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Fundoplication side effects and swallowing

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Posted 9/15/2018 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I had a Nissen fundoplication four days ago and I think it might me one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. Immediately upon waking I was in excruciating pain, I told the recovery nurses it felt like I had been stabbed 5 times. They put me on a ketamine drip for over 24 hours. I was released the next day and when I got home I could not get comfortable and was in severe pain. I called my doctor who sent me back to the ER but they didn’t want to put me on an IV for pain meds and were offering less pain meds then I had at home. I left and went home. I’m taking as much pain killers as I can but I am still in severe pain. To make things worse, swallowing anything hurts extremely much. I cannot eat because it hurts to swallow. So, four days post op and I am not drinking or eating anything. I’m too afraid to because it hurts so much just taking pain pills. On top of all of that my reflux never went away, it is just as bad as before the surgery. I regret having this surgery, I wish I had never heard of the fundoplication. I forgot to mention that breathing hurts as much as swallowing. I’ve told the doctors and they don’t seem concerned but something feels wrong.

Post Edited (aec08) : 9/15/2018 2:16:42 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/16/2018 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
aec08. this recovery can be a monster. try to do what you need to relax, and you must stay hydrated. eating will be a slow [ and for me, a tricky comeback that took time ] I felt the same, as you about the op. it will get better. your insides are pretty pissed of right now, and will remain so for awhile. its is key, if you need to take something to calm down, call your doc. also, if they have not prescribe anti nausea meds, make sure you have them, just in case. hang in there, what your going thru sucks, I have been there. it will improve.
Posted 9/17/2018 12:21 PM (GMT 0)
aec08:

Take a deep breath. It sounds like your surgeon didn't give you a good enough idea of what the surgery entails. It is major abdominal surgery, and you don't heal overnight and unfortunately you are expecting too much too soon. If you are following the post-surgery instructions, you should probably still be on a liquid diet. Swallowing takes a while to get used to, as everything has to be done much slower. You may still have the feeling reflux, but it is not reflux. You are going to have to work through the pain, it does get better. As aero1 mentioned, make sure you have anti-nausea medication. Also, you can follow the UPMC post-Nissen diet - Google it. It is easy to follow and gives great suggestions for food.
Posted 9/18/2018 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Thank you for your replies. It has been a week since the surgery. I haven’t had any food for a whole week. I’ve had tea, ice, and water to take medications. Every pill I take feels like it gets stuck in my esophagus. I get nauseous just thinking about the foods allowed on the liquid diet. I still believe this was an enormous mistake. My doctor did not prepare me at all for the surgery. It still feels like I have the same amount of reflux so I am taking reflux meds. I do not see any improvement on pain levels since the surgery. I’m really feeling lost. Did anyone else receive pictures of their surgery from their surgeon? He gave me a couple of sheets with before and after pictures. The after picture looks like there is no longer an opening between my esophagus and stomach. Is that normal? Also, the surgeon used mesh on the hiatal hernia he repaired. I did not know he was going to use mesh. Has anyone had any experiences with this mesh? The main reason I had the surgery was to repair the hiatal hernia which had been growing larger over the past year. My mother had emergency surgery several years ago for this reason and I did not want to go through that experience. If it hurts for hours after taking a pill, how am I supposed to ever eat anything again? I tried two pieces of very soft macaroni and it caused severe pain for hours. Any type of broth, protein drink, sports drink makes me nauseous. I haven’t seen or spoken to my surgeon since the surgery. He was supposed to be the best in our area. I regret ever having met him.
Posted 9/19/2018 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
My wrap has ended up being too tight. But you are still in the very early days so I would not jump to the conclusion that anything is wrong with yours. You should not be eating anything solid at all yet. And yeah, the first several weeks is miserable. You should try to get in to see your surgeon.
Posted 9/22/2018 6:15 PM (GMT 0)
Update. So the doc who said it was too tight was apparently wrong. Surgeon said that is what it is supposed to look like. Instead of going directly to the undo, he did another dilation with a way bigger balloon.

So far the result of that are: still can’t burp, still some bad pressure behind breast bone. Eating better than I was. He gave me Bentyl for the diarrhea and cramping. It does help. And it seems that the Bentyl has helped the burning in my mouth some.

I see him again a week from Wednesday. I have until then to decide if I want to undo, not undo or wait. Right now I would guess I am going to wait especially if the burning in my mouth continues to improve. But I am certainly not ruling out an undo.
Posted 9/25/2018 12:02 PM (GMT 0)
Kay Tee:

One of the things that the surgeon should have told you was that with a full wrap, you may lose the ability to belch or vomit. I had a very successful NF wrap, and I was given a lot of information and was fully aware of some of the potential side effects. Diarrhea and cramping is very common - take a look a what dumping syndrome symptoms involve. Just curious, did you have a manometry done as pre-surgery testing?

aec08:

I found that taking medication with applesauce helps. Don't worry there is an opening into your stomach, just smaller. As far as recovery, hang in there. I didn't start to feel a lot better until the 6-month mark, and my "new" me at approximately one year. If you are still having as much difficulty, please call your surgeon and don't really on us non-medical professionals on this forum, everyone's recovery is different.
Posted 9/25/2018 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
SharonZ, that’s the problem, I did NOT have a full wrap. Yes, I had manometey first and no, my GI symptoms do not fit dumping syndrome.

Losing the ability to burp or vomit is a side effect of Nissen, but not of a TIF, which is what I had.
Posted 9/25/2018 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Kay:

My apologies, I didn't see where you had the TIF done. Please ignore my comments to you.
Posted 10/1/2018 10:39 PM (GMT 0)
Kay Tee, I hope you get a chance to read this before you have it undone. I thought I would go back to how I was but I didn't. I got worse. My vagus nerve was damaged even more and I have gastroparesis (paralyzed stomach). Be firm and ask surgeon about what can happen and if he does't mention the vagus nerve and the permanent complications I wouldn't trust him. Check out videos of people that posted their struggles with gastroparesis. I got worse after TIF but it wasn't as bad now after take down. I was not told about these complications, just told it was a 50/50 chance TIF might not work. Had mine done in the Chicago area.
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