Nissen wrap recovery

Welcome Shariuzz

I am 63 and had the Nissen done almost 14months ago. Best move I ever made. But you are right about the recovery time.. I still feel that there are portions of my recovery that are still happening. There are still a few things I have to be careful with when I eat them.. salads for one...and I have to be careful that I don't eat too much or too fast.. it sticks at the wrap site and is uncomfortable until it passes. But, I would do it over again in a New York Minute...
Stay with us and share you recovery adventures..ask questions if you need answers and just vent if you feel the need.. we are here for you..

Reach for the Sunshine,, Rainbows will follow..

Sandi

Hi all,

Here I am - 3 weeks out from surgery. Still having troubles with nausea keeping me from eating. Appetite has never been a problem for me, up to now, but it's hard to eat when I'm nauseous, although I have been somewhat successful if I eat some saltines. Also, sometimes I get the "hurty hiccups". Is that the wrap complaining about the texture/thickness of what I'm trying to swallow? It's a little scary, since my surgeon warned me severely about throwing up, saying it could tear out the stitches, so it's a little concerning. If I get the hiccups, sometimes swallowing a tiny bit of water helps. It feels as though my stomach is a whole lot smaller that it was. It's a struggle to get a full cup of anything down, but I'm doing a lot better getting the calories in this week.

Did anyone else end up with numbness after the surgery? My left and right hands, outer edge of the palm, the little fingers, and half of the one next to it were initially numb right after the surgery. The left had has resolved itself almost completely, but the right hand (I'm right handed) is still numb. I can feel hot and cold, but there is still a lot of numbness, especially on the little finger. My surgeon said the operating room table is a bit like a baby delivery table. There are two stirrups for your feet, and your legs are spread out left and right. They strap you in, and then tilt the table so you are almost standing up. They do this so the surgeon can stand between your legs and do the surgery without a lot of bending over.

Anybody else have a similar issue?

thanks,
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to the Wrap Club! It sounds like you're doing just fine.  You're in the the thick of early recovery, and it's the roughest part.  Don't worry about the hiccups hurting your wrap.  I've heard of many people having hiccups during the past 3 years on the forum, and have never heard of it doing any damage.  It's painful, though, I know.

I had saltines early on in recovery.  As long as you can chew them to a liquid, you should do just fine.  Have you checked the post-Nissen eating guidelines in the Resources section? GERD - Heartburn Resources 

Your stomach feels full after very little food because it is swollen, and your brain interprets that swelling as fullness.  As the swelling subsides you will gradually be able to eat more.

The nausea is a result of the trauma your stomach has gone through.  Don't push the eating.  I know it's disconcerting not being able to eat much, but that will gradually improve.  It's normal to lose a significant amount of weight during this recovery. I think it averages 15-20 pounds.  Once you're healed more you'll start gaining the weight back. 

Are you taking any acid reducing drugs like Zantac or a PPI?  Some people take them during the healing stage to make them more comfortable.  If your stomach is giving you trouble, you might want to try taking them for a while.  It might help with the nausea.

I'd check with your PCP regarding the numbness in your hands.  If I had to guess I'd guess they were arthritis-related from being moved around after the surgery while you were out.  It's hard on the body when it's moved as dead weight.  (I had an elbow problem which caused tingling in my hands...just a thought)

That said, it's not something to make assumptions about, so be sure to talk to your PCP about it.

Happy healing!

Denise

 

Hi Sharon,

Your stomach has been through a lot--even more than most Nissen patients.  When I suggested Zantac or your old PPI it was not because what's going on is GERD...just that sometimes (at least in my experience) calming down the stomach acid can help reduce nausea. 

Your stomach is reacting to all that has been done to it.  Hopefully your surgeon will have some ideas for you.  You might ask about adding Zantac to reduce acid while your stomach heals.  Just a thought.

I do think it's tougher to get back to normal eating when you're a vegetarian.  Good luck with that.  I'm sure you'll figure out something that works for you.  Watch out for gassy foods for a while, though.  Wait until your healing is farther along. 

The problem with most surgeons is that they really don't seem to know all that much about what the recovery is really like.  I've heard so many here who've been told ridiculous information regarding how long and how difficult the recovery is.  Sometimes you just have to figure things out for yourself, and see what works.  Just take it slow...

Happy healing!

Denise

 

The recovery from this surgery is probably the most challenging recovery you will ever have to deal with. There is nothing worse than being hungry and not being able to eat because you are so hungry. I was so upset that I approved ab elective surgery that made me so miserable, but time passes and before you know it you are forgetting you even had the surgery, and the good part is the suffering from those horrible gerd symptoms has passed. I can eat everything, but I won't eat meat because I had a horrible experience after eating it 6 weeks after my surgery. It didn't digest well and I was sooo sick, on vacation and in the bathroom for hours. Lately my food is getting stuck, but I took Celebrex for knee pain and attribute it to that. I am back on my gasx and take little bites again. Hang in there, like I said, this is so challenging, you are unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is there

Hi everyone,

Here I am, 4 weeks out from surgery, and I can say that I am recovering some of my previous energy levels, although I still have quite a way to go on that score. Now, I can at least walk for 20 minutes at a time, then a short rest, and another 20 minutes. Of course it is slow walking, but I try to do whatever I can so I can get back to normal that way.

After 4 weeks of mostly soft foods, I am branching out a little. My surgeon said to try a sandwich, but not any whole wheat or seeded bread (I hate white bread), so I purchased a loaf of "Wonder bread". I made an eggless egg salad sandwich mix (tofu & other ingredients), and was able to eat a whole sandwich (2 slices of bread), but only by giving my stomach a full 5 minutes between small, very well chewed-up bites. It took me over an hour to eat the sandwich, but it feels really good to be able to chew anything at all! I have several cans of vegetable soups, and I tried one yesterday with some lentils and a few beans, and it went over surprisingly well! So, yes, I am making progress, although I know I am still losing weight. I've kept track in general of the calories, and I drink Ensure when the food I've eaten doesn't add up to enough, so now I'm getting enough calories. I bought some "chewable" adult vitamins last week, so I am adding that at least, although I wouldn't normally trust anything made to taste like candy. My normal vitamins are huge horse pills, and I know they won't go over well for a while.

I am still experiencing a lot of nausea. It's not extreme, but it's there most of the day. I've been through an entire big box of saltines in the last 2 weeks, because they seem to work well for me.

I am petrified of the effect vegetables may have on the wrap, so have only added a few things in: avocado does well, carrot juice, and mashed potato. At the moment I don't have the courage to try any others.

Do any of you have positive experiences with raw vegetables? How long after your surgery were you able to eat a salad, for example?

I am so grateful for this forum. It's really helpful to read all of your experiences, and your encouragement.

So, a big thank you to you all!
Sharon

Hi everyone,

Here I am, almost 5 weeks after my surgery, and things are progressing if a little more slowly than I'd like. But then, it will take whatever it takes for my whole body to recover from such a difficult surgery.

Some days I do OK, but I just had two days when I couldn't eat anything but liquid. the wrap just wouldn't take anything in. I guess it's ok to have a few "bad" days. I can eat canned vegetable soups, but they have almost no nutrition in them. Avocados go down well, as do bananas (most of the time). I am so tired of Boost and Ensure, but I'm grateful there is such a thing, especially on days when I can't seem to get much down. Most times I have a low-grade nausea, but saltines seem to help, and oddly enough I can seem to get them down even when other things won't go down. I CAN eat good quality low-fat crackers with hummus if I chew them up very well, and eat very slowly, so that is good. Yesterday I bought two of those "protein" bars - so much sugar, it's unbelievable, but they do seem to have a lot of nutrients in them, although I'm certain they are very processed. I find myself looking for high calorie items, but am stuck trying to find high calorie that has a lot of nutrition in it (except for avocados). I recently have re-considered eating eggs (haven't had them for many years now), but only if I can purchase from a local farm. Do eggs to well? I guess I'll find out.

Will I ever be able to eat a green salad again? I really miss raw vegetables, but won't even think about it for a long time.

Coming along slowly.

Sharon

Hi Denise,

How heartening it is to hear from you, my friend! So positive! Yes, patience is not currently one of my strong suits - this experience should help on that score. Yes, I do have a crock pot, and I do make some pretty good soups, so I'll try that. I'm so grateful that I CAN eat those saltines, and also grateful that liquid meal replacements are available. I'd be in a lot of trouble if they were not.

Good - I will try a green salad in due time - but of course not for many months, although I've developed a fear of them. They were the source of my initial painful episodes with my hiatal hernia, and cooked veggies were my undoing in the final "incarceration" episode. So when things are quite a bit better, I'll need a little courage. But that is a long way off, I believe.

Thank you again, Denise!

Sharon

If its a solid pill and not a capsule, I recommend a pill crusher. I picked one up for maybe $5 at Walgreens, and it works great. Used it to crush a number of pills during my recovery. It crushed every pill into a fine powder that could be dissolved in a liquid or put in applesauce or something similar. I highly recommend one.

Sharon-

I agree you are right on track. I would recommend whole wheat toast. Whole wheat is easier for your body to digest and toasted it can be chewed to a liquid without makin a sticky bolus to get stuck. I was told to use protein powder with ice cream to get more protein and calories. If you like eggs and macaroni and cheese this should start to go down fairly well if eaten slowly now. I also added some small pieces of polish type sausage to my mac and cheese to add a change from time to time.
The hiccups would let me know when my stomach had had enough for one sitting.

Take care,
Bill

Hi Faye,
I had a great lack of energy 2 weeks ago, but I started walking every day, even if I could only do 5 minutes and then sit for a minute. Today I am up to 1 hour, but of course I'm not walking fast either. That was very helpful, the getting moving.

Lately I've been having a problem with food not going down, or maybe it's getting stuck in the wrap, I don't really know, but it hurts, that hard feeling and then the "hurty hiccups" to go along with it (that's what I call them). Just spent about 40 minutes walking around here in my condo (because sometimes getting my body moving gets the peristaltic action going, and the wrap "lets loose" of whatever is stuck there). It finally cleared. Too bad, because it was good healthy food, but I guess I won't be trying that particular item again for a while - I had to throw it out. Has anybody else had the problem that something seems to get stuck, then you can't swallow anything? Not even saliva? That's been happening to me. This may sound gross, but when this happens, some kind of mucous fills my mouth (from the esophagus, maybe?) along with the saliva, and I have to spend the time spitting it all out. I think my doc said that my stomach is trying to throw up, but I can't do it because of the wrap. Anyway, it's pretty uncomfortable.

Yes, this seems to be a lengthy process, and I'm learning to exercise a lot of patience.

I just got a pill crusher in the internet, and plan to begin my regular vitamins when it gets here - in a glass of water. I think that will help, too.

Thanks for all you do,
Sharon

Sharon,

Thanks for the advice on the exercise. My husband has been after me to try getting back to playing golf (9 holes), so I tried yesterday and did okay up until the 7th hole. Got a little dizzy putting my ball on the tee and getting up too quickly. We did take a cart & I made sure to eat & drink along the way. I'm finding I get hungry quicker these days, but still can't eat much at a time. I did get an boiled egg stuck the other day and that feeling is horrible. I tried to wash it down with a little water, but that made it worse. It's a horrible feeling, like you're choking, but you can breathe. My doctor made no mention of ever having to have another wrap. Keep up with the patience, it's new to me too :)
-Faye