My Nissen Fundoplication Recovery Journal

I'm going update this post as often as I can to let others know how I'm doing and what to expect post surgery. There are lots of great posts on here from other members so I figure I can contribute as well.

My symptoms of GERD/LPR began in May 2011, so I've had this for about 9 months. I had a burning sensation in my stomach, chest, and throat which was pretty much constant and medicines did not help at all. It brought my quality of life way down and I couldn't imagine myself living like this for the rest of my life. I went to multiple GI's and ENTs who confirmed GERD/LPR but were hesitant about surgery because of the atypical symptoms. I decided to seek a surgeon out on my own and get his opinion. The surgeon I saw looked over my test results and listened to my symptoms and said he could help me.

I had surgery on February 6, 2012. It's been only 3 days but my LPR symptom are gone. The burning sensations I would feel in my stomach, chest, and throat are not there. I do have slight pain from the incisions which are getting better by the day, slight pain in my chest when I take a deep breath which I believe is from the surgical site, and my throat is a little sore from the previous LPR damage, this has also gotten better day by day.

Day 1 (surgery day)
Like many said, you will have pain in your shoulders and neck. My surgeon said it from the irritation of the vagus nerve which will pass. I also had pain in my stomach from incisions. I had a hard time taking deep breaths and throat was a bit sore.

Day 3
Feeling a lot better. No pain meds today. Still on clear liquid diet of jello, water, soup, popsicles, etc. I'm not getting hungry at all which is a good thing. I'm walking around the house and plan to go to the mall today to do some walking. My throat feels a lot better and I believe it is finally getting a chance to heal from all the LPR damage in the past. On Day 2, I was getting a lot of hiccups whenever I would eat/drink and it would hurt. Today is better. I also had lots of chest congestion when I would eat and drink but today is better. I hope things continue to get better. Although I'm only on clear liquids I didn't lose as much weight as I thought which is a good thing. So far maybe 3-4 lbs. I had one normal bowel movement today. No nausea also.

I would like to hear from others as well and any advice or input would greatly be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Thanks Bill. You, Denise, Tony, Kitt, and the many other members out there have been so helpful in me getting through this. I would honestly have felt so lost without this site. I will try and update this blog as much as possible to give those who possible might get surgery an idea of what to expect.

Maximus, alright, you finally had the surgery??? Excellent! Welcome!! Sounds like you're already doing better than I was!

Hopefully both of us will be able to lift weights like we used to again!!!! I'm 11 weeks out and I haven't lifted weights yet!

Other than that I'm getting better every day! I wish the best for your recovery!!!

Max,
I'm so glad that you are journaling your recovery. It sounds like you're doing great! Everything you describe sounds absolutely normal. I agree with Bill. The more of these journals, the better. There are far too few places on the internet where people can find good information, and as we all know, many surgeons aren't very good at communicating what to expect post-op.
Thanks for writing it!
Denise

Day 3:

For dinner I had some creamy soup which went down ok. Day 2 I had trouble getting it down but today was better.

Day 5,

Was woken in the middle of the night with lots of cough. Not sure what was trigging the cough....maybe sleeping flat on my back? It only happened in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I decided to go to the living room to sleep more upright on a couch which helped.

Later in the day, the cough subsided. Still sticking to liquids...but the it's getting harder. My family came up and we were up and about going to the malls and restaurants. I was eating soups while everyone else were eating full meals but it was ok with me ;) Its funny how I have to explain to each waitress of why I'm only ordering soup cause they get this totally weird face when I order it. It doesn't bother me but I think its kinda funny. It's actually kind of nice to be on liquids.....I feel like Im cleansing my body and losing some weight which is good too.

Pain wise, I'm doing good. Everything from stomach, chest, and throat are getting less and less. I have to remind myself that I'm not even a week post op and to be careful with carrying things. That's the last thing I want to do is hurt the wrap or incisions and set myself back.

I do have slight air coming up once in a while, it's different from a burp but it doesn't hurt. It's kind of like a very small burp. Overall, I would say my pain is like a 2 most of the time. Prior to surgery the pains I experienced would reach to a 6 even 8 on my scale. The burning pains would get so bad that sometimes I would end up going to the ER. The pain medicine in the ER would have little effect on the GERD/LPR pains which was always depressing I recall.

I honestly can't believe how happy I am that I went through this surgery. I don't want to count my chickens before the eggs hatch, but I really feel like I have turned my health around 180 degrees. A lot of close family and friends were so worried about my health situation and if things continue to improve I will soon inform them of the good news.

If you are suffering without any help from medicines and you are pretty positive it is GERD or LPR, please consider surgery. Find a great surgeon who will listen to you and go over your test results and see if he believes he can help you. I believe a GI only can do so much such as give you PPIs and run test. A lot of times they are hesitant to recommend surgery if you don't fit the ideal criteria and they don't want to be responsible for making you go through something that won't help you. But at the end of the day, only you know what you are going through, not them and it's up to you to make the final decisions. There are times during the day that I want tear due to happiness cause I remember how much I suffered before. I honestly can live with the pains of a "2" that I feel now and I'm positive it will only get better from here on. Maybe one day it will even be a "0" which I'm hope for.

The other day some of my family members came over to my apartment and helped clean it up. I told them to dump all my old medication that I accumalated over the past year due to this sickness. I was amazed at all the PPIs (nexiums, protonix, prevacids, prilosecs, tums, digestive enzymes, gas pills, pepcids, and more) that I had which I didn't need anymore. I do have the Gas X stips on hand just in case. I do eat very slowly and drink without a straw slowly to prevent excess gas. That does help a lot. I'm surprised I'm not losing as much weight as I thought I would....it could be from the Boost shakes that I drink. I drink several a day.

Kitt, Denise, Joy, Tony, and others, you guys are seriously the rock of this forum and have helped so many people that words can't even describe how much you all are appreciated.

I will continue to update my progress and lets hope it keeps getting better.

Max

Max,

I am at the 10th day post surgery now. This was, strangely, a difficult day for me, because even liquids would hardly go down. There was a strong pain in my chest after swallowing even a spoonful of cream. Pain would last 3-4 min as if the bite was stuck in the esophagus. I even had trouble drinking water. After eating a few bites though (mushed potatoes), the pain would go away and I could eat a little bit easier. But then, after a few hours rest time, the symptoms would appear again after swallowing something (even water). I've heard that some sort of swelling takes place after day 10. This seems to be the case.

There is always a pain too when I take deep breaths (which I avoid).

I feel a little tired and sleepy throughout the day and, so far, I've lost 4 kg.

Who did your surgery, and may I ask your age? I am 62 and my surgery is March 12th at UPMC Passavant, in Pittsburgh.

Max,

I am glad to read how well you are progressing and I have to tell you that when I read your posts I can sense the huge decrease in your anxiety level compared to pre op Nissen.

You posted, "I honestly can't believe how happy I am that I went through this surgery."

That sends such a positive message to others who are considering this surgery and even thow you have hit bumpy spots you are accepting them and moving forward with the healing process.  Be very proud of yourself.  You did your homework well,  you shared your feelings of apprehension here with all of us and then you followed through on your decision.  WTG my young friend.

High Fives,

Kitt

 

Kitt, its you, Denise, Joy, Tony and other veteran members who helped me so much. Before I actually became an active member here, I would just read all the post from you guys time to time. So thanks again for helping me out and just hope my story can help someone else :)

Hi Max,
Great to hear you are seeing progress so quickly, not everyone is that lucky. I can however totally relate to the rapid progress the first 5 days 

Regarding the food. Is it your doctor who has ordered you to stay on liquid? If not, I would recommend you to begin on soft foods now. Your energy level will quickly get up when you get some better food.

I was working on day 13 after surgery. I believe I could have started a couple of days earlier but it was good getting a those extra days of rest. It will probably also depend on when you start to eat better food to restore your energy for work. If you are on liquid you will probably feel too tired to work.

Looking forward to follow your journal.
Best Jesper

Well I have never eaten as many potatoes as I have had during the past 3 months :)
Anyway, my diet early on was:
Morning:
Oatmeal, and occasional a small piece of toasted bread with jam or a spread of cheese.

Snack:
Toasted bread, with a bit of cheese

Lunch:
Pasta with different sauce, avoiding tomato in the beginning

Dinner:
Potato with various versions of minced meat. Sometimes meatballs but I think i have tried every meatball recipe on the planet :)

Late snack:
Soup

BTW. Try to avoid rice. I couldn't really eat that untill after week 8

Max and Jesper,

I agree. I had a very low energy during my 1st week of liquid food. Now, being in the 2nd week with soft (pulverized) food, I feel better. Another strange thing that I've noticed is that after one hour after food I feel a sore (irritated) and itchy throat. It is not a common reflux feeling though, becuase it is not down in the chest. It is very high up in my pharynx. As mentioned earlier, I have strong pains after day 10 and strong hiccups after a bite of liquid food. They get better and almost disappear though after a few bites go down.

Couple of nights now, I did the mistake to drink some milk right before bed. I had feelings of nausea and the desire to vomit for many hours later on. I won't do it again.

Nice diary Max