exercise /diet after fundo

so today i asked the surgeons nurse when i could ride a bike. she says resume normal activities at 2 weeks post fundo. does that seem okay, i am only walking but want to ride a bike..2 weeks..well 1 more week then. she says ill have no restrictions then. on my discharge paperwork it says normal diet after 1 week..is this right. I picked the less experienced surgeon because we thought he was caring and skilled..and he is just not a lot of fundos. when i ask about symptoms they dont know what i mean. for example when i asked about throat clearing in hospital the surgeon says evryone gets this after eating. when everyone here says its mucous to protect that irritated throat and it will take time. you all make sense. man i had an opportunity to go with a surgeon who had done thousands but when i called to get my wife time off work the nurse said id be fine the next day and i could take care of myself and kids. she called me a baby. so i got mad, cancelled and went with another doc. my doc has only done like 70, maybe i should have insisted on talking with that dr and not got so upset. i know there are good and bad stories with this procedure..i even know one person who went with the experienced one and never got better, has anyone had good luck with someone who did not necessarily do thousands

Hi Joe,
"Normal Diet" isn't exactly what you should be on. Close to normal, but not quite there, though. First of all, amounts will be greatly reduced, and your capacity will gradually increase over the next weeks.

Some will post that you need to be on a liquid diet for weeks, then a soft diet. That is a matter of opinion. My surgeon had me on soft foods until we met at 5 days, and he told me I could eat anything that could be chewed to a liquid, which leaves a lot of leeway. He warned me to stay away from sandwiches, bread, and steak for a while (I think it was 6 weeks).

I was thrilled that he set me free to eat normal foods. The prospect of drinking meals for weeks, then dealing with pureed foods after that, just wasn't one I was looking forward to.

Giving you that freedom, though, also implies a responsibility. You have to use common sense, and if some food doesn't chew to a liquid, you'll need to discreetly remove it from your mouth. My surgeon said he had a couple patients who forgot themselves and got into trouble...they had to had something removed via endoscopy. He said, though, that it was very uncommon. He just reminded me to use my head. He said that soft food wasn't necessarily preferable to food chewed to a liquid. He stated that you could get a bolus of mashed potato stuck in your esophagus/wrap even though it's "soft".

Just think about what you put into your mouth, take small bites, and chew thoroughly. You'll be just fine, and a whole lot happier eating regular food.

As far as bike riding, there was a forum member I remember who took up bike riding and rode 20 miles not long after his surgery...I remember that I was totally amazed. Granted he was a very fit person, but it just blew my mind. If somebody reading this remembers the post, maybe you can fill in the blanks. Hey, if you're unsure of your doc's advice, you can go online searching protocols, or even call another office and see what they say.

I don't know about the mucous, because I was dealing with severe lung problems and was coughing up loads of it anyway. Mucous in the esophagus sounds very reasonable, though, since your esophagus has undergone trauma with the surgery, and mucous is the body's protective fluid.

Joe. You made the decision to go with the talented young doc. Give him a chance. You're jumping to conclusions. Try your hardest to be patient and let your recovery lead you--not the other way around.

Take care and enjoy that food!
Denise

Joe-
I can just about guarantee you go off riding abike now and you will be hating yourself for a long time! LOL! Don't do it. It take several weeks for those stomach muscles to heal all the way.

Take care,
Bill

Stomach sleeping is fine. I slept half-way on my stomach at day 5.
Give it time for the symptoms to leave. Just don't over do things.

thx bill,

hardly and pain today on day 8. ate soft fish feel like i could eat anything. problem is all my original symptoms are still here. i hope they go away..even 50%. water brash, cough, throat clearing. i want to do housework but will wait a couple more weeks. thx for giving your 2 cents it really helps and i appreciate it