Sam's Journey and Nissen Fundoplication 12/17/13

Day 9
Not sure why I feel so horrible today. It might be a bug or something else but it's more than soreness after surgery. I have this nasty headache that is giving me pain and making me unable to process at all. I got to sit with ny family during our big Christmas dinner and watch everyone feast while I only had mashed potatoes.

Who knows why the surgeons recommend different diets. I went home from the hospital on day 2, after proving to the nurse I could swallow mashed potatoes.

The first thing I tried at home was applesauce, to help get crushed meds down. Very small bites are key, as well as some water to sip if needed following the bite.

Protein shakes go down very easy in the beginning. I just don't understand why clear liquids. Maybe something was different about your surgery. You could call your surgeon and maybe his nurse could get you an answer. Just tell them you want to try something a little more substantial than clear liquids.

I ate a lightly cooked scrambled egg easily. Small bites slid right down. My favorite early meal (day 4, I think), was a lightly beat egg, slowly added while swirling it into simmering chicken broth. Maybe you could try something like that.

Day 11
Lots of change today. I made scrambled eggs for breakfast as my first solid food and they went down just fine. I went for an hour long walk and was feeling more pain after it was over so I opened the children's liquid acetominophin and that helped a lot. My family had another big Christmas get together and feast for dinner and I was able to join them with onion soup. There were also some sweet potatoes that were cooked in the oven and weren't mashed but were very moist. I tried eating one and it went down fine. I even tried a tiny piece of the skin and that went down easily. I am extremely happy to be able to have some solid foods already.

I also found out that my next appointment with my surgeon is on Monday. I didn't even know it was scheduled until today when I got a confirmation call, but at least it is scheduled.

Day 12
My surgeon said that I could try lightly playing my trombone one week after surgery. I picked up my trombone today and had no trouble playing at all! I ended up playing for a while just because I could, and overall today has been a good day. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast and chicken noodle soup for lunch. I did notice that I have been having this breathing problem since the surgery where every so often I have what seems like a single hiccup to get more air. At a few points during the day, I noticed it was happening every couple minutes. I don't know if I should worry about that at all, but I am starting to notice it.

A letter arrived from my insurance company saying that they have refused to cover my surgery. After reading it closely, they said they approved the surgical procedure, but denied to cover the overnight stay, even though my surgeon decided I did need it. Not sure how that will end up getting dealt with but my follow up appointment is in 2 days.

I had my first follow up appointment with my surgeon today, and he says that it may well be my last follow up. I told him all the little changes since the surgery including the hiccups and he said that he hadn't heard of some of them but he expects that they will all go away with time. He also said that my body should entirely be able to heal the scar tissue on the inside and outside of my esophagus without acid attacking it and I don't have to do anything myself. Tomorrow is my last dose of PPIs. When I mentioned the insurance denial, he wanted to have nothing to do with it and brought someone else in the room who deals with insurance problems. She also wanted to have nothing to do with it and said to wait for the hospital and the insurance company to deal it out slowly over the next few weeks or months, so hopefully that will work out.

I had scrambled eggs again for breakfast, mashed potatoes for a late lunch, and I managed to eat crushed apple pie for dinner/dessert. I was even able to swallow some of the crust that I crushed up.

I didn't expect my surgeon to have answers to most of my questions because he's a surgeon and not a GI. Surgeons in general are less likely to be enthusiastic about seeing patients. When I met with my brain surgeon for the first time, he was falling asleep during the appointment and didn't have much to say or ask. He did not have much of a personality but he did do a fine job curing my epilepsy.

I do love how surgeons can say something that sounds so crazy to us but is normal for them like you will be doing fine in a couple weeks. I met with my neurosurgeon after my right temporal lobectomy and was excited to say that I was seizure free and back to being active 2 weeks after having a piece of my brain removed and the gist of his response was I told you so. My surgeon was right that I would be able to play ky trombone a week after having stitches put in my diaphragm and when I told him that yesterday, he had the same response. He also said that in 2 weeks I should be feeling mostly normal except for the diet, so we'll see if he's right about that too or if that's a stretch.

It's only been a little more than 2 weeks and I already feel great! Two days ago I went for a 5 hour hike with my family and ended up being exhausted for the rest of the day but not in pain. It certainly did help to get my lungs working after they had basically not done any work for 2 weeks and short walks really don't help that much. Today I got back to the ice rink for the first time and had no trouble skating. I am so happy that both skating and playing trombone are not any more painful than they used to be and the pains will continue to fade away over time.

This morning I had a dentist appointment, which I had been somewhat nervous about since they discovered more than a year ago that all of the enamel on my teeth had been melted away by acid. I was expecting to be told that my teeth looked bad and had gotten worse since the last appointment but instead I was just told that gums were incredibly inflamed and my teeth were solid. I lost a couple layers of my teeth in the years I had uncontrolled heartburn before the surgery, but hopefully they can continue to get better from now.

I have always had a huge problem with constipation and straining. On average, I tend to poop 2 to 3 times a week, and since my surgery constipation has continued to be a problem for me. At my follow up appointment I mentioned to my surgeon that this was bothering me and that all of my stools had been green since the surgery, and he said that it didn't sound like a bigger problem but he did recommend that I buy magnesium citrate as an over the counter laxative that serves as a one time clear out. I took it yesterday and it has made a big difference having all of that finally out. It did make my intestines make a lot of noise, but it was worth it.

Since my last post, I have been able to eat crackers, tuna fish, and peaches in water. I was expecting to only have crackers crushed up in soup, but when I tried first a small piece and then a little more, I was completely able to swallow crackers on their own since they chewed down to small pieces. I had 6 incisions in my belly 2 weeks ago, but now they all look smaller and I can't even find one of them. My surgeon said only one will stay as a scar and the rest of them will heal. I just didn't expect them to heal up so fast.

Sounds like you are making great progress!

I was just wondering, did you have any breathing problems related to your GERD before surgery? If so, have you noticed any differences after surgery?

DontStealMyBacon:

Thanks for your reply. Was your main problem when breathing during inhaling or exhaling?

I ask because I think I suffer from a problem called VCD. I have only recently learned about this but one of the "triggers" is LPR. I don't know if you have ever did any research on VCD but you might want to. It typically causes problems when inhaling and leads to a feeling of suffocation. It occurs because your vocal cords actually close up or narrow and restrict the flow of air.

Im sure it will be awesome!

I just had mine after suffering with GERD and an exacerbation of my asthma in the last 7 years.

Healing..mm

Today wasn't as good of a day as I have been having, and I noticed my lingering problems getting worse. I am still getting pain from my esophagus from what was damaged by acid for so long. In general it doesn't give me a lot of pain other than noticeably being, but today it was more painful. I have also been having a lot of bloating, which normally hasn't bothered me too much but today there was a lot more. Since the surgery, my stomach has just been grumbling nonstop, whether I'm actually hungry or just ate and know I don't have room for more food. I was thinking about what I could take for bloating when I realized earlier today that it had been a week since I had been to the bathroom and that I should focus on that. I had bought 2 bottles of magnesium citrate after my follow up appointment with my surgeon, and I had one left that I used tonight. It helps with single time clear outs for when I go more than a week but I have not yet found anything I can take to help as an every day dose.

Now I am not blocked up and the noise caused by the magnesium citrate has calmed down but I still have noises from gas. What can I do or take for gas at this phase of the recovery and how long do most people wait before adding back carbonation and other small things like straws that add extra air?

It's 8 pm and I just realized that today is 5 weeks post op. Bloating and these occasional hiccups throughout the day are the two main problems I am having. I managed to add a lot of foods this week, including meatloaf, pot pie, and ham. I've had a lot of crackers since they're the only real bread I can have. Hopefully I can try real bread soon.