I am in the Uk and had my op on the NHS 3 days ago. Wonderful surgeon and great care from hospital staff. I had a 270 degree toupee but bled quite a bit so was in hospital 2 nights.. I decided to have the op after much research, tests and consideration. After suffering with acid reflux for years I was diagnosed with an 8-10cm hiatus hernia in Dec 2015. Sorry if this post isn't terribly coherent as am only 3 days post op and am full of medication on a very empty stomach. Anyway so far have little pain from the 6 cuts in my abdomen. Day 1 and 2 were hell of course. Couldn't even sip water without agonising stabbing pains in left shoulder blade, which continued until I burped - so up to 20 minutes or more. Some improvement today - stabbing pains more bearable and a back massager is helping move the wind. Anyway is there anyone else in a similar recovery state or planning an op shortly? Happy to chat and share thoughts, concerns etc. Also any advice on when stabbing pains might stop would be appreciated
Hi Rox
I am having my pre op for surgery on 16th August after deciding to have the surgery due to the cough I have been suffering with. Did you suffer with a cough at all before you had surgery?
Thanks
Louise
Hi Louise, I had a dreadful cough for years before I was diagnosed. The acid would come rushing into my throat, causing me to gasp, choke and cough. I used to cough so much that I would be sick. My throat would get damaged and then I would cough all the time. People at work used to get annoyed with me and i lived on throat sweets.The PPI medication was extremely successful at stopping the acid reflux and the cough. So I have been cough free now for 7 months. Hopefully this will continue when I come off the PPIs. My surgeon wants me to stay on them for a month. KR
Thanks Rox. Best wishes for full recovery.
(Fundoplication was the best thing I ever did.)
Good luck, Louise, hope your operation goes well. (And, yes, it should reduce your cough. It did mine.)
Thank you Barretts. Very reassuring to hear from someone who has had a positive experience of this procedure. Am stunned by the amount of wind that is coming up. I was expecting it to be difficult to bring up wind, based on every thing I have read. Louise, I hope your op goes well. Just buy in lots of soup and yoghurt drinks! L
Day 4 post op
Pain in left shoulder decreasing and managed to eat (well drink breakfast) . A whole wheetabix dissolved in warm milk - lovely.Have still got lots of wind coming up (over 100 burps a day) so am sipping peppermint tea. The best things that have helped with the shoulder pain are a hot water bottle and a back massager (I bought an expensive one but actually found that a novelty battery operated frog massager bought for under £5.00 worked the best.). So to drink i sit upright in a high backed chair, with a hot water bottle propped between my shoulder blades and the frog massager behind my left shoulder. My plan is to carry on with a liquid diet for at least a week. This is not as bad as it sounds . It includes tinned and homemade smooth soups (strained to remove any bits), ActiMel drinking yoghurt, thin custard, milk shakes, milk, milk with ice cream added, wheetabix, yoghurt and cranberry juice. After that it will be a blended diet for 2+ weeks and then a soft diet for 3+ weeks. I want this to work so I am following the dietary guidelines strictly.
The shoulder pain is as a result of the air they had to pump into your abdomen for the operation. It should disappear completely soon.
Typically you'll lose about 20lbs over a couple of weeks. Now is the time to indulge yourself in whatever treats you can manage. (You won't want to "eat" much anyway but none of the "naughty" things, like chocolate are off limits.
And remember you cannot do heavy lifting etc for a couple of months.
All the best for a speedy full recovery.
Hi Barretts,
Thank you for your reply.
My shoulder only starts to hurt when I swallow, and the pain persists until enough wind comes up. It's gradually easing so hopefully will go completely shortly.
Quite happy about the weight loss as although not overweight I am a stone heavier than I would prefer.
I do find the quite violent burping scary as I wonder about the impact on my stiches. But so far they seem to be holding ok and the doctors at the hospital didn't seem worried. I just anxst a lot.
I will be taking it very easy and I don't plan to return to work for at least 5 -6 weeks, and then it will be a phased return.
No point in not following post op guidance, even if it means wearing hospital stocking for 6 weeks to help prevent blood clots!!!!!!
KR
Truly feel sorry for you, as I have had my share of difficulties, too, since my surgery back on December 22nd of last year. Still not eating like I should , but am hopeful that someday things will improve. Am on enzyme medication now. Would be great to be able to eat without fear of barffing.
Hi Ruth,
Thank you.
There are often difficulties for a long time after this surgery and I am sorry that you are still suffering. What is your problem with eating and do you feel sick or are you frightened of being sick?
My liquid diet is going down fine today (day 5) but yes I too am terrified of being sick. My surgeon's view is that I need to keep strong anti sickness meds with me at all times for ever so that if I get a tummy bug or food poisoning I can take them and not be sick.. My GP however is not being cooperative and has just prescribed travel sickness pills!!!!!. I am calling my surgeon tonight to discuss this and if need be to ask for a prescription from him for appropriate meds.
Hope you feel better soon
KR
Some days I just feel sick, but most of the time, I get some pain and then have to vomit in order for the pain to go away. Must be so cautiious as to what I eat. Really enjoy eating ice cream, puddings, jello- but would prefer more solid foods, when I can eat them.
Hi Ruth,
That sounds really awful.
My understanding is that it is difficult to be sick after the op, and that if you are sick it will loosen the wrap, making it ineffective. If this happens a repair operation is needed.
What has your surgeon said and what tests has he/she carried out to check the state of your wrap?
Today (day six) my only real problem is constipation. I have taken the Movencol the hospital gave me, in anticipation of this, and am awaiting the result. I am reducing my pain meds and am quite enjoying my liquid diet. I have calculated that my drink intake amounts to about 1400 calories a day, which is I think is quite reasonable.
I am still terrified of being sick, particularly before the wrap is healed. However my wonderful surgeon has provided me with the necessary strong anti sickness meds I need to keep with me in case of a tummy bug. The use by date is March 2020 so I hopefully I wont have to have a fight with my GP about the meds for over 3 years.
KR
Hi, I had my Hernia/Nissan repair on July 26 2016. I will say I'm in my early 50s, and was in fantastic shape when I went in. This surgery will take a lot out of you. The pains in your chest and left shoulder are most likely from the co2 gasses in your body cavity. It took me about 8 days to get rid of mine. But I was up walking right away and I only used my pain meds for two days. I noticed my 2nd week of recovery was harder then my first week. Very important to rest as you will drop weight like crazy and be very weak. I've already lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks. Get high calorie foods with protein! Drink a lot and take small fluid meals all day long. I set my timer and about every hour to hour and a half I try to get food (ground in my nutria ninja) or water. I can takin in about a 1/4 cup at a time or I try to throw up & cant. Best of luck. Don't get discouraged and be very patient with your healing. I tried to walk 2 miles the other day. Big mistake, it set me back a couple days. Most people I've talked to say your insides take about 4 to 6 months to heal. The best thing I do for myself is remind myself how miserable I felt before the surgery. This is all worth it😊
Hi Julia,
Thank you for your response. Great to know what to expect over the next week or so. I too am in my early fifties but unlike you I am only in average shape. I am talking gentle walks and am doing quite well on the food front. For example I can manage a large mug of strained soup and a yoghurt for lunch - although it does take me an hour to consume the . I didnt really have any problems pre op as the PPIs worked very well for me, so no past misery to reflect on. However at the moment I feel quite reasonable except for the fact that I havent had a bowel movement in a week and the Movicol is frankly not moving anything. So although not usually a subject for a polite discussion I hope you don't mind if I ask if you have you had any bowel problems and if so what if anything helped? KR
Hey KR happy to hear your doing so well. I'm having food issues. I'm still on really puréed food. If I can't get to soft food by the end of week 3 they will have to see if my wrap is to tight. As for the BM it took me 6 days after the surgery. I used Milk of Magnesia before bed for 4 days before I started. Now because I have so little food going thru I'm only BM about very other day. I'm 15 days since surgery and I've dropped 11 lbs. I am getting a little concerned because I didn't have weight to loose. I do feel better every day. Just tired from lack of food.
Hi Julia,
Sorry to hear about your food issues. Everyone is different in the time it takes to heal and all surgeons seem to have a different opinion on what is to be expected in terms of diet post op. Mine is insistent that his patients stay on pureed food for 6 weeks post op and don't attempt the soft food diet until after he has said they are ready to try it at their 6 week post op check. This regieme includes people like me who have only had the 270 degree wrap, which is supposed to make eating easier. So try not to worry
Than you for the bowel details, I am pleased to say that the Movencol finally got things moving today. Not a pleasant experience but a great relief.
I managed some feta cheese with my sieved soup today. I had to suck it until it disintegrated but it gave me a real energy boost.
I am not brave enough to move on from the liquid diet to the pureed just yet. I am too afraid of the puree getting stuck!
Hope you feel less tired soon
KR
Day 9 post op.
Moved on.to pureed food tonight - fish pie and carrots. Took.ages to eat and had to. be reheated half way through but it went down fine
Constipation has changed to diarrhoea
But I had expected it due to the diet, and it's neither overly frequent or painful
So no complaints, yet!
Still terrified of being sick - my anti sickness pills are going everywhere with me and I am OCD about hand washing and kitchen hygiene. But that's not a bad thing and I has expected it. My family are being very understanding about it - even when I insist on throwing food away because it was left on the kitchen counter for 2 minutes and there might have been a fly in the room.
Best wishes to all post op sufferers and recoverers
My day 9 post got sent for moderation - no idea why.
Anyway in brief, on day 9 I started on pureed food, replaced constipation with mild diarrhoea and my stiches are healing but starting to pull. All as I understand perfectly normal.
Today day 10 the mild diarrhoea continues and I feel really tired. Pureed food is going down well and I even managed a chocolate mousse and a pack of Quavers.
Best wishes to all post op recoverers and sufferers.
Hi Julia,
Hope the food issues are improving and you are feeling better.
Thank you so much for warning me about the second week tiredness otherwise I would have been really concerned about it.
Kind Regards
Hey I've thrown up a couple times. Not fun. It gets stuck at my les valve comes back on me. Not a fun experience. I suggest avoiding it at all costs. My stitches are really pulling. My dr. sewed my stomach to my muscle wall because he said it would flip over if he didn't. It's literally a pain in the gut....LoL. Glad your doing better. I'm thinking months before I feel 100%. I can now walk a mile. Far cry from being able to walk/run 4 miles. I have to remember baby steps. Heck it's only been 18 days since surgery. Praise God, no acid!