Hi DSMB,Happy Day 4! A couple things come to mind after reading your post.
First, 90 minutes of walking is extreme at your stage of recovery. You've just had major surgery. If you'd had it
open, you would have a large incision to show for it. Because it's laparoscopic (and some surgeons don't provide proper guidance...like telling you to bike, speed skate, and play trombone nearly immediately), you feel you can and should push yourself. Instead, it's important to baby your body for a while. Walking is important, but short walks, not long ones at this point. The time will come for long walks!
Your insides have been through a lot. In addition to the repair of your diaphragm and the stretching and stitching of your stomach, many organs were moved (some detached from where they were attached to other things) and held aside while the surgeon worked. Your insides have been traumatized, and it will take time to recover from that.
As far as eating...you are getting that liquid in, liquid out problem, but there is the possibility that all the sugary drinks you're taking in are increasing that problem. If you can move to some things that are not as sweet, it might help.
As Bill said, while some surgeons still require clear liquids/full liquids for extended periods, many do not.
I don't really understand why surgeons put their patients on liquids for such an extended period of time. I'm sure they are concerned that things will get stuck during the initial swelling of the wrap. Still, if you use common sense, and chew your food thoroughly, you can eat anything that chews to a complete liquid/creamy consistency. My surgeon put me on a liquid diet in the hospital, and a soft diet when I returned home on the second day. By Day 6 my surgeon had me eating "anything that could be chewed to a liquid".
Granted, it takes common sense and care to be freed up to eat whatever you choose (that can be chewed to a liquid), but it makes life much easier in the long run. I ate a lot of soups in the beginning...much easier in those first few weeks. But I'd eat the veggies in the soup as well. I always took small bites and chew, chew, chew, chewed until whatever I ate was a full liquid/creamy consistency. If something didn't chew completely, I didn't swallow it. My surgeon did warn me off untoasted bread (toasted chews to a liquid just fine) and steak. That's it. Everything else was fair game, as long as it fit into the chew to a liquid rule.
So, if I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about
introducing other things into your diet. I think I would have been miserable if I'd been forced to stay on liquids that long. It's your call, but I don't see why one surgeon says liquids only for six weeks, and another can say "anything that can be chewed to a liquid". My mouth and teeth were my blender. Since chewing is the most satisfying part of eating, using my mouth as a blender increased my enjoyment of my food 100%. I never even used all the liquids I'd purchased prior to my surgery. Instead, I was able to enjoy a variety of foods. Granted, my stomach wouldn't accept much in the beginning.
Why not experiment? Just keep a paper napkin handy for those foods that don't chew properly. Never swallow anything that doesn't chew completely to a liquid. As long as you strictly follow that rule, you will do fine.
Here are some eating suggestion links from the Resources section of the Forum:
www.preopguide.com/PostFundoDiet.html www.upmc.com/patients-visitors/education/nutrition/Pages/diet-after-nissen-fundoplication-surgery.aspx www.nissenfundoplication.com/nissen-fundoplication-diet /healthonline.washington.edu/document/health_online/pdf/Esophageal_Diet_After_Surgery_3_11.pdf If you take small bites and chew, chew, chew your food to a liquid, you can enjoy a wide variety of foods without risking anything getting stuck. Keep warm tea or room temperature water handy to help keep things moving. Remember that you're at Day 4 in a process that takes 6 months for most of the healing and a year for the rest. Try to relax into your recovery and go with the flow Your body will heal in its own sweet time, so try to be patient. Listen to your stomach and try to baby it along.
As Bill said, you will need to eat very slowly, and I suggest you keep a paper napkin handy for any food you try that doesn't chew to a complete liquid/creamy consistency. I believe surgeons are concerned that people will forget they've just had surgery and chew and swallow the way they did prior to their wrap. I asked my surgeon if his patients had had a hard time with eating, and if things got stuck. He said that in his 15+ years of doing the surgery he'd had only one person who ate a piece of steak and got it stuck. (He had to go in with an endoscopy and clear it away). Other than that, people followed the protocol with care and didn't have a problem.
Honestly, if I had been forced onto a liquid diet for that long, I'd have really lost it. I guess I was lucky to find a surgeon who offered a more liberal eating protocol. You can use the listed eating guides to help you select foods that are easily chewed. I found crispy things easy to chew...just always keep a liquid handy to help lubricate things. I like tea, and found warm liquids relax the esophagus and help swallowing.
If something feels as if it's "stuck" don't worry. Unless you've eating swallow after swallow without taking the time to get it through the wrap, there is no need to cough it up. Just relax, (there will be a little discomfort/spasms), sip room temp water or a warm drink, and it will go down. (My surgeon actually gave me that advice.)
You can take or leave this advice. Your surgeon isn't mine. You will experience increased wrap swelling throughout the first two plus weeks post op, so your swallowing will likely get worse before it gets better. This is totally normal. You'll get days when you wrap tires out, and swallowing is not comfortable. This is totally to be expected. Once swelling reaches peak, and starts to subside, things will improve.
We're here to provide support and encouragement! Hang in there!
Happy healing,
Denise