Toupet Fundoplication on 10/17/2012 in Orlando, FL

Glad to hear you are recovering well! It is nice to hear success stories on here!

Hi Bill,

What great news!  I hope you'll stop by from time to time and share your experience with those newly wrapped who are struggling with the post-op symptoms. It always helps to hear from someone who has been there and gotten to the other side!

Happy eating!

Denise

This is so hard to believe but tomorrow will mark my 7 weeks since my surgery. Before I posted this, I decided to read some of the other posters and I just want to hug everyone that is struggling through their recovery. I know how it feels to have those dark days where you feel that you'll just NEVER feel better but I hope after some of you read this, you'll get some sort of encouragement.

So here's my update...

I've lost 26 pounds so far and have NEVER felt better in my life. I'm enjoying my life in ways that I haven't done in YEARS and YEARS.

Spicy Food? Ha! I laugh in their faces! Bring on the Buffalo Wings - and you know what??? I'm washing it down with ORANGE JUICE!! Oh no, not that reduced acid stuff - not anymore - nope, bring on the REAL OJ!

Fried Food? Bring it on! Grease doesn't bother me a BIT anymore! In fact, I even tried deep fried bacon and STILL felt great!

Beer? Make that a PINT! While I can't overdo it, I am enjoying my beer again - granted, the bloat comes pretty quickly but sometimes it's still worth it.

Steak? Bread? Bananas? Pasta? Ok, well you've got me there. I still can't manage to eat those things because it feels like I am swallowing a boulder but with that said, those are really the ONLY things I am unable to eat. Everything else goes down just fine.

To be perfectly candid, the one and ONLY thing that I find is the bloat. I am STILL a walking whoopie cushion. The Surgeon told me that I've got about 4 to 6 months of this to deal with before it goes away. I will have to say though, my bloat doesn't hurt NEARLY as much as it did just a few weeks ago.

To sum it up, if God forbid that I had to go through this surgery again, I would do it in a heartbeat without any type of hesitation. I have NO heartburn whatsoever. NONE. Do you know how bizarre it is for me to say that???

This past week, I gave away all of my Tums, Dexilant, Mylanta and all of my other acid reducers. I have tears in my eyes as I write this statement. Some of you know what I am talking about. It feels AMAZING to be able to go out with a bottle of Tums in my pockets. AMAZING.

It's the holidays now....and I thought that I was going to miss them because I thought my recovery would be so terrible that I wasn't going to enjoy them. Well, I made Thanksgiving Dinner - Turkey and NINE sides and invited 12 people over. I ate not one, but TWO plates of food. It may have taken me 4 hours to do it but I did it and enjoyed every morsel.

So, my fellow wrappers - there IS light at the end of the tunnel and it's NOT a freight train.

Happy Holidays to all!

Hi Denise

One thing I have learned in these 7 weeks is that more often than not, there is really no explanation as to why some things go down better than others. My Doctor told me that he doesn't like to put restrictions on eating because everyone is different. For me, the crispy the better - go figure. You would think that would be an issue, but it isn't. The banana feels as if I am trying to force a Bowling Ball through a Straw. I chewed the heck out of it too - just did NOT agree with me and I am in NO rush to try that again! LOL

As far as swelling - I do have some. Right under my breastbone is a little bump and of course there's a rather large divet in my stomach from the instruments.

I do have to admit, sometimes I get a little lazy because I eat pretty frequently. That's the trade off though. I've learned to just love love love my Campbell's Tomato Soup Cans! LOL

Can you imagine? ME eating TOMATO SOUP! OMG 3 months ago, it was a guarantee vomit session within an hour and now I can eat it RIGHT before bed time.

Yes, I am still VERY emotional because I cannot believe that I have my life back. I am so happy =)

Ok so surgery was last week (Wednesday July 10th, 2013) and here's what they did....

1. Completely UNDID my Toupet Fundoplication
2. Removed the scar tissue the built up along with a small "mass"
3. Performed a full NEISSEN Fundoplication
4. Added Mesh in the actual perimiter of the diaphragm to assist the new wrap

I will say that the pain from this surgery is MUCH more intense than the 1st one but I am doing quite well. I'm able to drink and eat pureed food pretty well. This recovery isn't going to be as easy as the 1st one but I'm pretty optimistic.

New Life in Kiss...,

Im sor sorry that you had to go through that. What  do you mean that your esophagus was detaching from  your stomach? How is your new wrap doing now? Any reason why you had a toupet done as opposed to a fulll wrap?

Hey New Life in Kiss,

I am so sorry to hear that about your complications.

How did your follow up in December go?

I hope you are doing well.

I am scheduled to have a Toupet on 1/21/2013 (in a little over a week) and am starting to get to that nervous state you mentioned as you approached your first surgery.

Anyway, I hope you are doing well and 100% recovered.