I had the Nissen, and pretty much told the surgeon I want it without much research. I didn't want to be on meds for my entire life, and the GERD was pretty annoying.
I made sure my surgeon was an expert, and he was the best in the country. He mainly does 2 surgeries, the Nissen and Gastric bypasses and I had to wait a year for an initial consultation.
The operation itself may be major, but it felt minor to me. Because it's laparoscopic, there are no big incisions. The most pain I had post op was my heels which were resting on a hard table during the op, and my stomach from the anti-clotting injections.
They make sure you can swallow and keep water down before sending you home. I had some foaming (swallow water, but not everything goes down and you have foam in your throat) due to gastritis that wasn't completely healed, so I was kept another 2 days in hospital for a total of 5.
I am overly cautious, so when the surgeon said no strenuous activities and don't lift anything more than 1kg, I stuck to that, much to the annoyance of my wife.
Food is first liquid, then smooth soups, then soft etc. After a couple of weeks it feels weird. Your stomach is full, but your body still tells you that you are hungry. I guess that's what happens when you cut calories drastically.
My ward-mate sat up incorrectly from day 1 the normal sit-up motion, and he was fine.
It took about
18 months before I could burp, whereas my ward-mate burped 2 days after his surgery. I don't know if I can throw up yet.
My ward-mate's mom, who had the surgery 6 months prior said she couldn't swallow chunky pieces of chicken. It would get stuck and she would have to throw up. I had no such issues and 6 months to a year in I can swallow pretty much anything without concerns.
A word of warning - due to your diet change you may get constipated. I usually don't have such issues, but this time I had. You are also told not to exert too much pressure by contracting your abdominal muscles so that you don't pop your binding.... I'm sure you can see the problem.
This was my first and to date only real surgery (tonsils don't count) and I think it was an interesting little bucket list item. Nothing to be worried about
as long as the surgeon is VERY experienced and you have someone around who can help you with the heavier lifting around the house and driving.
Your body will feel different as the swelling goes down, and if you are like me you will worry if everything is fine etc, but I found all of that no more annoying than the heartburn I would have after eating white rice.
Good luck!
Edit: I am male, was 39 when I had the op, reasonably fit but with quite a bit of extra padding around the middle, but not overweight.
Post Edited (Kerrits) : 9/14/2021 4:11:57 AM (GMT-6)