Nissen Fundoplication Recovery

Hi ALL

I am about 3 weeks out from Nissen Fundoplication Surgery. Surgeron said he did a loose wrap so I was able go burp right away. Burps are far better than the old wet burps I would get before surgery, so that is a plus. Liquid and soft foods for another 3 weeks until by 2nd post op visit.

Swallowing has been an issue but has got better. First few says liquids went down but it would feel like it would get stuck and then I would hear a gurgling sound and than the rest of what was in the esophagus would go down... is that a normal issue?

Furthermore, if I eat too fast and the soft mushy food or liquid gets caught up I get the worse hiccups ever. I would say a good 20 to 30 minutes of hiccups. Very frustrating. Has anyone had that issue?

Finally my main concern. I constantly have chest pain especially after eating...DR said it will get bette. However, the chest pain stays pretty much all day and worsens after I eat or drink something. As anyone had this issue in their recovery?

Thank you

Yeah as for the chest pain.. they did a work up of my heart before the surgery to rule out heart issues. My EKG was top notch as the doctor put it. So just a little skeptic to why I have this chest/sternum pain even after the surgery.

I definitely miss my 10 mile runs every weekend. When I first started with GERD I would finish a ran...burp and food would come up. Knew than something was wrong and it was confirmed on a barium swallow when they saw everything from my stomach empty into my chest when they did the test for reflux.

So its nice to burp and not have anything come up or have a wet burp ..that's a start.

Thank you

Would gas pain in the chest be located by the sternum or throughout the entire chest.

Mine seems to be more on the right side very close to the sternum.

Would burning in the chest while laying down especially at night signal a failed wrap?..I am exactly 3 weeks now out of surgery.

Thank you... very frustrated

Yes Dr had me start dropping my dosage of Prilosec in half for the next week then every other day after that starting this weekend.

The burning is pretty consistent the last few days... I will be contacting my surgeron this morning. He is one of the best surgeons in the NY area so I trust him and he is very pro active in helping

Surgeon has me going in tomorrow morning for a Upper GI series.

He said I really should not be experiencing heartburn and wants to make sure the wrap is still good. He believes it should be okay especially this early in the recovery but he wants to be safe

Hi Sur 214
I’m 7 weeks post hernia repair and NF and I’m also suffering with a burning type pain/ache in my chest and throat. My surgeon assures me it’s just the way the inflammation is interpreted and will subside with time, he stresses it’s not heartburn!
Good luck with the tests.
Cheers
Rosie

All: do a little research on this site. Put your symptoms/ key words in the search box at the top right of the page. You'll have to scroll up to see it. You'll find tons of people posted on all these symptoms.
The shoulder pain is explained there. Swallowing problems are there.
It's a new life for a while after Nissen, but most are happy they had it done. I'm one of them - way more than 10 years out.

Dinny:

Your surgeon should have prescribed Zofran for nausea, I would call his office and ask for the medication. I would also ask about your constipation issue. It's usually caused by painkillers, but that should have subsided. Most people complain about diarrhea and dumping syndrome. Bloating is common and it does take a while for your digestive system to reset itself. I would also take some anti-gas medication such as simethicone to break up potential gas in your system. When I had my Nissen, it took a good six months until I really started to feel better and a full year to feel like the new me.

Sharon