Some reflux and food stuck after nissen

Hi M60,

Well, to start, 3 weeks out from surgery is (in my opinion anyway) a little early to be starting spicy food. The stitches and wrap area in general are still really tender and inflamed and definitely not ready to tolerate anything spicy. Especially with the amount of swelling you still have going on inside. Overeating will put a lot of pressure on the wrap site and cause it to hurt and be uncomfortable. Likely what you felt was not acid, but pain.

Take it easy on yourself, and your wrap. Right now, it's way too soon to advance your diet like that; regardless of how good you feel.

Be well and take care,
-TonyG-

M60 tanker

Some of us call this the hair ball effect. It happens when food doesn't go through the wrap. Slow down and chew incredibly well. also avoid foods that can be sticky and pile up. Like solid meats and foods like thick mashed taters.

Wait about 30 seconds or more between bites and try to feel it going through the wrap. If something does start sticking relax, sit up ir stand up straight and take small drinks to wash it through. Sometimes it just won't go and needs to come back up.

your wrap is new and probably still swollen, so it's not going to work perfect yet. Remember the wrap won't stop all reflux. Normal people do reflux some. It s meant to get us back to normal.

when you challenge the wrap like this it will swell and be irritated. Back off our diet a little and let things calm down. What you are experiencing is very normal and the vast majority of us have been through it.

Take care,
Bill

M60 tanker,

I'm 7 days post op and was eating some well cooked pasta for the first time and it got stuck in my esophagus. I felt the same symptoms as you had described. Pain and feeling like the food was not getting through the wrap- then coughing up foamy mucous. Things are finally settling down over an hour later...

Thanks Aero,

I follow up with my surgeon tomorrow so I'll have the opportunity to fine tune his general instructions- which were soft foods at 7 days post surgery. I tolerate cream of rice, pureed squash, ice cream and ground chicken. Just not the pasta yet. I hear you that everyone has their own pace. Thanks for your help.

Hi Jenagade,

Perhaps there's a lot of fear surrounding recovery from Nissen fundoplication and related surgeries. Bottom line is everyone who has this type of surgery is likely to have episodes of dysphagia and stuck food- the gastro esophogeal junction has been tightened!

My surgeon is a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at a major teaching hosiptal. That said, he's no dietician. He simply gave me seven pages of copied material on diet instructions post Nissen, which were in summary:

Day 0-3: Clear Liquids
Day 4-7: Clear liquids + yogurt, ice cream, simple strained soups, cream of rice, wheat
Day 7-21: "Soft diet" - The above plus ground meats, fats in moderation, toast, crackers.

Pasta was definitely a no go so early for me though.