HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

In hospital one month post Nissan op

Support Forums
>
GERD & Acid Reflux
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/12/2013 12:06 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all, i had my Nissan op one month ago and all started well.
However a couple of weeks ago froth would come up every night (but did not hurt) then a week later nothing would stay down including water and would come up like regergitation and i started getting stomach pains (both high and low) and extreme nausea with a great deal of heaving.
I went to emergency on Tuesday night and was admitted to hospital. I've been in hospital for 4 days now and had a catscan endoscopy and barren and they have not showed anything and the symptoms are getting worse and i can still not eat or drink.
If anyone has any advise or been in a similar situation please let me know as i just want to get better. Thanks
Posted 4/12/2013 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hiya Gemma-Jayne,so sorry to hear youre going through this after your Nissen.I can relate to you as I had problems after my nissen aswell.I was ok for the first two months then I ended up in casualty then in hospital again.While in hospital they done a swallow fluoroscopy and nothing was going past the crural repair,so surgeon went in again and undone a couple of stitches and sent me on my way.Since then ive been refluxing again,total disaster!
Im wondering if youre still swollen in there from your surgery as its only been a month from youre op.Are you seeing the surgeon that done youre op aswell? I know exactly how you feel at the moment,i was a nervous wreck! So Sorry! Barry
Posted 4/12/2013 1:55 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Barry, wow that's awful! What were your symptoms when you went into hospital?
Yeah im seeing the same surgeon. When i had the swallow fluoroscopy it showed that it was difficult for liquids to get past due to it being swollen but when the surgeon did the endoscopy he said he could get past the wrap and he would expect it to be swollen so early on..but the problem is i was doing so well before this.
Was nothing going past yours because it was swollen? Thanks for your feedback even though its awful you had that experience
Posted 4/12/2013 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Gemma-Jayne,my symtoms where nausea,heart palpitations,belching and could feel liquids going up and down my throat.The strange thing is I never felt this at straight after the op. My surgeon told me that the scope went through my wrap easily aswell when he done an endoscopy.
I personally think I was refluxing from day 1 and it caused inflammation and swelling and not as my surgeon said a tight crural repair.Im currently seeing another surgeon to see what the problem is.
I hope your surgeon finds out whats wrong!Can I as ask if you had manometry to check your swallow strength before your op? Mine didn't which could be a problem aswell. Barry
Posted 4/13/2013 10:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Barry, it sounds like you had very similar symptoms to me. My nausea has calmed down a bit today but im still in hospital because anytime i try to drink it all comes back up, the strange thing is i ate today for the first time in 5 days and a majority of the food stayed down.
Did what you have come up or did you just have the sensation?
Wow thats awful if that's the case! No i didn't have a manometry test either..would have been good if they did. If im still not able to have liquids soon the surgeon said he would do an endoscopy and try and stretch it that way. Gemna-Jayne
Posted 4/13/2013 11:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Gemma-Jayne,glad your eating a bit today and youre feeling a bit better,hopefully its just swollen in there and when that goes down you be be ok. I had a stretch myself and it definitely helped a bit but I still have problems. As regards to your question about food coming up,i wasn't sure at the time,the fluoroscopy showed that the liquid they gave me sat in my esophagus for twenty minutes and when I spoke they could see it vibrating on my upper ues valve which goes to your lungs,very uncomfortable! But half an hour later I was feeling heartburn and reflux?
Maybe a gentle stretch will help you Gemma-Janye,at least your in hospital and your being looked after. Barry
Posted 4/23/2013 12:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Gemma-Jayne,

I have been following your post and was wondering how you are feeling these days? I have been concerned. I'm more than likely facing surgery myself and very scared as I feel I will have many side affects from it. I'm hopeful you doing much better!

Wendy
Posted 5/8/2013 6:26 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Wendy, sorry about the late response i didn't realise i had a reply. i am still off work and feeling tired and nauseas and some food is still coming up..but not as much as when i was in hospital. i always had strange reflux symptoms so im putting my complications down to that. Most people seem to recover ok. The surgeon thinks that i had spasms and swelling which is what has caused the symptoms. are there any specific side effects you are afraid of? And would you be getting the 180 or 360 wrap? thanks for your response. gemma-jayne
Posted 5/8/2013 8:13 AM (GMT 0)
Gemma-Jayne,

Most likely I will be getting a partial wrap called the Hill procedure. I just can't seem to get my courage up to schedule. I have been warned by my Docs that I could suffer with severe gas bloat due to the fact that I have Aerophagia with many burping episodes throughout the day especially after meals. I don't believe I swallow that much air when I eat/talk etc. I feel that my LES muscle is so weak that it simply can't hold down food/liquid and the normal air that is swallowed and that is why I start burping even before I finishing eating! My testing is very scattered as far as results but does show reflux during eating but supposedly everybody has this. So I just sit here and continue to be terrified of how my body will react to this surgery. Not a lot of support from my Docs at this point. I'm so glad to hear you are doing at least a little better. I think it takes some people quite a while to overcome the affects of this surgery. I also believe that surgeons don't really know how our bodies will react because everybody's different. What type of reflux problems were you experiencing before surgery?

Wendy
Posted 5/9/2013 11:30 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Wendy,
I too was very nervous about the operation and was going to have it 5 years ago but decided against it. My main symptom was regergitation, alot of my food would come back up after my meals and i would have to swallow it again, this didn't hurt or really bother me but i was starting to have sinus problems and the drs said they thought it was related to the reflux. I can understand your concern re the gas especially considering your condition. personally i have been burping a great deal since my surgery. Do you think you will have the surgery? Would you be okay without it? I know what you mean about support from Drs! I am going to see another Dr about my complications as its been 2 months now and im still not coping.
But im just one case alot of people do seem to recover well. GJ
Posted 5/9/2013 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
My sister is dealing with the same thing, she has seen in the hospital off and on for 2 close to 3 weeks. She has seen three doctors and none of them can find anything wrong. Her last doctor who is a specialist in GERD and the Nissen surgery said that until the swelling goes down she will feel this way. He told her it can take up to 3 to 4 months for her to feel like herself again.

She was doing fine for the first 2 weeks after surgery and then it all went down hill, her main doctor is stumped and sent her to another doctor that he knows and he is the specialist and said it was the swelling. I hope all what he saying is true because my sister is tired of being sick and me and my mom are a nervous wreck worrying about her.
Posted 5/9/2013 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Somewhere between the 2 to 4 week mark there will be peak swelling. the exact timing is a bit different for everyone, but pretty close to this time frame. During this the wrap will not function correctly and will gradually settle in over the next few weeks to months.
Please remember this surgery recovery is a marathon not a sprint. It takes a good 6 months for 80% of healing and up to a year to be fully healed. During this time you may experience setbacks as well while you advance your diet. This too is normal, just back off your diet a few days.
The most important thing to remember is to Chew Chew Chew! Chew to a liquid if at all possible.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 5/9/2013 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Your sisters story sounds very similar to mine. How long ago did she have the surgery now and what are her symptoms? Apart from half of my food and drinks still coming up and the nausea i also have chest pains, a sore throat and am very lethargic.
Bill, i read alot about the swelling 4 weeks after the operation on these forums and asked my surgeon about this when i landed back in hospital because it was exactly a month after the operation and he said he had never heard of that..hence i have decided to get a second opinion i think he is relatively new to the job. He said in a years time if i still can not have all of my food/drinks without them coming back up he may stretch the wrap but this could end up with me having reflux again.
Thanks for your replies they have been much more helpful (and sympathetic) than the surgeon. GJ
Posted 5/9/2013 11:00 PM (GMT 0)
She had her surgery April 11th of this year, she was fine for 2 weeks after that and then got sick. She is in the hospital right now. She went in and got out, 4 days later she went back to the hospital with really bad nausea.
Posted 5/10/2013 8:17 AM (GMT 0)
Nausea is a common side effect of this surgery early on. Now what we mean by early is any time in the 1st few months.
It's a very good idea to have anti nausea meds on hand always after having this surgery. Dry heaves are not fun and cab possibly damage the wrap. I keep them in a small pill container in my pocket.

G. J.- I get so frustrated that most surgeons don't understand what the recovery of this surgery is really like. My 1st surgeon was this way, but I was lucky to find 2 surgeons who really know what it really is like for a full recovery. This is another reason to find a surgeon who has done several 100s of these.

Take care,
Bill
Posted 5/10/2013 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
I am 3 1/2 weeks post op and I can tell you that my symptoms have increased this past week as well. I am having much more difficulty drinking and eating, my bowels are barely functioning (I have had to use a suppository twice since surgery and these are the only times I have moved my bowels), and I am having alot more nausea for which I am taking Zofran every 4 hours. If not for this forum, I would be really scared at this point. I spoke with my surgeon's office twice this week and will have to take a trip to the ER if things don't improve. I am trying very hard to push as much fluid as possible...only getting down about 2 bottles of water at this point each day. Atleast I know I am not alone!
Stacey
Posted 5/10/2013 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
Bill, it sounds like you have a lot of knowledge on this subject. Do you know if the sore throat, pain in the chest and being very lethargic are normal? I have decided to go back to a liquid diet and today has been the first time in a month nothing has come back up. But have had a very bad day with nausea as anti nausea drugs don't seem to work on me. Thanks again for your response.

Stacey, your journey sounds much like mine! I also have had barely moved my bowels since the operation 2 months ago and have put alot of my stomach pains down to that. They gave me tablets in hospital but the only thing that seemed to work was when i was given an enema. What happens when you try and eat/drink? Does it come back up or is the nausea stopping you from it? I hope you don't end up in emergency. You are right it is a relief to know others have been through something similar. GJ
Posted 5/10/2013 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
Gemma, when I eat or drink I can feel it delaying in my esophagus and then I feel very sick to my stomach.  The meds do help a bit with this thankfully.  I know I am not drinking enough for sure; but there isn't much I can do about it.  The only time I have moved my bowels until today is with a suppository, despite taking stool softners.  I used a suppository last night as a matter of fact per orders of my doctor.  I am currently suffering through my last day at work this week...it's been rough.  Sorry to be so graphic, but I just went to the bathroom for the first time on my own, but it was all mucous and blood.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Stacey
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply