to hear you are scheduled for surgery as you have read how much it has helped so many. I know you will be hearing from some of the members of the Wrapped Club.



They are awesome and always willing to share with new members and each other.



Wishing you the best,



Kitt

Thank Kitt and Joy!
Relax is a relative statement though...I'm the caregiver for my mother who has Parkinson's and I have to place her into assisted living while I recover. Between that, organizing my absence at work and everything else, relaxation does not come easy.

I should never have stopped drinking! :

Thanks Joy......my surgeon told me no lifting as well, but I forgot to ask about driving and showering.
I didn't know about the no-bending either.....he did tell me liquids for the first 2 week, then a gradual progression to solids by the 6th week.

JAS
You sound like you might have a similar case to mine, although my hernia became paraesophageal due to an accident with the seat belt shoving the stomach. If you have sudden severe stomach or chest pain you must get to a hospital with the speed of lightning because they have about a half hour to unkink your stomach to save your life. I had to wait for 4 1/2 months to get mine operated and worried the whole time because I could feel it trying to flip to the other side of my chest when I rolled over at night.

As for the spasms- it sounds like possibly a food trigger/allergy/sensitivity. You don't have a bunch of time, but you need to keep a food log and try to figure out if you have food triggers. I had the same symptoms, also relieved with burping most of the time. What you are doing by forcing a burp is "Valsalva maneuver." You can also try to get relief by coughing.

My trigger foods were a long list of seemingly unrelated foods: wine and beer, maple syrup, breads, cereals especially with dried fruits, dried fruits, sodas, cookies, gelatin, guacamole, onions and garlic ... On searching I found out that they all contain sulfites. By avoiding sulfite foods I can keep my refluxing under control. You might research food allergies and see if any of the lists rings a bell.

My stomach spasms often triggered tachycardia from coronary artery spasms. Eventually it caused a heart attack when the spasms caused a tiny point of plaque to rupture.

If you do have food triggers, they won't go away when you have the fundoplication. You won't reflux food up into your esophagus, but the stomach will still jump around.

The "looseness" of the wrap SHOULD be determined by the manometry (how well you swallow) and the preference of the surgeon. I had a partial wrap because I am post-polio and have a weak swallow. The type of wrap is called "Toupet."

Since my surgery was, like yours, combined with pulling my stomach down out of my chest, it took about 4-5 hours. This along with being a good bit older than most, made my stay in the hospital and recovery a bit longer. Nonetheless, I am feeling better now than I was before the stomach was even paraesophageal. No PPIs! Yay!! I had trouble swallowing for a few months (but that's mostly my weak swallow), and I still only burp part of the gas. So I watch my diet mainly for my allergies and gas-producing foods, and I'm good. I do have to make sure I get enough vitamin K, because I won't eat broccoli, dislike kale. So it's spinach and other salads, or bleed too much.

Hi JAS
Good luck with the surgery! I see that you are on kapidex. I am currently taking previsid which kind of, mostly, but not completely, addresses my sx. still get some chest pain but nothing like the spasms I was getting. I do have a box of kapidex though, and was wondering what you thought of it. PRevisid definitely causes gas, nausea (but hard to blame the drug for that, I have plenty of nausea on my own). What do you think of it?? Also what kind of digestive enzymes do you take? I have heard several people mention this.
thanks!!
Lila

Thanks JAS!
may try the kapidex! My mother (barretts) has struggled with the hoarse voice thing which is much worse under stress, so she does yoga, meditation (she is 77,not at ALL into that previously) which she says helps!

I do find the 30-min-before-a-meal thing hard. We are up at 5/5:30 and it really does slow down my schedule to wait around to eat

I will look for the absorb aid enzymes and the calcium citrate...interesting, had not heart that but will sure try it.

The no caffeine thing has been a nightmare with my schedule...have to take naps.

Anyway, thanks and I hope you get a date soon for your surgery. hope your mom is doing ok!
Lila

I will join you Jass im in for a redo on the 10th.Good luck to you....