Update after early 4 months post op

You are still very early in your recovery. The warm liquids will relax the muscles a bit and cold will cause them to tighten up. Same reason to use ice on sore muscles, swelling, but in this case it tightens the wrap.

Take care,
Bill

Thanks Bill and Wendy for your replies. They are greatly appreciated.

Last night I had the pain and discomfort I had with reflux. I took some Gaviscon which helped so now I am REALLY concerned. It would seem that I am getting reflux again after all. Is it possible to get reflux 3 weeks on as part of the recovery process? I'm so terrified that I have gone through (and will continue to) all this for nothing. Sorry to go on but I am a very anxious person and I just keep reading all these Nissen journals and none of the successful ones mention any reflux post surgery.

Definitely can still have reflux symptoms at 3 weeks. Sometimes it may last a month or 2.

Take care,
Bill

Hi everybody, I'm new to the site. I'm 10 days post partial wrap/hiatal hernia repair/heller myotomy (the last one to helpmwith a rare esophageal problem called achalasia) I experience reflux a few times a day and it's very scary and painful. Taking prilosec but want to know more about DGL. Wondering if anyone her knows anything about this?

Hi all,

Just joined this site today having had NFO and Hernia repair in the UK yesterday PM. Had an overnight stay in hospital and am now back home looking forward to recovery from the surgery and hopefully the past traumas of the reflux.

Have suffered with GERD (GORD) and LPR for a number of years now and in the most extreme instances have woken from sleep choking from the reflux - real scary, chronic coughs due to irritation from stomach gases, difficulty in swallowing and constant burping (belching) - not the best when meeting with clients and staff!! Suffered from burning in the throat and voice box, post reflux.

Tried everything from conservative food management to PPI's - Lansoprazole caused severe bout of diarrhea, so discontinued and GERD returned with a vengeance.

Was referred to a GI consultant and had Gastroscopy and 24-hr ph + manometry studies. Results showed Hiatus Hernia with poor sphincter closure. 24-hr ph study showed 265 episodes of belching over a 24-hr period in both standing and lying conditions.

Consultant recommended NFO to reduce likelihood of Barretts and possibility of Oesophageal cancer - being 47 he felt the procedure had more advantages to preventing this than outweighed by the possible side effects, which he felt were low in his experience. My principle concern was to stop the choking.

So I'm at the end of Day 1 post NFO. Have to say the 1st few hours went OK with little if any sensations of pain or discomfort - possibly the after effects of the op drugs. But as the day has worn on the incision area has become much more tender, with some swelling to the tummy - guess this is normal post-op. Pain etc is being controlled with over the counter pain relief - Paracetamol and Diclofenic.

Have drunk since returning from recovery - mainly water - but had some cups of tea and coffee. Had very sloppy Weetabix for breakfast, soup for dinner, and soup for tea (advice is to have liquid diet for 1st two weeks, then move to introducing a little more solids to the diet - but still with plenty of liquid).

Find standing easier than sitting and moving about eases discomfort.

Had a mini-coughing fit and it wrecked - will take up the advice about the pillow on the stomach.

Reading some of the posts I'm having worries about the success of the procedure. At the minute I'm not struggling with getting liquids down or soups etc. I do experience a little burping but nothing quite like I used to get and there is no pain associated with the burping.

I note that reflux can still occur due to the swelling process in the first 2-weeks or so, so will keep a watch for this. I've also read about the dumping and how this can affect bowel movements, so - again - a watch out for this.

I'm getting some neck and shoulder aching at the moment but put this down to trapped wind, post laparoscopic NFO - but as seen elsewhere this could be down to the vagus nerve being bruised.

Have experienced a little soreness in the throat and some stubborn catarrh but this seems to be lessening now.

This site is real eye opener. Not sure I would have had the surgery if I'd seen some of the complications pre-op but everyone's different so here's hoping it'll all work out well in the end.

I'll let you know how things go.

Anyone got any good soup/sloppy food recipes for me to try out - the novelty of celery soup will soon wear thin.

All the best.

Hi British,

I'm glad to hear that you've reached a better stage of recovery and are starting to see improvements!  It's just a matter of time, and as we say, healing takes patience! 

Your description definitely sounds like it could be esophageal spasms.  The likely cause is the fact they you're much more aggressive with your eating, and your wrap/esophagus is complaining.  Are you remembering to avoid iced drinks?  The only answer is to listen to your body, watch for things that get your esophagus going, and back off a little while things calm down.  It will. 

It's very common for recovering Nissen patients to have discomfort when they step up their eating to the next level. This whole thing is trial and error.  Back off, step up, back off...see what works and what doesn't.  You're on the road to recovery, and as you move toward the six month/one year mark you'll gradually find the discomforts decrease and the good times increase.  It just takes time.  Surrender to what is, and go with the flow.  You'll do just fine!

Happy healing!

Denise

Ruthie Cox said...
So glad to hear you're doing better British! I have to say at almost 4 weeks, I am feeling much better as well! Hardly any reflux! I have a question though. My doctor has me taking my Omeprazole (40 mgs) until I see him again on the 18th and then he mentioned weaning off of it. I would really like to just stop taking it as it causing my osteoporosis to become much worse quickly. You mentioned Brit that you haven't taken your Nexium since before the surgery. Did you experience rebound symptoms do you think? Also, Densha, do you know when the extreme fatigue starts to lessen. I feel like I couldn't work full time at this point. Is this normal?

Ruth

Hi Ruth.
Glad to hear you are feeling better too!
It's hard to say whether I was getting any rebound reflux. My surgeon seems to think reflux should be impossible if the wrap is a success. I did get reflux symptoms for a few weeks (still do every now and then but minor) but whether that is just the after effects of the surgery or rebound reflux from stopping PPI's I cannot say.

After reading everyone's story who has gone through the various wrap procedures, could you drink (eat) in small, regulated portions, say something like Ensure? That way you would be drinking a room temperature liquid that could give you some calories?

Just a thought. This site is a lifesaver in case I ever need to go through with this.

Hi Ruthie,

From my observations here on the forum, it doesn't seem that there's much difference between the recovery from the TIF and the lap Nissen procedures.  Since the TIF is meant to work in the same way as the Nissen, I would expect it would do its job on keeping acid in your stomach as well.

The tiredness is normal, by the way.  I went back to teaching Gr. 2 after 6 weeks, and was very tired in the beginning.  As I was more and more active, my stamina increased.  Have you tried walking each day?  That might be a way to get yourself back in the swing of things.

Good luck!

Denise

Just wanted to say it's been 5 months now, and I have to say the first 2 or 3 months I cried, was hungry, but didn't feel like eating. I didn't think it would ever get back to normal, but I'm fine now. Actually burped for the first time the other day. It's usually just a few hiccups. Food still gets stuck once in awhile, but that's due more to talking, not chewing. You're right about the doctors not giving enough after info. I was given the diet and sent on my way. Thank you to everyone for letting me know things happening were normal
--Faye

I asked my surgeon today about me having a possible acid reflux episode after having my TIF operation. He said, Yes!! as no surgeon Nissen or TIF can completely close off the valve so no acid comes up. We are all going to have some acid coming back up at times. My feeling is that we should continue to live by some GERDIE TROOPER basic rules. 1. Don't eat 2 hours before you lie flat and go to bed. Avoid foods that spurted up your acid reflux by keeping a Food Diary or Bad FOOD List near by in case you forget. Eat smaller amounts more frequent. Back up your diet example: Clear Liquid, Full liquid. Bland foods till your symptoms disappear.
Good luck hope you are feeling better soon.
Anne

Regards heartburn and indigestion I was told by my surgeon that (as other posters have commented) everyone gets some heartburn etc. The operation cannot remove all heartburn it's aim is to get you to a stage that is considered normal, consider that all individuals get some heartburn at times. What the operation should do is stop the regular/continuous burn and regurgitation (again most of it), from what you write it sounds that your surgery has been a success and I wish you all the best.