Post-Nissen Surgery question.

Ian-

It returns when everything has healed. Early on most people have a deminished appetite because of the trauma and swelling of the fundus.
Now that said, a lot of people don;t eat as much as they used to because the pressure on the fundus to help the LES will signal you are full sooner, but since a lot of people over est to some extent it's not a bad thing.
You can figure on anywhere from 3 months to a year depending on how your body heals.

Take care,
Bill

Ian-

I have to go back to my 1st 2 nissens because my last included some very unusual circumstances. I was able to eat normal type foods around 2 to 3 months, but I still had to eat small meals frequently. After about 6 months I could eat a bigger meal, but usually felt overly full when I ate the amount of food I did pre nissen. The key is to eat smaller more frequent meals. Which the doctors I have talked to say is better than eating 3 larger meals anyway.

My last nissen was a huge challenge as I had an esophageal tear repaired just 6 months prior and hadn't been able to eat or drink anything for over 4 of those months. I was severely restricted after my redo also, but by the 3rd month post nissen redo I was able to eat anything I wanted to and any amount I wanted to. I had lost 46lbs during the recovery of those 2 surgeries and have gained back about 21lbs. I gained most of those back between the 8th and 12th month post surgery.
I have permanently modified how much I eat at a time and frequency of my meals by choice now though. I can eat 3 meals if I want to, but I actually am able to keep my weight down easier by eating less more often. As with the weight loss surgery, your stomach can stretch back to it's pre surgery size if you eat larger meals.
basically all my rambling is that you will be able to eat larger meals again, but it will take some time. Something around 4 to 12 months depending on what your eating habits are.

Take care,
Bill

Hi, I am a newbie. I am scheduled to have the Nissen wrap next week. I have noticed that a few people have stated that they have had 2 or 3 wraps done. Why is this?

Angie's mom-- Yes, Bill is the authority on multiple rewraps and redos. He can answer that question.

You're going to be having surgery a week before I do. We can follow eachother's progress.

Hi, I'm 2 wks out from NF , so far I don't mind the recovery, its better than 24 hr sour stomach, or heartburn. I'd say its human to be a little scared. I was, but had lots of support, and I was at a point I just wanted to feel better and I do. Wishing u well

Hi Ian, let us know exactly when your surgery is. I am 56 yr old, and again glad I did NF. It's about 15 days since, and I was in the hospital for a total of 24 hr... At first there was some pain with swallowing . My instructions were Clear and full liquid diet and progress as tolerated, everyone's different, but each day I can eat and drink better and better, am relieved of the miserable symptoms of GERD. Ate loosely scrambled eggs and mash potatoes with about an oz of cheese, a few protein drinks, pudding, and some well chewed saltines with very little pain. A lot of the discomfort is when I swallow a little air, but I am able to burp, and this relieves it usually fairly quickly. I had very little post op pain overall. I went back to my job today (desk job /telecommute/work at home. Part time).. I eat smaller more frequently. I've had baby food, smoothies..I only lost 5 lbs up to now..I believe you'll be fine. My doctor had done about 2000 NF's, and gave me statistics about his own cases, and in general. He is a bit lacking in post op instructions, and did not have a name of a dietician I might be able to use, but I figured it out with the help of this blog and making sure my symptoms were normal. He has a good nurse I have called with questions. I know of 2 people not on this blog who were very glad they did the NF. Best wishes, lois

Hello Everyone,

I just had this procedure 12 days ago and I feel like i'm on a roller coaster. The first 3 - 4 days were bad, but I expected as much. about day 6 I stopped having so much pain when I would swallow (even water was very painful at first), and I thought wooo-hooo! the worst is over... then I found that even though it wasn't painful to consume a bowl of soup or a cup of tea, it didn't appear to all be going down.  Day 11 I threw up, and this really freaked me out. I started to get pretty depressed, thinking I wasn't healing right, so I started to do some research and found this website. After all I have read, it sounds like i'm progressing pretty normally, but I have to tell you I have bouts of wishing I hadn't had this procedure done at all. 

 I have to go back to work on Monday and can't imagine how i'm going to have the energy to work a 40 hour week in a somewhat stressful administrative position. I'm looking for encouragement and tips on healing and getting back to normal.

Jenn

Ian,

On my day 6 post op (yesterday) I started feeling hungry again. Here is was my menu for that day: Breakfast Yogurt. Snack: Boost. Lunch: 1/2 cup of potato soup. Snack:  Ensure. Dinner: 1/2 cup of tuna and 1/2 cup of vegatable soup. 

I do not know if I ate too much or what but I really struggled with my yogurt this morning. I also feel very bloated and tired. 

Hey Ali,

Like you, I did not push eating on day 4 or 5. I mainly focused on water and shakes. Then on day 6 it seemed like my swelling had subsided a little and it was less painful to swallow. I still think both me and you have to face the peak swelling period around day 14 of our recovery. Keep posting.

I think your right Ian although today it felt like it was backing up.
It's been easier as the day has gone on
Hope your doing ok
Ali

Oh, thank u for your welcomes Bill and everyone. You've helped a lot!
I don't think I initially introduced myself, but I was wrapped on 8/9/13. I'm 56 yr old who had Gerd 25 or so yrs ago when u could only take Prilosec for 6 Wks at a time. I probably suffered longer than necessary, because the description about
Wrapping the stomach around the esophagus just seemed
too drastic and scary .. I guess I started to see this differently when my GI finally said its time to consider this as I was taking Dexilant, and other ppi's and H2 blockers,gaviscon, and Alia seltzer all at once for a while, and GI wise was more than not burning, dyspeptic, not hungry and my quality of life was diminishing, and it affected me socially if I couldn't eat a lot of things.. I'm ok with smaller meals, and have hope in the return to a more normal healthy pattern, but before I found this site I mostly read about folks who were having problems or had a bad surgery from perhaps an inexperienced surgeon.. Thanks all. Looking forward to giving a d receiving support!