Outcome of paraesophageal hernia repair and nissen 360 wrap on 10/30

Well it's over and I have to say, I've had some good (relatively speaking) days and some bad. According to my surgeon the surgery went well. My first night home on Friday night I didn't sleep very well. On night one in the hospital I could sleep on one side but that was only one night. Getting out of my bed was very painful at home. The doctor prescribed oxycodone for pain. I could take 1-2 every 3-4 hours for pain. I took 3 over the course of the night. It didn't seem to do to much for the gas pain. (at least I didn't think so compared to what I had in the hospital) The gas pain seems to be the worst so far besides the annoying cough which feels like someone is stabbing my back and the throat clearing. Saturday, day three I managed with ibuprofen. I think that may have been a mistake, at least overnight because this morning I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I promptly took an oxycodone for pain this morning and felt much better and took a nap after about two hours.

Eating hasn't been too bad. Day 1 in hospital was liquids, broth, decaf tea, jello and Italian ice. Day two I was allowed to have cream of wheat and pudding. No problems swallowing or any nausea. Yesterday, I had mashed potatoes, gravy that I thinned out with chicken broth. This morning, a scrambled egg also thinned out with broth. I take it slow and don't eat too much. Been doing a little more walking today. Just taking it day by day.

For anyone wondering about weight loss/gain. I gained 8 lbs in a day and 1/2 in hospital but I have since lost 5. I wore lose bluejeans into the hospital and couldn't button when I was preparing to leave. Luckily I brought some yoga pants. I am about 50 lbs overweight, so I do want to lose some weight. I've been logging my food on a website that calculates, calories, fat, protein, carbs and other nutrients as I want to lose as healthy as I can. (given the circumstances)

I am very grateful for all the help and support this site and everyone has provided.

Day 5 - besides the coughing last night, I slept well. Was able to sleep partially on my left and right side. I'm taking ibuprofen for the pain today. Have been walking around the house but I don't think nearly enough. Had some well blended cottage cheese with a little bit of almond butter blended into it. No problem going down. Asked my doctor's nurse about the cough and she said let's see how it goes and if it's still happening on my post op appointment on the 11th.

Dear healthy 2014, welcome to the forum.

So glad you are getting along so well! Surgery for that hernia is a bit worse than the usual wrap. A couple of hours is really good for a para repair.

Everything is swollen at this point and will be for quite a while. I wouldn't worry about the whistle until you see the doc. It takes months for the regular surgery to calm down, and your docs played around in your chest getting the stomach down, and probably letting down the esophagus some.

Since you can swallow pills, yes, maybe your wrap was done loosely. As long as it works, it's fine.

You probably had a lot of water weight from IVs. You may not be taking in enough fluids now. Either would account for weight changes. This is not a great time to try to lose weight. Concentrate on healing for a few months.

Best wishes!

Day 8 - getting slowly better each day. I tried a couple of saltine crackers last night and they seemed to sit fine. Ate a couple today too. I'm certainly not going to push it though. I actually went out for lunch yesterday. I really enjoyed just being out. My surgeon said I could have a glass of wine. I had some very seasoned (not spicey) crab bisque a small cup and about a 5 oz glass of wine. I went very slow. It took me well over an hour to finish them both. Probably TMI but they both went right through me. So, no more vino and overly seasoned food for a while. Next time I'll stick with decaf tea and a milder soup.

I'll start journal-ling again. I was earlier this week. But got busy with work. I have this to look back to as well.

Had my two week post-op with my surgeon today. I mentioned I still have my chronic cough and he said if it's GERD related it will probably go away but it may take some time as your body is programmed when a sensation to cough comes up to continue to cough. In the mean while he said to get a good px cough syrup from my gp doctor as the coughing is not good for my diaphragm. I have an appointment tomorrow with my gp.

He asked if I had solid food yet and I told him no except for a few saltines and some solids in my soups. He said try whatever, if you can't chew it to where it will go down your body will let you know. He mentioned a burger. Uh, no, I don't eat fast food, not normally in the past and definitely not now. I don't want to be in a restaurant choking up my burger. I think I'll wait on bread and hamburger meat at this point.

My glue is coming off of my incisions and they look good. He did stress not any heavy lifting. If I was borderline on lifting he said make sure you breathe well and can hold a conversation during lifting. Otherwise, it's too heavy.

I'm trying new foods, today 3 pots stickers, very small ones, that I chewed well and ate slow. Seemed to be okay. I guess the main thing for me is chew, chew, chew, small portions and eating very slow. I actually think I enjoy food more this way, so it's not so bad.