Fundo Healing Time

I found this forum a little over a year ago and read with great interest as this is all the problems I have in the last year and half. It is great wealth of info.

One thing I have noticed, there seems to be quite a difference between healing time after a Fundo. I personel know people who have it done who swear they were back to normal in 4 to six weeks. But I have noticed that some people take as long as a year.

What do you all think the difference is?

Age? health prior to surgery?

Pat

Hi drgrcr,
I definitely think age is a big factor. I had mine at 57. I felt my recovery was much easier than I had expected. I had planned to go back to work half days at 2 weeks, but due to a lung condition that started prior to my surgery, I was out 6 weeks--mainly to avoid illness. I'm a second grade teacher, and a classroom is a petri dish for germs.

I guess it depends on what you call "back to normal". Normal what? I was back to work, eating regular food (albeit well chewed--no raw veggies, etc yet) at 6 weeks. Would I say I was completely healed? Absolutely not. I was still eating smaller amounts and being careful with my chewing and swallowing. I was choosing my food carefully--things that could be chewed to a liquid.

Unlike many here, my surgeon started me on solid foods at Day 5. That made all the difference for me. I guess he trusted that his patients could make good eating choices. His rule was no bread, no sandwiches, no steak. I asked him when his patients were eating those foods, he estimated about 8 weeks. He also said that only a couple patients had eaten incorrectly and gotten something stuck that needed to be pulled out via an endoscopy. I wasn't one of them. Absolutely no problems with that protocol, and a very happy recovery to boot.

So...how long? I can't tell you exactly. I was eating at restaurants all along...careful selection...crepe manicotti, soup, etc. My first vacation was a milestone. That was at four months.

It's an individual thing. Someone who was posting here when I first started before my surgery had biked 20 miles during the early weeks of recovery. It is really something that depends on the individual.

Good luck with your surgery!
Take care,
Denise

Hi drgrcr,
I was one of those that took longer to heal and be "back to normal".

I was 48 (turning 49 in Nov.) and considered healthy when I had my surgery a year ago March 1st.

My surgeon said I was one of the worst cases he had seen. I came close to being cut open for the procedure but luckily I ended up with 6 lap scars instead.

I was in ICU for 3 days, per my surgeon. The next 10 days was a liquid diet only and then 6-8 weeks after that was a soft food diet. I followed his instructions.

I went back to work after 2 weeks. I made my mistakes and one of them was not chewing my food well and eating slowly, once I remembered to do this things seemed to be better. I had many side effects from the surgery which were very unpleasant but each 4 weeks made a big difference.

I can't answer your question as I would say it depends on a lot of factors for each individual.

Good luck!!

PS: I don't regret my surgery now. No more stomach meds and no more GERD!!