Posted 2/14/2016 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, all! I'm new to the board, but before I had my Nissen fundoplication, I read many threads on here about the recovery from the surgery. Of course, I somehow end up recovering like nothing I've heard of before, so I'm back as a user this time to post on the board. So thank you, all, in advance, for your previous help! And for the help I'm sure I'll get from anyone's answers. And I apologize in advance for the lengthy post.
Just as a bit of background, I'm a 28 year old female. I'm 5'7" and (right now...post surgery) weigh 221. I'm reasonably active, and until I had to eat a bland diet, I was a reasonably healthy eater.
My surgery was on January 19, 2016. I was initially supposed to just have a Nissen fundoplication. Instead, they got in there laproscopically, and they did a hiatal hernia repair, a Collis gastroplasty, and then the Nissen fundoplication.
For the hiatal hernia, two-thirds on my stomach had herniated above my diaphragm. There was a ten centimeter by ten centimeter defect in my diaphragm that was repaired with biomesh. Then, my esophagus, from years of reflux, had been damaged and was too short, so they did the gastroplasty to lengthen it. And then the Nissen fundoplication.
So, my hernia had never been seen on any of my GI tests for ANYTHING. And I've gone the gamut of tests. Any endoscopy that I've had, the doctor always told me, "Wow, there's no damage. Time is on your side, because you're so young, this is awesome." I had tried almost every drug out there for heartburn, and eventually, all of them failed. By the time of my surgery, I was on a bland diet and 80mg of Omeprazole a day. That had been my routine for years...too many to count. Even the 80mg of Omeprazole failed. The only thing they could give me that was stronger and just about guaranteed to work wasn't going to be a financially feasible medicine with my insurance...it was going to cost over $100 a month.
I started having just liquids on the day before my surgery, just to help empty my stomach. I was supposed to be released on day three after my surgery, but because I failed the "drink this water in an hour" tests, I had to stay an extra day. On my fourth day in the hospital, I was made to drink milk and attempt to eat yogurt. I drank about 30 mL an hour, and that was a bit too heavy for me. The yogurt was an absolutely not, but I did manage to convince them to give me some Jello. I was supposed to, according to their expected timeline, switch from clear liquids to full liquids by a week after the surgery. My diet sheet lists things like yogurt, pudding, ice cream, and even very runny cream of wheat. I am still stuck on mostly clear liquids. I can, every now and then, eat a tablespoon or two of a strained cream soup, as long as it's, for instance, cream of mushroom soup made with water instead of a can of milk (Campbell's). I switched from cow milk to goat milk after the surgery (my preference anyway) because I seemed to develop perhaps an intolerance to lactose...I would get severe stomach cramping after drinking dairy. I have been diligent about drinking at least one Boost shake a day, though they really started to bother my stomach, so I have purchased another set of shakes to drink when all the Boost is gone. I have experienced dumping syndrome twice so far...once when I drank about an inch out of a cup of hot cocoa (carob, not chocolate), and once with I tried to drink broth from my MIL's wonton soup (it was my only option to get something in my stomach at the time). Both times the dumping syndrome occurred, I wanted to die. It was hideous.
So here I am, February 13th. I still haven't actually eaten anything. I don't feel hungry, and occasionally I feel repulsed by the thought of food. Today, I spent the day in the ER because I felt like I was going to pass out all day. They didn't find anything except for inflammation from the surgery, so they sent me home with directions to follow up with the doctor. I did try to have a bit of a thicker seafood bisque on Thursday night, which was when the majority of my chest pain began to occur. The chest pain is mostly center, slightly off the the left side, and hurts more when I take a deep breath. My thought is that I irritated my esophagus by trying to have some of the thicker bisque and that's what's causing the pain. I have been having severe pain in the area between two incisions in my abdomen (about midline). The pain often makes me grab onto something to stay standing, and will make me whimper...and I have a high pain tolerance. I will say, in the ER, after my first bag of fluids was in me, I felt more alert. I still was feeling like I might pass out, and I still had all the same pain. But my brain felt more "with it" then it has in about a week.
Has anyone else had such a slow recovery? Has anyone else had pain with thicker liquids that extended this far into the healing process?