Hi to all! I am inspired to write after reading all your wonderful post TIF recovery stories! I am 37 days after TIF and a 5cm hernia repair. The weight loss( 12lbs.) is a great side benefit and most everything else is doing well too. I cannot believe the difference in the way you feel without the dreaded dark cloud of acid reflux weaving its way ito your everyday life. It is such a joy NOT to worry about
eating dinner at 3:00-4:00pm every day! And sleeping on your right side is heavenly!
My post Tif diet has gone well and I have been adding protein to soups from the deli or some that I make myself. In the first 3 weeks I stuck with yogurt, applesauce, chicken soup, sugar free pudding and meal replacement shakes. In the 4th week I started adding some chicken (flaked up in the blender) to soups and soft cooked veggies.
I did bring a concoction to work of unflavored aloe juice (which walmart sells now in the pharmacy section) mixed with low calorie gatorade and apple cider (the kind that has fiber in it so it is cloudy). Fiber, electrolytes, and digestive soothing aloe has worked well for me. Maybe it will help someone else who is getting tired of drinking so much water! (just have to be careful of the calories in the cider!)
At 2.5 weeks post TIF I had sharp pains in the upper left rib cage area every time I took a deep breath. The pain lasted about a week and a half. I asked my surgeon at the next appointment and he explained that most of the work being done for the hernia repair is done through that laparoscopic portal. He also said that while he was suturing above the hernia and then placing a mesh "roof" over it, drawing the "V" opening in the diaphram closer together to make it smaller, that it would be very easy to bruise a rib or irritate a nerve that is very near that location. It went away, just like the very minimal trapped gas in that same area. I think I only did one nocturnal walk around to dissipate painful shoulder gas.
One thing that I have not seen mentioned was a post surgery fever. I had one almost immediately that got to 102.5. Luckily my surgeon said to text him with any problems...the short story is my entire mouth, throat, tongue broke out in what we might call "canker sores' or "mouth ulcers". That was almost more uncomfortable than the surgery....trying to get stronger and eat and drink with a very pissed off mouth/throat was not easy. My doc called them "fever blisters" and prescribed Zovirax and Augmenten. Problem solved after about a week. I guess those fever blisters can actually cause a fever? The ESOPH X device itself could have caused some trauma to the tissues, stress and many other variables as well.
The end of my six weeks will be New Years Eve but I don't plan on doing anything at all to jeopardize the surgery. If I do take a bite of something like a chip with dip (Christmas Eve) it is a very very small bite and I chew it well.
Still not eating anything spicy as I don't want to try that for a few more weeks. At times I still have a dull ache in the sternum area, and a mild sore throat, so to me that means I am still healing. I think all the chicken (broth mostly) soup from the Jewish deli and some daily aloe have helped in the healing process. Anything I chew is done 25x (or at least I try) but lentils and soft beans in soup sometimes slide down before I reach that magic number. I could also swallow meds and vitiamins from day one.
I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence about this surgery...it is such a small inconvenience in your timeline of life compared to the daily pain of acid reflux and the possible side effects of PPI's.
One question though...Has anyone experienced weight gain as they gradually introduce pre-surgery diets? Even if you eat mega healthy, is there weight gain? It seems that my appetite and (maybe stomach volume) has changed. I get full really quickly....and if I wait 20 minutes, I'm even fuller. Maybe that little tuck the TIF does on the sides of your esophagus reduces stomach size, and thus volume. Hmm...Id love to hear from anyone who has advice about any weight gain or loss after TIF recovery time. My doctor (who is super casual said that none of his 25 patients before me gained any weight after TIF) Thanks ahead for all the knowledge and support I have gained from this forum....it is priceless! Kathleen
PS I believe there was a national TIF study that just concluded in September 2012, but I haven't been able to read any results on the internet yet.