Husband 10 weeks post fundo, still in some discomfort

try not to let worry, get the best of you. it took me a good 6 months, to start to feel ok, and another 6- 12, months to hit the new normal. at 4 weeks, I was advanced from liquid diet, to soft. around week 6, diet was ramped up again. as flow of information,from doctor to patient, concerning this operation often sucks, I was lead to believe, I could eat more than I was told. long story short. severe dry heaves, before realizing I could not vomit. [ would have been nice to know, as I was given no anti nausea meds ] 6 agonizing hours latter, lessoned learned, no internal damage. this recovery is very tricky. a lot of small steps forward, many sideways, and a few backwards. chances are good, no damage done. tell hubby, to hang in there. it will get better, and it will take awhile.

Thank you both very much for your advice.

He's complained of heartburn twice in the past week. The follow up with the surgeon is a few weeks from now. I hope so much that nothing has gone awry and that some heartburn from time to time is normal. He wouldn't be able to cope if something had gone wrong. He's already on two medications for anxiety, and probably needs an operation on his sinuses in six weeks' time. Poor guy just doesn't feel he'll ever get better.

Thanks, Denise. It can be really frustrating - I'm on some Facebook fundo groups where it doesn't seem that common for a person to feel as if they can't sit comfortably for any period of time this far out. Essentially, if he sits down for more than about half an hour, he can almost feel his stomach pushing up against his diaphragm, which is uncomfortable and makes him feel a little short of breath. Maybe it's just bad wind, but he's in the next room working on the computer standing up and it seems so odd...

Timi:

That question is best answered by your surgeon, everyone's recovery is slightly different. I was given the UPMC Post-Nissen diet to follow, but you should still call your surgeon's office.

Sharon

Thanks, MotilityMadness.

He's still having a tough time. At the last follow-up with his surgeon, the surgeon believed that he has Gas Bloat Syndrome - air he swallows is getting trapped in his stomach and, as he can't burp, it causes him some pain/soreness and discomfort to sit down for a while. He describes it as if he has a balloon in his chest which he can't inflate against fully.

I got him a private blood test for his thyroid, as he has a family history and his gland is a little swollen. The test came back ok besides raised CRP (which would explain the discomfort, I guess). He's still not convinced something didn't go wrong with the surgery.

At any rate, we'll be going to the GP regarding the raised CRP. I am wondering if he doesn't have some form of chronic gastritis as well - in the year it took us to find out he had 'horrible' reflux, he was diagnosed with gastritis a number of times ('mild' by endoscopy). But he is H Pylori negative and has been tested twice for that. In addition to that, he's had some sinus troubles. He has a deviated septum which means he breathes through his mouth at night - I am wondering whether he is swallowing air at night. He can have surgery for it, but it would be nice for him to be feeling better before he has another.

I'm not sure what to do now, really. I know the surgery can take a long time to recover from. It's now five months post op. He's still working from home three days a week because going into the office would be too uncomfortable.

We had no idea it would be this tough...

Thanks, SharonZ.

He doesn't get much relief from Windeze/Gas-X. The surgeon said these medications only work on the bowels and that the only way excess stomach gas can dissipate is from lying down/mostly overnight. Something that does worry me, although I don't talk to him about it -- I see online that people are given anti-sickness pills because vomiting can damage the wrap. We can't get any from the GP in case this happens because they'll only do it with specialist approval, and the surgeon says these aren't required. I worry about the day he gets a stomach bug.

He had a very experienced surgeon who does hundreds of these a year and isn't shy of mentioning it either. Perhaps it is just wind - he has good and bad days - but we can't narrow it down to anything we can fix. Would almond milk be a good dairy substitute? He's cut down on his dairy intake. Hopefully, the raised CRP is just because he's still recovering.

Will try to get a doctor's appointment with him tomorrow. I appreciate your help.

I'm afraid it's not going well. I've been woke up twice in the past couple of nights because he's had nighttime reflux and it's causing him great anxiety.

Please tell me this can still happen so far out.

Thanks, Sharonz.

We went to see his gastro, who won't speculate as to what's wrong, but said we may need to do the pre op tests again. He is starting with an endoscopy on Tuesday and will decide what else is needed from then on.

Husband can't sit down now without intense pain, and all of the reflux is back.

I'm so perplexed by his pain sitting down, which he's had since week 2 of the surgery and has always been passed off as gas bloat. Maybe it's something else. He never went back to the office full time after his surgery because the commute was too uncomfortable. But it's not a symptom I see people having when their wrap fails.

Hopefully, the gastro will be able to see why he's in so much discomfort after scoping him.

Thanks, SharonZ.

He had his endoscopy on Tuesday, and apparently everything looks good. But he says he's choking at night on the reflux.

He has a barium swallow on Thursday and a follow-up the following Tuesday. Hopefully, this will make more sense then.