Hi Folks,
After years of dealing with painful reflux, sleeping sitting up, Protonix 4x's a day, I'm finally rid of
ALL of that!
I had my Nissen done on April 30th and was in the hospital until May 3rd. I had a couple complications during surgery that required an extended procedure and two additional ports, but as of today I'm back at work and feeling pretty great. I was on pain meds for the first week (morphine pump in the hospital for post-op days 1-2) after I was released but haven't had a single dose since then.
For those that have this procedure coming up and are leery/scared/whatever, all I can say is
FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ORDERS, FOLLOW A COMMON SENSE SOFT DIET, AND RELAX. I had read about
lots of post-fundoplication diets and didn't really know what to think and figured I'd let my surgeon drive my diet. First couple days was clear liquids only. Start with small sips and move up. Popsicles are clear liquids! Don't use a straw to drink anything! Clear liquids went just fine. Day 2 I graduated to full liquids and added applesauce, loose mashed potatoes, loose oatmeal, yogurt and the like to my diet. I almost felt human again. I had to stay on this diet until my follow-up appointment with my surgeon last Thursday. Since I had been doing so well, he let me graduate to "anything sensible" as far as food is concerned. Nothing with sharp edges (no tortilla chips at all!), nothing sticky or tough, definitely no tough cuts of meat. Still, be cautious of HOW MUCH you're eating. Now that you have the wrap in place, it'll take a little longer for food to hit bottom and to feel full. Eat slowly, take small bites, chew thoroughly, and have a little bit of liquid with each bite to help it get down.
I find that if I eat too fast, I get the hiccups, which hurt a little. So, eat slowly. For this reason I still have not added carbonated drinks back into my diet and stay away from straws. Burping hasn't been too much of an issue. If I find I have overdone it on the eating, I take a long walk to help speed along digestion. It's worked for me and helps keep me semi-active since my doctor still doesn't want me to lift more than 10 pounds nor push or pull anything strenuous. Long walks (albeit slow in the beginning) have helped tremendously in my healing.
I have a follow-up EGD schedule for a year from now to keep an eye on a small section of Barretts' that was found but other than that, I'm doing great and wouldn't change a thing (other than faking some pain in the hospital to keep the morphine pump longer
).
To those of you that are getting ready for your procedure, don't be stupid with your choices after your procedure is over and don't rush into anything. In time, you'll be back to normal; You just need to give your body time to heal. Best of luck to all of you!