Just had Nissen!!

It's fine to feel rough or okay. Everyone heals their own way. Just remember no heavy lifting for 6 weeks and chew your food extremely well.

Hi Allen,

Welcome to the Wrapped Club! I can't believe your doctor told you that he had a patient who golfed the day after the surgery.  It can't be true.  Seriously...it's major surgery.  I remember well how I felt the first week post-op, and I can guarantee you that I wouldn't have even considered golfing.  I just wish your surgeon could have the surgery and find out just what the recovery is like.

It's totally normal for you to feel terrible at your stage of recovery.  You had MAJOR SURGERY a week ago.  You're amazing going back to work so quickly.  Believe me, many stay out of work and recover for a much longer time.  I was out for 6 weeks, and was feeling great by the time I started again.

Be sure to listen to your body.  As Joy said, no heavy lifting.  Don't be a hero...ask for help when you need it.  Listen to your body and go with the flow.  Take naps.  Going back to work ensures that you are overdoing it, so get to bed early and take it very easy at home.

Happy healing!

Denise

I had my Robotic Lap Nissen done 12/21/12 (for the second time) also. There is no way I could have played golf the next day. I was still tired from anesthesia and pain meds. However, I did have the weekend and Christmas eve and Christmas off to heal. I went back to work on Wednesday. The first couple of weeks are very hard. All I want to do is eat. I figured, If I went back to work, I wouldn't be stuck at home thinking about food. Especially over the holiday. We had Christmas dinner at my house. I did try something I knew I shouldn't have and threw up once. I hate doing that because it scares me. Don't want to do this anymore. I started on soups yesterday and doing good so far. I have the shoulder pain everyone is talking about on here too. Very painful when I have to hiccup or burp. I hope it subsides. After my first one, I lost about 33 pounds which I did have to spare. My hernia was 2.5 inches. So it was a big one. It lasted just short of one year. My stomach slipped back up into my chest and had to have it re-done. I guess it happens on the bigger one's. I feel more tired than usual all the time but that's from not being able to eat anything. I tried taking my vitamin, which is an experience in itself seeing as how the vitamin makers like to make them as big as they can possibly make them. I have chewables but, they don't set very good in my stomach right now. When i need something sweet, I found that I can suck on Werther's and peppermint candy canes. Popsicles are good right now too. Especially when I feel really thirsty and can't gulp water like I want to. I agree with what Denise said. You listen to your body. You know what you can/cannot eat or do. I've been drinking coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate. I stopped the hot chocolate. It was really irritating my stomach. Coffee makes me go to the bathroom more often than I want to though. I compare it to a coffee colonic although I've never had one. LOL. My surgeon said he did some different stitching this time to make sure it never happened again. I hope it holds this time. It's all worth it to me not to have heartburn anymore. I dealt with it pretty much from my teens on. Just the older I got, the worse It got until I couldn't handle it anymore and started researching after I found out I had a hiatal hernia. My surgeon is awesome too. He really knows what he's talking about. He's about an hour and ten minutes away but worth the drive. I'm calling tomorrow for my post op visit. I will mention the shoulder pain to see if he tells me anything different than what I'm reading on here. Hope some of this helps you. I know I just rambled but I wanted to get everything on here just in case it would help you or anyone else out. Just take it easy and rest as much as possible. Surgery is very hard on our bodies anyway. My surgeon would've liked for me to take off about 2 wks but there's no way I could possibly do that. Work won't allow it unless I want to use up all of my vacation at once. Good luck to you and everyone else going through this.

Glad to hear you're getting better Alan. It does get better. A tiny bit each day but, it does get better. I'm eating everything but meat now. Just very small bites. I still have a few things that get stuck too. It eventually goes down though. It's worth it not to have heartburn. And the shoulder pain is gone

Good to hear a couple of success stories for those of us considering surgery :)

I've been reading these posts and others for the Nissan and also looking at the Linx, trying to decide which is the best way forward for me, I have to say from what I've rea the whole thing terrifies me. are there any good stories out there

Hi Les!

It's great to hear from you...it's always helpful when experienced wrappers stop by to share their experiences.  Often on a forum like this there are many unhappy "customers" who are seeking help and information.  It makes it more likely that someone seeking information about possible surgery will assume that the Nissen is nothing but trouble, which is far from the truth.

Thanks for posting!

Denise

Hi Johnah,

Yes.  If food gets stuck, you need to relax, take a breath, and take sips of (non-iced) water or a warm beverage.  You'll get some spasms, but they won't last long.  I had this happen in the early weeks when I was out for dinner and without thinking ate a half cherry tomato.  Of course it was impossible to chew to a liquid, so it got stuck.  It was then that I realized I ought to order tea at every restaurant meal, just in case!  It all was fine. 

Some people try to gag up what was swallowed (like a cat gags up a hairball), but my surgeon said it's not necessary.  Stay calm, sip water/tea, and it will go down.  He did say only once a patient needed help with a piece of steak that got stuck...I'm assuming he removed it via endoscopy.  This is rare, and will NEVER happen if you remember to chew your food carefully and stay away from steak and sandwiches/untoasted bread for about 8 weeks.

I started on regular food on Day 6, as my surgeon trusted my judgement (and I assume the judgement of all his patients).  Some people's surgeons keep them on liquids for at least two weeks or so.  Mine said to eat only things that could be chewed to a liquid and use my own judgement.

He did warn me that during the first two weeks of recovery my swallowing would get worse before it got better due to swelling.  This was very true.  In the beginning I stuck to soups a lot, but was so happy to be able to make my own food choices.  I listened to my body, experimented, and only swallowed things that could be chewed completely to a liquid/creamy consistency.  You'd be surprised at how many things that is.  I enjoyed being my own blender, as I enjoy eating, and chewing is the best part!

Even now, as Les has said, I eat more slowly and chew more carefully.  Do I forget sometimes?  Of course!  But it's no big deal at all.

Good luck!

Denise

Hi Johnah,

All those things are a good idea.  That said, some docs ask that you don't eat or drink certain things that you might like to use as a trigger to get a realistic result.  I can't remember what they were, but it was quite annoying, as like you, I was planning on an onslaught of trigger foods to get things going. 

I think the reasoning is that the sensors will read the food as reflux.  See what your doc says, and do whatever you can.  They want you to act like you normally would.  Sleeping flat for sure, though. 

Being without PPIs won't be fun.  You'll get through it, though.

Good luck!

Denise

Thanks to both of you ! Not looking forward to getting off the PPI's before and during the test. Can't imagine how sore my chest will be after that. Bad enough when I get a few bad days and I'm on them. Probably going to take a week or two to get back to feeling normal after the test. I know now if I have a few bad days it takes a week or so to get back to feeling good.

Guess that is the idea of the test we really don't know what is happening down there when all we have is our feeling of well being to go on which certainly isn't objective enough to do surgery. Good thing for these BB's where we can share experiences. Sure helps with understanding our situations, takes much of the worry out of it.

I do worry since I never get heartburn , never taste acid but only get the sore chest, horse voice and the feeling my lungs are hurting that the monitor might not pick it up as it is acid that has become mixed with the air. The GI doc said to me do you think it is bad enough to have surgery , my reply was I might as well be a smoker given what it feels like it is doing to my lungs. Don't want that going on year after year.