10 Days post Nissen - pain after eating

Hi,
You are at 10 days post op, which is around the time where your stomach is at peak swelling. This means you can experience a lot of things including more pain at the wrap area when food is trying to get through.
I myself had a lot of problems with food getting stuck above the wrap which lasted for at least 4 weeks (towards the end it was less of a problem and it didn’t hurt so much)
I am sure you are experiencing some of the symptoms of this peak swelling but in doubt you should call your doctor.

Amanster
If you are 10 days post op, you are approaching the peak swelling of your wrap. Usually the wrap will continue to swell until the 14-15 day. Then it will begin to recede at it's own rate. I was on full liquid until the beginning of my 3rd week. If I ate things that my stomach was not ready for there was pain near/at the wrap site. You have had major surgery.. your insides have been moved and lifted and jiggled around like never before. Your outside may be healing but it takes the inside a LOT more time. I am at 10 months and there are still one or two things that bother my wrap.. like soft bread. Garlic bread toasted well doesn't bother me but, I have to watch what kind of bread I eat. Also some types of beef still do not agree with me.. but by and large, I can eat everything I did before.

Please, do not rush your recovery. If there is one thing I learned quickly, if you surrender to the recovery, you will breeze through it. If you fight against the recovery, you will not have a good time. Recovery is what you make it.
If you irritate the wrap by moving too quickly with your food choices or eating too much or not chewing thoroughly enough, you will have some pain issues. Everyone is different in what they can tolerate and how quickly they can advance their diet choices. You have to let your body determine what you are ready for. If it seems to let you know that whatever you have eaten is irritating, you need to rethink that choice and try it in a couple of weeks. The first couple of weeks are still in the swelling period, give it some time... try different things daily or every other day, but eat a small amount frequently not a large amount 3 times a day.. Just remember that if you cannot tolerate regular food for a while, your blender will be your best friend.. stew is great blended.. just because there are no chunks doesn't mean you have no flavor or consistency.

I hope this has helped you a bit and I hope you will come back to the forum and ask any and all questions you have. We discuss pretty much everything here because we know there is a lot of gas after this surgery and there are changes in the way things move... if ya know what I mean??? We will try to answer your questions as honestly as we can. We have all been there or we know what is happening or going to happen..
Thanks for choosing our forum to come to..and remember
Reach for the Sunshine... Rainbows will follow..
Sandi

Thanks everyone! It is so reassuring to hear that other's have had the same experiences. I have stuck to liquid and pre mashed foods with liquid today. The wrap area is still sore but seems to be getting better. It is so hard to take it slow but I know it is for the best. What I wouldn't give for a nice salad and a turkey burger right about now!!!

Hello everyone, thanks for sharing your experiences and insight. It helps me get through all of this sanely

I am still getting along ok, not great yet, but not too bad either. I keep getting the sharp spasming sort of pain under the large incision site (and I assume the wrap site). My thinking is that the swelling is at its peak right now and eating gets the wrap irritated which in turn causes the spasming in the muscles in that area. I have found that lying down takes the pressure off those abdominal muscles and eases the pain. Does anyone have any other tips for easing the pain? I can't be lying down all the time after all.

Hi DK,
Like I told in the second post in this thread I was just like that. For me it lasted about 4 weeks and only slowly going away.