Had Nissen Fundoplication Surgery on March 1, 2010

Hi Mam,
So sorry to hear about the passing of your mother. No wonder you're having stomach troubles! I was very close to my mother as well, and she died suddenly when traveling after being away (south) for two months. I know how hard it is, and I wanted to offer my condolences.
Take care. She will never leave you...not a day goes by when I don't think of my mom. She taught me everything I know!
Hugs,
Denise

Hey sorry about your Mom! I'm a Mommy's boy too at 35, and can't imagine how you feel. Although I lost my Dad when I was only 20 and that was life-changing. The surgeon explained everything. He said that I had the most inflamed esophagus he'd seen in his career, I had transmural inflammation and fibrosis, when you could see the inflammation on the outside along with lot's of scar tissue. He said most of the people who recover fast, only have milder esophagitis and regurgitation. He said mine was going on for years if not decades unbeknownst to me. It wouldn't surprise him if my recovery takes 6 months or longer. He said "hang in there, try to keep the food soft and liquid, don't worry too much and if the problems continue at 3 months we'll do an X-ray, endoscopy, H.Pylori check, Bravo and a HIDA scan to check for gallbladder. Full house so to speak. He was very upbeat, non-concerned at all. In the mean time it's 4 am and I'm sitting here trying to wait out some chest burning. We re-learn the meaning of patience after this surgery, don't we. Thanks for the words of support, Mam, Joy, Denise!

Hi everyone, had the Nissen done 3 weeks ago tomorrow...having a bit of a hard time still. A little weak and not myself. I have had 3 c-sections and have never had such a difficult recovery as this one. I guess I'm lucky because I can eat pretty well, if I chew my food really well. But the weird thing is that the first swallow of food wants to come up immediately, and won't go down for a while...I have to keep swallowing and resist the urge to bring it back up. There also is an airbubble that gets stuck all the time like under the bite of food and has to come up before the food can go down. So strange...
I can burp a little now, but not enough to be satisfying. I can feel a lot of pressure, it feels like something wants to come up, but can"t....wonder if I'm eating too much at once...not that uncomfortable though.
I have 3 small children who get and pass around the stomach flu at least 3 times a year. Wondering if I will be able to have relief if I have to vomit...
I didn't realize this surgery would be so hard, the doc made it sound like a walk in the park. I do have an amazing doctor though.
I guess i"m just looking for support, and hoping that things will keep getting better :).

I am so sorry that your son at 11 already has to go through this...my mom died at 39 of stomach cancer, her dad died at 45 of esophogeal cancer, and his dad at 50....It is such a blessing that they can do this surgery to prevent cancer.  I am 28 and already starting with the problems.

I pray that your son does amazing!  He will, because his mom will be taking care of him :).  I'll be thinking about you guys, and everything will go well.  It's so much better than dealing with the painful GERD symptoms.  He will feel like there is a lump in his throat, but the surgery is not too painful, just annoying.  Wishing you the best, and keep us posted!

Kathy

Do you guys know how long it normally takes for the swelling to go down?  I have so much trouble swallowing the first bite of food, it won't go down until I swallow repeatedly, and is very painful.  I try to take small bites, but it doesn't seem to help.  Thank you!

Hi Denise,

Thank you so much for the info.  It's kind of embarassing eating in restaurants because, no matter how soft the pasta, the first bite won't go down without a fight.  But I am very relieved to hear that it gets better...I think I expect too much too soon...and I have heard so many bad things about this surgery that I was beginning to wonder if it would be that way forever.  Today is a much better day, thank God.  It's hard to take care of 3 children when you are not feeling well.

Kathy

Anne-
I had mine dilated about 9 times before they had to redo mine. For me it was about he same as a normal EGD except with a bit more irritation. That's the best I can explain it. It was irritated about a day longer than usual for me, but I didn't feel anything while they were doing the procedure.

Take care,
Bill

My mom had dialation, and she said that it didn't hurt....hope it goes well with you.  Sorry for your trouble :/

Hi jabberjaws,
Welcome to Healing Well! It definitely sounds like you're in the right place! The Nissen Fundoplication is the gold standard for stopping the type of reflux you are having.

Anyone who is suffering with choking reflux, who wakes up in the middle of the night with the type of problem you do is definitely a great candidate for the surgery. For people like you with typical GERD symptoms, the surgery is extremely successful, provided you find a surgeon who is sufficiently experienced in the procedure.

You have tried medications, and they are not working. Have you had and endoscopy, manometry, 24 hr PH probe, and a barium swallow? If so, what were the results? If not, once you find a surgeon (or if you work with a GI doc first) you'll need these diagnostic tests.

The recovery from this surgery is not as difficult as I thought it would be. (I had the procedure in February 2009.) After the initial surgical pain (which is minimal with laproscopic surgery) subsides after a few days you will have no trouble going to sporting events (as a spectator!) Watching children depends on their ages...you'll want to avoid lifting anything over (I think) 5 pounds for 6 weeks due to the hernia repair that goes along with the Nissen.

Your eating protocol will depend on your surgeon. Mine had me on liquids in the hospital (the stay is one day (overnight) if there are no complications), soft foods for the first five days until I saw him, then anything that could be chewed to a liquid after that.

By four months I was on vacation and eating normally again. It's a gradual improvement over that time. Really, compared to what you're suffering nightly, the recovery is a piece of cake!

I saved my posts regarding the first 19 days of recovery, so if you'd like to see them I'll repost them here. (I recently posted them on another thread, so if you've already read them, there's no need to post them again.)

The key (as you've probably read in other posts) is to select the best possible surgeon. The surgeon must be very experienced (hundreds to a thousand +) in the Nissen procedure. People who experience difficult after the surgery are usually those who had inexperienced surgeons.

Be sure to stay around and post your questions! Many of us were where you are when we first started thinking about the possibility of surgery. This forum is a wonderful resource. The people here helped me before, during, and after my surgery. I am now trying to help others the way I was helped.

I suggest you create your own thread...you can copy and paste your first post on a new thread, or write something new. That way it will be easier to find your thread and responses.

Take care!
Denise

Hi I just had a nissan fundoplication wrap Thursday Jan 6 and I am worried that the surgery did not work. I am a 26 year old female. Prior to the surgery I had all the preoperative tests including endoscopy with bravo test, barium swallow test, and manometry. The last five months before the surgery was hell. Constant vomiting and regurgitation was my main symptoms. The gi doctor told me before the surgery that i had a severe case of gerd and the manometry test showed that my les pressure was low a 1.5 to be exact. Normally you should have a less pressure between a 14 to a 34. If you have a less pressure that is low that is what is causing the acid reflux. The surgeon said I would be an ideal candidate for the surgery. However, I don't think the surgery worked at all as I had it 6 days ago.

Since the surgery when I drink liquids I still feel the need that I would have to burp only now I can't burb. It feels like there is gas that comes up when I swallow that goes all the way up to my throat. Is that normal after surgery? I noticed it right away even before I starting drinking anything. Before the surgery I would drink and anything I drank I would have to burp because acid was coming up. The surgery was supposed to fix this so I am worried. Also the third day after surgery I drank cream soup and after the soup I was natious and ran to the bathroom. Luckily when I tried to vomit only a little came out. I was happy with that because before the surgery I vomited all my food. Am I just being worried for nothing? Please any help would be appreciated.