Hi Kim,
At 2 and a half months (10 weeks), you're still at a very early stage of recovery. Often surgeons tell their patients that they will be back to "normal" much earlier than is possible. I honestly don't know why they do that. Do they not know enough about the recovery (I don't think they see most patients after their post-op visit)?
I was not eating fairly normally until four months, and even then I had to be careful to choose my food carefully and take small bits. Chewing thoroughly is critical always.
Why are you getting "heartburn" symtoms and sour taste? My guess is that no matter how loose your wrap is (mine is fairly loose also) it's still much tighter than your natural LES. I found (and still find, but to a lesser extent) that even water can be held up a bit at the wrap site. I'm a big water drinker, and when I drink fast, I can actually feel it back up in my esophagus and then drain down. Often I'll give another swallow to help get it through. Your swallowing at the lower levels of the esophagus is also a but quirky--especially at the early weeks of the recovery.
No matter how well you chew your food, some residue, mixed with saliva and water/or whatever beverage you drank, can sit at the wrap site. Even now, when I burp after I've been eating or drinking a lot, it feels like I get some reflux regurging up, but it's not filled with acid as it would be if it were coming from my stomach. It's just liquid, mixed with a little food.
When I was at your stage I worried constantly. Whenever I got a reflux symptom I was sure that my wrap had come partly undone. Yet, last fall (nearly 2 years post-op), at the bequest of my asthma doctor, I had a complete workup by the best Nissen surgery in the area, and was told that my wrap was completely intact, looked good, and that I did not have to worry. At that point, my asthma doctor had to face the fact that my issues were allergy-related. That said, since my lungs are super-sensitive and my stomach is extremely reactive, I do take Protonix once a day. I would not not be taking anything if it weren't for those unique issues. I don't like to do it, but do it at the request of my allergy/asthma doctor. That said, the tiniest amount of reflux, should it get by my wrap, could cause me a lot of trouble. It's a small price to pay.
Give yourself some time to heal. Try not to worry. If you need to take some Maalox or take your PPI for a while until your body has more time to heal, do it! You could be getting reflux. It takes time for the healing to occur an for all the swelling to go down. You're healed on the outside, but the inside is still in the thick of it. Remember that the majority of healing takes place in the first SIX MONTHS and the remainder takes a YEAR. You've still got some time to heal. I have found that I've improved even past a year.
Creating a wrap out of the fundus of the stomach is a balancing act. Getting it tight enough to keep all acid down, yet loose enough to allow food to pass through is a challenge. At your stage of healing, could you get a little reflux from time to time? Of course. Could it be a small amount of fermented food that didn't get through the wrap? Of course.
If you are really bothered and don't want to wait and see what happens after more complete healing has occured, you can always call your surgeon and get an appointment to discuss what you're experiencing. That said, if you can hang in there and give yourself more time, you may find things get better on their own anyway.
Please don't say you've got "one more question"! We're here to help, so ask as many questions as you have! Stick around so you can get the support of the many experienced members here!
Happy Healing!
Denise