Post-Nissen How long before you could...

Hi All,

I had my LNF performed 3 weeks ago tomorrow. My surgeon is one of the top rated surgeons in the USA, and I am very happy with the results and the minimal discomfort so far :)

My one complaint was that he did not give me clear guidelines as to what to eat and how to progress. For that, I scoured the web, and found that instructions that best matched my progress where from here: www.upmc.com/HealthAtoZ/patienteducation/N/Pages/dietafternissenfundoplicationsurgery.aspx

But even those instructions are not complete. For example, I am now drinking one cup of coffee per day. I don't seem to have a problem with it.

I am curious, though, how long it took others to progress from a soft diet to a regular diet. I am afraid to try anything too substantial right now, and I don't think I'll risk anything for at least another 2 weeks, but I'd like to set my expectations properly so that I don't think about starting to eat things like steak or pizza too soon, and then end up obsessing about it :)

So, after 3 weeks I'm mostly eating the soft diet with still a lot from the full-liquid diet. I've tried minced turkey and minced chicken in small amounts. I've tried pasta. How long did it take you before you could eat chicken or salmon without mincing it? When could you eat a grilled-cheese sandwich? How about french-fries? I'd like to add lentils or lentil soup to my diet soon, any thoughts on that? (I have been able to burp pretty freely the past 10 days or so, first tiny burp was on day 5, so I'm wondering if I need to be so worried about gas from lentils?)

Anyway, nice to have found this board, and thanks already to everyone! I've been reading posts for weeks, and it's been very helpful!

Cheers!

Hi Obsidian,

Welcome to Healing Well! Glad you've found our posts helpful. I discovered this forum as I was preparing for my Nissen and found it was very helpful. There's nothing like getting information from others who have already been through the surgery.

Since your surgeon wasn't extremely specific it gives you a lot of leeway. If you love lentils and want to give them a try, I'd recommend buying some BEANO to take just as you're eating the first bite. It really helps prevent the worst of the gas.

My surgeon turned me loose on Day 6 to eat "whatever could be chewed to a liquid." It gave me a lot of leeway, and allowed me to take small bites and chew, chew, chew pretty much anything I liked. If something I put in my mouth didn't chew to a liquid, I'd just deposit it in a handy paper napkin. You can experiment and see what chews to liquid (actually a creamy texture). You'll find that you'll be able to eat a wide range of things. You become your own blender, and are able to enjoy the foods as you are "pureeing" them!

As long as you toast breads you'll be able to handle them just fine. Untoasted breads will be one of the very last things you can eat.

As far as chicken and salmon, etc...as long as it's cooked to very tender and you take small bites and chew, chew, chew, you can eat it whenever it's "chewed to a liquid" consistency.  The sky's the limit.  If you have a slow cooker, it can be really helpful, because it cooks things until it's really soft.

Glad you've joined the forum!  Welcome to the Wrapped Club!

Happy Healing,

Denise

Thanks everyone!

One other question that I've had is whether I can eat things such as strawberry yogurt, or whether I can blend strawberries into a shake. I've been warned about seeds, so I've been afraid to try, but honestly, I've not had any trouble yet with anything I've eaten, so I wonder if I'm just being paranoid? Same question as to the skins of berries. I'd like to eat some blueberries, but was warned of skins. Is that really something I should be worried about?

I did enjoy some lentil soup today, eaten along with 3 beano tablets. The soup was great, and I've had no problems as a result :)

I agree. If you feel up for give it a try. Just start up small