3 months post heller myotomy and toupet fundiplication

Just to be clear, my recovery was shorter, much shorter than six months. I started solid food about 4 weeks after the surgery. I went for a two mile hike the day after surgery and I started bowling 5 weeks after surgery. I was almost completely back to normal in 10 weeks. The walking is a very important part of the recovery. It helps alleviate the gas. Again, good luck.

Reed,
I'm coming up on a year post-op and I've made an almost complete recovery. (back to where I was before I got sick) The only problem that I have is that if I eat immediately before bedtime I will still occasionally regurgitate a small amount of stomach contents. It was easy to fix. I don't eat any solid food after 9PM, problem solved. Other than that I'm doing great and I can eat anything I want.
I was sick with Achalasia for a while before it was diagnosed. I saw four different Doctors before I found one smart enough to figure it out. I thought I was finished. I was so uncomfortable that I was looking forward to the end. The surgery gave me a whole new outlook on life and I now enjoy and look forward to every new day.
The only caution I would give you is to keep a close eye on the pain meds they offer you. They wanted to give me a Fentanyl drip the first night. That's nasty addictive stuff and I wasn't in that much pain. I opted for tylenol and I was fine. If you can do it without the heavy pain meds you'll be better off.
Good luck in your surgery. Do everything they tell you to do and your recovery will be over before you know it.
Jim

Good Luck Flintmode. There will be a lot of people pulling for you. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Let us know how you make out.
Jim-B

Hi I'm new to this forum. I have type 2 Achalasia and I'm scheduled for a myotomy with fundiplication in March. Reading through these posts it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am nervous but excited for my results.

Hi I'm new to this forum

I had a Heller Myotomy with Fundiplication done in June 2010, after loosing weight for six months without the doctors knowing what was wrong. Yes, the symptoms were that I could not eat, the food would get stuck, and I could not continuing eating.

Anyways, 7 years later, I do have a normal diet, but try to keep it as a GERD patient diet to avoid acid reflux.

My only concern and question is the following: My Gastro doctor prescribed that I should take medication for Acid Reflux as a precaution (like Nexium, Prevacid, etc..) for life!
The first two years I managed without them, but eventually I started getting heart burns frequently (maybe due to a bad diet), so I started taking Omeprazole (30 mg) and then moved to Lanzoprazole (30 mg); but both have given me bad side effects like fast heart palpitations along with dizziness (like if I am about to faint); not an immediate side effect, but rather months after. According to my doctors this type of medicine does not cause these side effects, and they encouraged me to "take the risk" and continue using them, but that is the opposite of what I am finding out online where it lists these and some other serious side effects.

My questions is, was this acid reflux medicine also prescribed to any of you? and are you having some of these side effects? I am about to give up on these, and try some natural ways, like a squeezed lemon in water before breakfast.

Thank you for your feedback.

MarcoJr:

I've not heard of your side effects from Omeprazole or Lanzoprazole, especially months after. Please don't use Dr. Google, there is a lot of misinformation out there. I would listen to your doctor and also adjust your diet. Since it's been over 7 years since your procedure, when was your last endoscopy? You might want to also have a complete cardio workup, because the symptoms that you are experiencing may not be related to the PPIs at all.

My surgery was on February 22nd. I have had CT scans they appear normal but I was not like this before surgery

Hi,
I know this thread is old, but I will post anyway in hopes there are still people around that might be able to answer my question.
I was diagnosed with Esophageal Achalasia, Type II in June of 2019. I had a Laparoscopic Heller Myotomy with Toupet Fundoplication on 7-23-19 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

For just over 2yrs I struggled with swallowing of both food and liquids. The symptoms grew increasingly more difficult. At the start they were not that bad. But by about 2 months before the diagnosis I was barely able to get any food down and what little I didn't choke on after just a few bites, I would vomit up almost immediately. As well as I would vomit a very THICK, white foam. I was becoming very malnourished. I saw my family doctor several times over the course of the 2 yrs. ... finally switched to a new doctor...and saw many specialists. Finally my GI specialist decided things were out of his realm of expertise and it was time to send me to the Mayo Clinic. That is where a diagnosis came quite quickly! I mentioned in one of my appointments that I had struggled with "acid reflux" for at least 10yrs. I was told that most likely that was the very beginning of this starting. I was also told that my symptoms were most likely never true acid reflux and that what I experienced was the food sitting in my esophagus and essentially rotting...I was experiencing the gas from that food rotting. Not a very pleasant thought!

At any rate. That is my back story, basically. My question...my frustration that brings me here...is to ask about post surgery swelling....or bloating. I am 10 weeks post surgery now. I had my follow-up with my surgeon...about 6 weeks after my surgery. Everything is healing as expected, I was told. I am able to swallow foods and liquids again; for the most part, just fine. But the swelling of my stomach has yet to go down. My stomach still looks like I swallowed a basket ball. I went in to the surgery weighing 116lbs. I came home from surgery and my weight was up literally 10lbs. And I have not been able to drop this 10lbs yet nor will my stomach swell or bloat go back down. When I eat, I take charcoal pills now. I am using essential oils on my stomach. I take a turmeric pill to help ... and I am not seeing any reduction at all. I just go back and forth between a half inch gain/loss. At one point early on in this process I actually was at 33" ... now I stay at 34 or 34 1/2" Every now and then I hit 35". I am beyond frustrated because I want my body back. I want my clothes to fit. Hell. I honestly ...at this point...wouldn't even care if I can't get the 10lbs off and I have to stay wearing the size clothes I am and can't get back to the size clothes I wore before the surgery. I just want the bloat and/or swelling of my stomach to resolve. I mean it's not just the issue of how I feel I LOOK. It HURTS. I mean I am 3 months out from surgery. I swear had I known I was trading the issues I had for this...I would have not had the surgery. This life is no better than what I had. It's just trading problems for problems. I didn't know how to eat before. I still don't know how to eat. I was miserable before. I am just a different kind of miserable now.
Did anyone else experience this type of thing after their surgery? And when I say experience the bloating and swelling ... I mean 3 months after surgery and your body still hadn't lost that bloated/swelling. If so...what did you do? Anything? Any suggestions?

I don't have an answer for you.I didn't suffer anything like your problem. I just wanted to let you know that people still read and respond to this post. Good Luck.