Now 3 1/2 months after surgery, continued problems - update 5/19

Hello,

As you can probably tell I am new here. After about 2 years of GERD that did not respond well to PPIs (even with an extremely restricted diet I still had difficulties) and H2 blockers I opted for a fundoplication. I had the surgery just over a month ago, but find myself a bit discouraged at the moment. I am having aching on my left side/lower left abdomen. It seems to be potentially coming from the incision sites, but it only recently became a bother. Also, while the symptoms I used to have just below my sternum are not bothering me, but now I feel as if I am having more traditional heartburn now (behind the sternum) and I still have trouble with my voice when I have to talk a lot for work. These things are particularly impacted by when I start branching out with food. For example, I had a soup that was a bit more tomato based the other day and really felt it afterwards or chicken hot dog that must have had some spices (not spicey) in it that were in it. I had hoped I'd be able to eat foods that had previously caused me some trouble after this surgery, but now I am not so sure. The diet I was on before consisted of about 6 different foods and was just unsustainable in terms of enjoying life. I was a avid runner, hiker and played basketball a couple nights a week and those things all had to slow down or be stopped altogether. I had hoped this would start me on a path back to the quality of life I would like. I have tried to be very positive about this experience and really embraced the recovery process, but I had hoped I'd be a bit better at this point and did not expect these heartburn feelings. I am beginning to wonder if this surgery has not worked for me.

Am I being dramatic or is there cause for concern here. I go back for another follow up appointment net week, but the last few days have been particularly discouraging. Sorry for the long depressing first post.

Any thoughts, advice or encouragement would be welcomed. Thanks.

Post Edited (Emmons) : 5/19/2018 2:17:26 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks for the reply. Reading about other people's recoveries is helpful. Logically, I know this isn't a minor surgery, but I let my mind get away from me. Just had a rough few days after a pretty good week and the new symptoms frustrated/concerned me. I have always bounced back quickly from injuries, etc...guess I need to be a bit more patient and not get so discouraged this time around.

You are very early into your recovery and it sounds like your body is trying to tell you that you are advancing your diet a little too quickly with a tomato-based soup and the hotdog. You will be able to EAT those foods, but it may take longer than you'd like - everyone is different. You can expect small setbacks during your healing process. I didn't feel a lot better until 6 months post-surgery, and my "new" me at around 1 year.

Post Edited (SharonZ) : 3/21/2018 6:30:16 AM (GMT-6)

Hello Emmons:
I know how it is to feel discouraged and wonder how things are going. I am limited in what I can offer but I can tell you that at one month, I was still eating pretty bland, soft foods and was avoiding tomato or any acid type foods.
I didn't have much heartburn but I did have trouble with my voice, hoarseness and also shortness of breath. It has been over four months and although I still am hoarse at times, it seems like it is getting a little better all the time. My friends tell me that my voice sounds stronger, so I hope you will see improvement with the voice as time passes. I haven't had too much luck with the breathing yet; --still hoping!!
I can't offer much more since our situations were quite different and I am still dealing with concerns in some areas. But I will say that bouncing back from this surgery seems like it can be a bit of a long journey so I hope that as time passes you will find lots of improvement.
Best wishes to you,
ByHisGrace : )

Hello DonnaMarie: I am sorry that you are having these difficulties. This recovery seems to be long with varied issues for different people. I hope as more time passes, that you will feel much better. As for the hoarseness, I had had hoarseness before surgery and lots of mucous in my throat. I was told this was due to reflux. I still had it after surgery and the surgeon said it was probably due to the tubes that were put down my throat. But it has been over four months now, so I think the hoarseness must be due to still having some reflux. It does seem to be getting better with less frequent flare ups. I had only a partial wrap so maybe it lets more acid through. My voice seems stronger than before. I am hoping that since it has only been a month for you, that maybe with more time the hoarseness will get better. I think I had a skilled surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, but he doesn't seem to realize much of what one feels during recovery and I have felt very alone in the process.
You said you were short of breath. May I ask: were you short of breath before the surgery? Shortness of breath was the main reason I had the surgery. I am so disappointed because I am still short of breath. I keep hoping that all the stitching at the diaphram area is causing this and that once that heals that I will find I am better in that way. I feel a lot of tightness in the diaphram area, at the base of my sternum. I had a large paraesophagel hiatial hernia repaired and they did the partial wrap of my stomach plus had to lengthen the esophagus. It started out as larposcopic but then surgeon had to convert and do an open procedure. So I have a 5 inch incision through core muscles. I am more sore now than I was two months ago and lots of muscle pain. I can't do any bending yet and it seems coming up stairs or walking up an incline puts pressure on that area.
This surgery has been a lot harder than I expected and as I said, the surgeon doesn't seem to relate to the recovery process so I don't know what is normal and what is not. I am also 70 so I guess that it may be harder to bounce back due to that.
You are early in the recovery so I think there is a lot of time for you to see improvement. As I said, my hoarseness is some better now so I hope yours will be in time. As for the shortness of breath, I still hope that time is on my side and that we just have a lot of healing to do. I will be interested to know if you were short of breath before the surgery as well as afterward.
I am sorry this reply has been long. I have been pretty discouraged and it is helpful to know that others have questions and are walking this long journey also. I will be interested in hearing updates from you. Sending you best wishes, ByHisGrace : )

DonnaMarie:
I hope you had a satisfactory appointment with ENT and perhaps got some answers.
Will be wishing you a good appointment with your surgeon also. I hope he has some reassuring answers. This recovery and the symptoms are all so unknown and it sure helps if someone can give some insight and encouragement.
Regarding the diarrhea. I was fortunate not to have to deal with that. I know that would be a very difficult symptom to deal with. I did have a lot of "gas" for the first two months but that has eased up. I think I have seen others mention diarrhea with this surgery and I believe some said that drinking things like Ensure sometimes go through one quickly. Ensure helped me to keep from losing so much weight so it may be helpful to you in that way, but be cautious of when to drink it since some people spoke of it going through the system quickly.
I was wondering if you have had any relief from the coughing yet? I hope that the surgery has helped that.
I'd enjoy hearing an update if you would like to send one. I'd also be interested in what the surgeon tells you about the shortness of breath and if the surgery is causing that. I had shortness of breath before surgery and still have it now after four months. I'm pretty miserable now with so much soreness from the open surgery and the heavy, tight feeling at base of sternum. I hope someday I will be able to bend over again without increasing my pain.
I read so many posts in which patients speak of this being a long recovery with lots of ups and downs; so my prayer is that time is the answer and that we will both begin to have more "ups" than downs. After four months, I have some days when it is hard to keep one's "chin up"; but one day at a time and keep hoping/praying.
Take care and best wishes
ByHisGrace

ByHisGrace,

The ENT said that there wasn't any damage to my vocal cords and there might have been a little trauma to them when they were either putting the tubes in or out of my throat. But she said they look good now. She said for me to ask as many questions as I can to the surgeon and that it is still early after the surgery so to just take it easy.

I will let you know what the surgeon tells me on Thursday. I am making a list when I go in.

Take Care
~DonnaMare

DonnaMarie,
Hope you recent appointment with surgeon went well and was encouraging.
Just wanted you to know I had thought of you.
Best wishes and have a blessed Easter.
ByHisGrace : )

Dear Emmons,

Glad to hear that you are feeling better. When I went to my surgeon almost 2 weeks ago, he told me I needed to give it six more weeks for a total of 3 months post surgery and things should be almost 100% by then. I am still coughing and last week I did not feel good at all, spent most afternoons on the couch. My entire diaphragm just hurt something awful. Today is the best I have felt in a while. Once again, he told me I could eat anything thing I wanted to eat and that I did not have to chew my food as much, if I found that I was having trouble eating something, then chew it more. The only thing he did not want me doing was drinking from a straw, out of a bottle or can. Other than that, I was good to go.

Hope that you continue on the road to recovery.

Emmons:

The NF surgery usually has a longer recovery than most are prepared for. And, it's common to experience small setbacks along the way. I'm glad to hear you are starting to get some relief.

Sharon

Just over 7 weeks post procedure now. Still good days and less than good days. Got worried when I had to lift my toddler (30 lbs.) onto a chair last night. Have avoided lifting her so far, but was a necessity last night. Hopefully I didn't do anything to the wrap or hernia repair. I have had some discomfort, but not new discomfort. Anyway, for the most part this has mad my life better in that I am able to eat foods I could not before the surgery again. Hopefully, the good days will continue to be more numerous than the not so good ones as the weeks continue on.

I am now just shy of 9 weeks post fundoplication with very small hernia repair (270 wrap). My concerns are first, I am having no problems swallowing anything. What I mean is my food does not seem to be limited by the wrap. I eat slowly and chew, but I feel like I am able to eat almost everything. I haven't tried bread (beyond a toasted english muffin that I chew to a pulp) or steak, but basically everything else has been ok as far as swallowing goes (very rare hat something gets stuck, if at all). I feel like this isn't right based on what I have read here...many people seem to be very limited at this point still.

Swallowing isn't a problem, but what I eat is. I continue to have symptoms similar to those before the wrap (pressure below sternum, heartburn, voice problems, etc.). I haven't done anything to damage the wrap in terms of lifting or to much exercise (havn't started back in with exercise yet), but I am concerned that something is wrong. Between the ease of swallowing and the symptoms I am worried there is a problem.

Anyone here have a similar experience with their recovery? I had really hoped this was going to be a life changer for me, but not so sure now. Wondering why I did all this just to be in the same place I was before. Anyway, sorry for the constant worrying and whining here, but no one I know really understands this surgery/experience.

First: Donna I’m so sorry about your complication. I hope it heals quickly. I also had a Nissen Fundoplication twice ( the 2nd time was fixing an artery in my stomach) Talk about a sore throat! That breathing tube was in so long 😉
Emmons,sweet potato, and Byhisgrace you are all healing just the way it heals. The surgeon does not tell
Your the anesthesia md puts a tube down your throat for a while while the surgeon is trying to decrease
The back flow of fluids into your esophagus. Not an exact science. Diet is slow and tedious. Especially if you have an open procedure and your muscles are healing too.
The surgeon says in 3-4 months you feel better. Yes, in comparison to the day of surgery. 😊
It is more like 6-7 months when I was eating small amounts of a normal diet.
Drinking protein drinks 2-3 times a day between meals because my surgeon threatened me with a feeding tube. I lost 30 lbs. From having two surgeries in 9 months. I gained some back. I didn’t need the tube. 👍
I also ended up neededing Protonix nightly. Yes, some of the symptoms came back for me too.
Ie ( heartburn)
KYour bodies need rest, small light, easy to digest , soft meals. Yes, diarrhea is normal but should resolve. If it’s worsening, talk to your doc.

I wish all of you well. 🌸