Post-op lap nissen fundo/hiatal hernia repair

Hi,

I am new to this message board, so i am not sure if i am doing this right.  I am a 32yr old mother of 2 that just had a hiatal and umbilical hernia surgery just over 3 weeks ago.  I think i am doing well and then the next day i have a very bad day, with constipation or diareaha(sp?) and then a severe headache.  I have lost 13 lbs.

My doctor said i have had the hiatal hernia for quite awhile because i have severe scaring on my esophagus.  I was in the hospital for 4 days!  i am always exhausted! 

I am supposed to go back to my sit down office job this friday, but i am not sure if i will be ready!  I thought i would be back to work after 2 weeks, but i was no near ready for that.  I am just wondering if anyone has any suggestions to help me get more energy back, or is this just par for the course.  i am drinking propel water for vitamins and just found a chewable vitamin made by Centrim, so hopefully that will help, but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks

Carri

Mommyof,

I had a repair of my esophagus and hiatal hernia a couple of years ago and took three weeks off work, which was not long enough.  I had so much diarrhea.  I know the first couple of weeks back at work I must have spend 1/4 of my day in the restroom and I'm not kidding.  They wanted me back at work, so they got me.  I haven't talked to many esophagus/hiatal hernia patients who have had this much of a problem, but it was for me.  After I got past all of that, I was certainly glad I had it done.

Would they let you take another week off?  Maybe you need to go back in this week and talk with your doctor.

Good luck!

Carla

I have a question I can't seem to find an answer to.  I have a small hiatal hernia which most likely is the culprit for my long time GERD/Reflux problems.  After reading too many horror stories on Nissen Fundoplication surgery, I opted out, even though I was scheduled for it.  Does anybody know if there are surgeons who will just repair the hiatal hernia, but not do a Nissen Fundoplication?  I realize there are people who have hiatal hernias who never have GERD problems, but they also say the great majority of people with GERD do have hiatal hernias.  I'd just like to take it one step at a time.  Have the hernia repaired and see what the results are before proceeding with a Nissen Wrap.

Sunbird:

Go through the postings in this GERD section and read about the nissen fundoplication - especially parts 1, 2 and 3 of the post lap nissen fundoplication/hiatal hernia repair. You will find true information and not horror stories - there are many recent "wrappers" writing about their concerns before the surgery and how glad they are they chose to do it. Remember, the internet is full of people complaining - most people do not write about positive experiences. Many of us ended up here because we also found a lot of horror stories on the internet and needed to find an oasis of accurate and honest information.

The hiatal hernia repair and Nissen fundoplication are two separate procedures. The reason most people consider them one surgery is because it's common for a hiatal hernia to be present in someone having the Nissen surgery so both issues are fixed at the same time. Most doctors would probably not like the idea of opening you up and leaving something undone - the idea is to open you up once and do everything that needs doing while they are in there. If you are going to recover from laproscopic surgery, it would be easier to get both over at the same time. Plus, they can only do abdominal laproscopic procedures so many times before they have to switch to the open type of surgery where you have the full chest incision and have to stay in the hospital longer to heal. The doctor would not have recommended both if the Nissen wasn't necessary.

Fixing just the hernia if the Nissen was recommended isn't going to do much for your reflux. Having the hernia repair without the Nissen would be like building a two-foot dam to hold back 3 feet of water. The water flow would be less, but not stopped.

Discuss with your doctor the idea of having the two procedures at different times. He'll explain it better than any of us.

If you decide to have the procedure, then keep tapping in here. You will find all the pre and post-op support you need.

 hello had surgery on june 29th  want to know can i have soda i am wanting a soda  and do anybody know how long before the swelling go down

Carri - You didn't say what the procedure was called. I'm assuming from your symptoms though that it was a Nissen. Since your operation was rather more complex and probably long, judging by a 4 day hospital stay, you are not going to pop back as fast as most of the group who had less complex surgeries. My hospital stay was 4 days because I had a paraesophageal hernis (stomach stuck in the chest) and my recovery was 3 months before I could have possibly gone to work. But then I could be your mother too. Get a note from your physician that you are not ready to go back to work. Your primary job is mom. Hopefully you can at least do that one!

Wordworker - Unless you can burp and are passing extremely minimal gas, forget the soda permanently. #1 It's not worth the pain of all that gas in the gut and you'll regret it, #2 I't not food.

Ahiatalwhat - There are several procedures besides the common Nissen. I had the Toupet. Others have had the Hill repair. Mine and the Nissen do use a piece of stomach to make a "wrap," but don't believe the small stomach forever myth. The stomach can expand to whatever size you need. The part about eating small meals is because of the swelling from whatever surgery. Even the people who get the weight loss bypass can expand the tiny piece of stomach they are left with until they are obese again.

Sunbird - Go ahead and take your time researching, but the group is right that it makes no sense to do two major operations. If you have a doctor who has experience with thousands of patients, like mine does, he will explain to you what you need. If you have all the tests and they show a leaky LES, just repairing the hernia is not going to stop reflux and may have to be taken down to do the Nissen. They have to free up a good bit of esophagus (disect it up in the mediastinum) to let the esophagus come down far enough to do a wrap.

Carri,'s post is 2 years old.

Joy