Some Fundoplication Recovery Questions

Hello, I just had DOR FUNDOPLICATION and PARAESOPHAGEAL DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA REPAIR LAPAROSCOPIC procedure this last Tuesday after years of dealing with a bad hiatal hernia that turned into a situation that caused bleeding and severe anemia.

Beforehand I did a lot of Googling about post-surgery diet. Virtually every link provides different and conflicting information. My doctor's instructions were basically: full liquid diet for a day or two then introduce food as I feel comfortable, leaving red meat and bread for last. So, I'm kind of confused about what I can and can't have. How long I should wait to introduce certain things, what I should avoid permanently, etc... I definitely want to use this opportunity to be healthier than I was before. I also suffer from IBS and lactose intolerance, so that has created some challenges. Any advice or personal experiences you could share with me would be greatly appreciated! Oh yeah, am I going to need to avoid alcohol forever? I'm relatively young for this procedure (under 40) and I really don't want to do any damage to this that could haunt me down the road in my 50's or 60's.

I've also noticed that I am very phlegmy since the surgery. I have to clear my throat often and spit mucus out. Is that normal?

Today has actually been the hardest. I had the procedure Tuesday, the hospital messed up and did not feed me that day. So wednesday morning I started with clear liquids for breakfast and after seeing my doctor who discharged me quickly (which was nice) he wanted to see how I wouild be on full liquid. I had cream of wheat, some jello, some coffee at the hospital and did fine. However, today I've only had an Ensure and a non-dairy yogurt and my stomach is very musical and not tolerating the swallowing as well as yesterday.

Ok, well, I have rambled enough here. Thanks for any advice/tips/experience you can share!

Frank:

Aero1 has given you some great advice. Unfortunately, everyone seems to be given different post-op instructions. I followed the UPMC Post-Nissen Diet, and it was very helpful and gave meal suggestions. As Aero1 mentioned, you are very early into your recovery and you can expect small setbacks along the way. No, you won't have to avoid alcohol forever, but it might be a while before your body will tolerate it as it did before the surgery. I can't comment about your phlegm issue as that is something that I did not experience, but everyone's recovery is different. In my experience, I didn't feel a lot better until around 6 months and the "new" me around 1 year and the recovery continued long after that. Make sure that your doctor prescribed an anti-nausea medication, you will probably need it at some point. Again, take a look at the UPMC diet and I think you will find that it's a huge help. If you have any questions, call your surgeon's office for advice..

Happy Recovery!

Sharon

Frank:

Even though macaroni and cheese sounds good, I'd wait a while. You are very early into recovery and that is one thing that may stick while swallowing. Again, check out some of the diet suggestions for post-Nissen recovery which should also apply to your specific surgery. The best advice I was given, was don't push the diet too soon.

There is a pinned thread at the top of the forum called GERD Resources and Treatment Options, that has a lot of good information.

Sharon

Post Edited (SharonZ) : 4/8/2019 5:58:03 AM (GMT-6)