Road to recovery - two weeks after Nissen Fundoplication

Last week I wrote about the first week of my recovery which went along slowly and steadily with no great dramas.

I'll continue to write each week for a little while because I was so grateful to read the stories of other people prior to my surgery, it made me feel as though I had made the right decision and took away most of my pre-operative fears and anxieties.  Also I know there can be wrap swelling anywhere from 2-4 weeks out, so things might change for me but I have my fingers crossed it all continues on as it has so far.

I can happily report that I am Day 14 post op and feeling really good.  I have no g.e.r.d symptoms.  Over the past week I have had the occasional very mild oesophageal spasm from time to time but nothing too unpleasant.  I've had no abdominal pain, gas pains or difficulty swallowing.  I've had some increase in flatulence compared to pre-op but nothing that means I can't go out in public.  I've had mild issues both with constipation and diarrhoea but again, nothing to really complain about.

I'm eating a soft diet and will continue with this for a while:  omelettes, soft fish, porridge, biscuits dunked in tea, lots of canned fruit, the occasional lamington or piece of very soft cake, soups and noodles, poached eggs and even a little chocolate here and there (in the form of one M&M at a time with my doctor's blessing).

The past four days I've been out for afternoon walks of around 25-30 minute duration and I get on my exercise bike  for two 10 minute stints in the evening.  I've been sleeping well, too.

A couple of my incisions are still a bit tender but this morning I sat up in bed and got out, only to realise I had not used my arms to push up but used my abdominal muscles and it hadn't hurt.

I've so very grateful that my recovery has gone so well thus far but know that I need to continue to be careful of my wrap and look after myself for a good long while to come yet.

For anyone wondering, my only health problems prior to surgery were mild hypertension and g.e.r.d and I am 46 and was in reasonable shape weight and fitness-wise, although it has not hurt me in the slightest to lose the 8 or 9 pounds I've lost this past two weeks, quite happy about that.

I send my heartfelt cyber-wishes to anyone else recovering from NF that you will enjoy the same recovery I seem to be having and hope this helps anyone who might be wrestling with the decision of whether or not to go ahead.

Jobanje said...
  Are you on Facebook at all? There's a Nissen Fundoplication group with 600 or so members, all of whom have either had the surgery, going to have it, thinking about it or their partner or child is having it. You might want to check it out for yourself. I hope you'll keep us up to date with your own story too. Jen

Ian - my doctor hopes I can get off the PPIs eventually and so do I.  I'm doing well on 20mg the past couple of days and once I see the doctor for my follow up appointment next Monday, I might look at splitting the pills or going without them altogether.  I don't like the research I've read that says long term use affects bone density - there's already a history of osteoporosis in the women of my family, I don't want to do anything to increase that risk for me.

Jobanje said...
Albez - will it let you send a message to the group? I did this, introducing myself and describing my situation and one of the four page moderators added me to the group. I'll ask them if there's something else that needs to be done to get in - it's such a good site/page, I recommend it to anyone undergoing NF.