Nissen 8 days post op - not heartburn please!!

Gurgling is normal, 3 weeks and a still have it. painful hiccups lasted about a week, i can still belch so gas hasnt been to much of an issue. also my doc wanted me to stay on the PPi for a month to let everything heal. cant help about the constipation as i dont get it. pain meds you may need about 2 weeks. i had 2 spots the really hurt due to the bulk of the docs work in those areas.
it sounds like you are healing well...

Hi Badger,
Welcome to Healing Well! You don't need to worry about a thing...Day 8 is VERY early in the healing process. My surgeon told me (when I experienced some reflux about the same time) that anything is possible at this early stage of recovery. Your wrap is swollen (becoming increasingly so), and it is very possible that it is misshapen and is allowing a bit of acid out from time to time.

I don't know if your surgeon warned you, but your wrap will become increasingly more swollen over the first two weeks, to peak at the two week mark. At that point the swelling begins to go down. Therefore, don't worry if you start having more difficult swallowing. It gets worse before it gets better.

The pain meds can cause constipation, so whenever you can switch to Motrin or Tylenol, it should help that problem.

Often people continue with PPI's for a month or so, to allow the healing to take place. Others, like you go off cold turkey. It's generally an individual call, but if you feel the need to go on PPI's for a little while, it won't be outside the norm.

Try to relax into your recovery...just surrender, and follow where it takes you. If you can accept the path your recovery takes and relax into the process, you'll find it so much easier!

Glad you've joined us! Welcome to our Wrapped Club!
Happy Healing!
Denise

Thanks for your words if reassurance. It's good to know others have experienced the same. My heart sank a bit when I experienced a bit of heartburn but I guess I need to be a bit patient and have faith. It is a slow recovery. I ventured outside for a walk yesterday for the first time and was quite tired.

Those pain meds you mentioned Denise are trade names I don't think we get in the UK but I think they're just paracetamol and ibuprofen? I am taking these along with codeine and I guess the codeine wouldn't be helping the constipation. Hopefully I'll stop taking that in the next few days. The frequency is decreasing which is good!

Hi Baz, I had my op done at Addenbrooke's in Cambridge. There are 2 surgeons there who are both very experienced in this area. I was under the care of a Mr. Safranek. I, like you had been very anxious about the prospect of surgery for years and kept putting it off. I won't say there's nothing to it as obviously it's still surgery, but if you try and ignore some of the more alarmist postings about it and put your faith in the surgeon you'll feel a lot better about it. I was in a bit of pain afterwards but this was managed. I was most worried about feeling sick and vomiting but I didn't. I was discharged the next morning and have been recovering at home since. I'm confident that what I'm going through will be temporary and once I've recovered fully I'll be back to normal. At least I'm not waking up feeling sick with a burning chest.