HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Oct 1 - partial laparoscopic fundoication

Support Forums
>
GERD & Acid Reflux
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/2/2015 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I had my partial fundoication (180) on Oct 1st. I was released from hospital on day 5. Post op follow up was on October 27 and surgeon said I was progressing weeks ahead of expected.

I was on clear fluids for 3 days and full fluids for 2 weeks, then progressed to soft foods with many many avoid foods - which I have diligently been avoiding.

My surgeon asked if I had any issues swallowing, to which I responded no, none. However twice I have had a very very rough day. The first was due to constipation, which once released, caused a day of hot and cold spells followed by cold sweats and an inability to eat.

Yeaterday, was terrible - I ate soft foods, yet mid day suffered the shakes, followed by hot flashes, cold sweats, a bowel movement then after another hour or so I felt fine. After dinner however the whole process started over again without the need to empty my bowels and suffered cold sweats for over an hour.

This morning, I'm exhausted and nervous about eating.

Has anyone experienced this?
Posted 11/3/2015 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
yes have experienced that, not a lot of fun. in my case the triggers, were eating to much at once, and milk products. so my milk is lactose free, and I eat smaller meals, more frequently. at 11 weeks out, it getting better for me, as my system is functioning better. but I am very considerate, as to what goes down the hatch.
Posted 11/3/2015 5:55 AM (GMT 0)
Craine, I haven't had reflux surgery yet, but I recently had my gallbladder removed and had a very similar thing. Do you also get really intense stabbing pains just before you feel the need for a bowel movement? Same as aero1, mine hit from dairy, but also from complex carbohydrates. It didn't start immediately after surgery for me either, started about a month in, and from what I've heard since, its really common with any type of gastric surgery. The good news is that it should resolve as your body gets used to processing those foods again and happen less frequently as time goes by.
Posted 11/3/2015 12:57 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the replies - I too was thinking it was the whole digestive process. I noted what I had eaten and the only things that were different were old fashioned rolled oats for breakfast and then I tried two meatballs for dinner. The amounts were definitely not any larger than I had previously been eating. It must have been the foods.

Yesterday I cut back on types and stuck to cereal, eggs, and toast, and feel fine. What a terrible way to find out a particular food doesn't agree with you!

I realize that I'm still only on my 5th week since surgery - and I still have so much healing to do. It's just so frustrating, as you all know.

I have to keep reminding myself that the sleep that I get now and the fact that I have 0 ZERO reflux or heartburn is just amazing!

The weight loss is also a bonus!

I'll keep in touch, as I will update on my progress and I'm sure there will be new trials ahead.
Posted 11/3/2015 1:18 PM (GMT 0)
Jenegade, to answer your question, no pains before bm - just gas feeling and your brain saying - this ain't just gas this time! 😨

The strange thing about the milk... I love milk, always have - but since my gallbladder surgery (15 yrs) milk has made me feel nauseous after drinking it, including ice cream, lates, etc. Now since my surgery it doesn't seem to affect me the same way. Very strange. But I am not complaining.
Posted 11/3/2015 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
How strange. I had the exact same reaction to dairy after my gallbladder surgery, I can handle most forms now, its just usually the uncultured varieties - milk, ice cream, cream - that affect me. Also eggs, which sucks because I love eggs and as a vegetarian its a good protein source.

I'm not surprised the oats or meatballs set it off, in the early days I found anything that was dense, high fibre, or complex carbohydrates, set things off. Its just because your digestive tract is a bit shorter so everything is transiting faster and the harder to digest foods hit your small intestine too early. Over time things should slow down to compensate. I know I was over the worst of it after a few weeks, and now it happens maybe once every couple of weeks when I have dairy or eggs, so not even every time.
Posted 11/4/2015 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
So today I ventured out and my hubby and I decided to get some lunch - with such limited options I suggested pho - rice noodles in mild broth and chicken. As long as I didn't eat the onions or add any fresh veggies, it could t be all that bad, right?

Well not too long after - 1 1/2 hrs, I start getting very sore a cross the diaphragm and then into both shoulders - gas pain extrodinaire!!! Need to get home and lie down.

First day since post op I tried wearing a bra and had to unclasp it while in store. Can't get home fast enough!
Posted 11/4/2015 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
As much as you probably don't want to, now that you are just starting to eat normal food again, maybe you need to slow down on the meat for a bit, being one of those harder to digest foods maybe your system isn't quite up to handling it yet.

Ah the old unclasping the bra on the go trick, I hate having to do that but sometimes its the only thing that can help.
Posted 11/5/2015 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
So I may have found my first culprit! Home made gravy - it doesn't give me gas (as experienced yesterday) but must be what has made me feel nauseated, sweaty, shaky and just terrible. My deduction comes because I've had chicken numerous times without issue, but the two times I felt like this are the two times I had homemade gravy.

So today, I was feeling ok, a little tired, but waking up as early as I did is why I must have been so tired. We had plans to meet with my mom and step dad, sister and step brother for a dinner at a great restaurant as a good bye gift from my mom and s-dad. My hubby was looking forward to a tasty dinner for a change. I decided to eat a later lunch, so I would t be starving at the restaurant, since 1/2 after eating the sweats started, bm, continued sweating. Tried lying down, tried showering - felt worse. Had to cancel! 😢😢😢😢

Now I won't see them again till spring when they return from Florida.

Man this surgery has been a rough recovery. I worry how I will cope with this when I return to work - there is no where to lie down - it's not like you can strip down and put a cold compress on your neck when you are meeting with 40 people leading a briefing.

So this post has been all over the map - suffice to say I feel like crap right now and have a lot going through my head.

Thanks for reading
Posted 11/6/2015 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
That sucks, sorry to hear that Craine.

Hopefully by the time you return to work these side effects will have subsided, or at least you will know what foods to avoid until your body has adjusted again. The hot/cold sweats from it are gross and they just seem to make you feel so much worse don't you think? I hope it all lets up for you soon.
Posted 11/8/2015 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
Good day, ...
Question to all post surgery members. During my hospital stay, I suffered severe pain in the front of my left shoulder. You could say the soft squishy area just in between and under your collar bone. It was so bad it would hurt to breath. None of the Drs knew what it was, and we chocked it up to the air from the surgery and the fact that I have injured brachial plexus nerve bundle.

So, I am just into my week 6 post op and I find that when I have been up and about too long and I start getting pain in my diaphragm, it then starts to radiate into my back and then sure enough my shoulder starts again.

You would think that by now all the extra air would be gone. And if my brachial plexus is being agrivated, why? from what?

Has anyone else experienced this ?

Thanks for all your support
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply