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Would like help with post-op recovery

Posted , 5 users are following.

Sunchild
Sunchild

I had a successful op for Giant Hiatus Hernia 10 weeks ago.  Recovery has so far been excellent, I am told  However, now I have been discharged by the surgeon I feel rather abandoned to deal with the rest of my recovery without support. Does anyone else have morning nausea until after bowel movements?  Is there any way of counteracting this? Also I still have limited energy. Is this normal?  I am an active 68 year-old and long to get back to life in a faster lane!

1 like, 29 replies

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  • judy54212
    judy54212 Sunchild

    Posted

    Oh Sunchild, I know how you feel. The surgeon did his job and now there is no one to talk to. I was dusmissed too. I would love to ask how to look after myself so this hernia never reoccurs. I find that my tummy can still feel weird until after I have a b.m. too. I also get flatuence in the evening mostly. Occasionally I have trouble swallowing bread or rice. It's been almost 7 months now since I had the same operation as you. My energy level is right back to normal now. My symptoms are less now than in the first few months. I find if I don't eat a big meal it helps and chew well. It is a lot of change for our bodies to react to and it will never work exactly the same as before. 

    Judy

    • andrew62131
      andrew62131 judy54212

      Posted

      hi judy54212

      not enough consideration is given to post operative follow up care after bieng discharged having undergone a proceedure to repair a hernia.

      if you are suffering any pain oral medication is failing to relieve or you have trouble swallowing you need to speak to your gp about it there is also tablets you can get to reduce flatulaence after this type of surgery

      eating less more often is the best idea. remember your internal organs have been handled and maybe even repositioned and it takes time for things to settle down internally

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild judy54212

      Posted

      Thanks so much for replying Judy.  Your comments have cheered me up a lot.  At last I have found someone else who has been where I am now! Spoke to dietitian today who was a great help.  She urged me to be more patient! I think she may be right. 
  • andrew62131
    andrew62131 Sunchild

    Posted

    glad to hear your op was successful .i know how you feel it happened to me in the 1990's  i feel there is not enough post surgical follow up for patients who have been discharged after this type of surgery there is no need to feel abandoned without support go see your gp let him know the post op symptoms your getting he can at least put your mind at rest. what you have to remember is that it takes time to recover internally it took me monthts to recover there is no two people the same.

    in  time your energy levels will pick up . good on you for wanting to live life in a faster lane. but please remember that your hernia was big and the bigger the hernia the harder it is for the surgeon to repair. and the more easier it can reoccur as oppoossed to a small hernia? you did not state if you had a mesh placed to strengthen the hernia area? if so that should help .any work the surgeon has carried out is only as good as you bieng very carefu land  taking a few commonsense step to ensure you do not strain the area of repair ,no heavy lifting aviod bending down to much. from some one who has had 4  operations to repair reoccurrent hiatus hernias with placement of mesh and a recent diagnosis of a fourth 5cm hernia?? if my experience serves as message to people then it has not been a waste of time typing on my keyboard

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild andrew62131

      Posted

      Thanks so much andrew.  I think I have been very fortunate so far.  I had all my stomach in my chest wall.  No mesh repair; a reduction of the large hernia, hernia repair and anterior fundoplication. I have had no reflux since, all pressure on heart and lungs has gone and agonising neck and shoulder pain which I had for a year has all gone too. Today my dietitian has been a geat help.  She urged me to take it slowly and steadily and that I need to be patient as it all takes far longer than I thought it would. I think the surgeon did an amazing job, but was not nearly as good at pre-op and ost-op advice until I pushed for help myself. I think thre should be much more support before and afterwards as it is a major life-event isn't it? I am so glad I found this site. 
  • Sunchild
    Sunchild

    Posted

    The other big problem I have is being told I can never vomit again.  Andrew, how have you coped with this? I can try to avoid obvious things like binge drinking (never have done that!) and getting sea-sick.  But how can we say that we will never get a bug or another thing wrong that makes us vomit?  How have you lived with this? Do you just get used to the idea and not worry about it?
  • andrew62131
    andrew62131 Sunchild

    Posted

    hi sunchild

    dont worry about not bieng able to vomit if you are feeling sick. i havent vomitted in 22years since my last op and no one wants to be sick if they can help it, avoid gassy drinks and binge drinking every thing in moderation and follow the advice of your deitician. dont over eat. you probably wont  feel likeor be able to a heavy three course meal any way.

    as you stated you cant avoid bugs . from my past experience i have only felt sick

    about 3 times in 22 years and i was wrectching but i never once vomited. i have found that if i have an upset stomach i take liquid gaviscon which settles the stomach down.

     you stated you had a giant hernia with an intra thoracic stomach , i would be interested in knowing what size your hernia was prior to repair as i have a 5cm hernia .which cannot be repaired due to scar tissue from previous surgeries which were all open.

    dont worry about not bieng able to vomit you can live with it and in time you wont give it a second thought

    Andrew 

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild andrew62131

      Posted

      Hi Andrew.

      This is SUCH a help and comfort, thanks so much. It is the biggest concern I have really. I understand that my diet and the amount I can eat at each meal will be different, but that is no problem.  The vomiting thing is a different matter.

      Does it mean that I can vomit but mustn't, or that I can't vomit anyway?  The surgeon told me that if I did vomit there was a real risk that the surgery would all be undone. 

      After my last endoscopy before the surgery I was told that there was 5cm of stomach above the diaphragm. It was only after a CT scan that the full extent of the problem became clear and then I was told that virtually all the stomach had passed through to the chest wall and that it was in danger of rupturing as the hernia itself was very tight.  Does that make sense?

        Then surgery became urgent and the only option. What a game!!

  • andrew62131
    andrew62131 Sunchild

    Posted

    Hi sunchild

    you wil go throught the normal symptoms of feeling and wanting to be sick ,feeling sickly maybe sore stomach and you will  feel the  need to dash to the wc like you normally would. do. you will go through the normal actions of bieng sick , wretching to bring up sickness but all you will expierence will be a wretching to empty the  stomach but you wont be sick the most that will be in your mouth will be saliva from your osoephagus.  dont worry if you do not vomit it is a sure sign that the valve is tightly closed and the surgeon has accomplished a secure valve at the top of your stomach

    you did not say whetther your op was  done by lapriscope . as i am wondering if this could be an option for me instead of open surgery should  i end up with an intro thracic stomach like you. as you stated the same size of hernia as me .  5 cm (over 2 inches) which can only get bigger in the abscence of surgical repair.

    i have bowel noises and tightness in my chest which i can hear when breathing in  and out as the bowel is touching my lung in the chest cavity. having to live with it as i have used up all my NHS national insurance life time contibutions having had 4 previous ops.

    dont worry about the fact you cannot vomit you will be ok.

     

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild andrew62131

      Posted

      Thanks again Andrew.  That is such a help. I have been thinking of you and feel sorry that you have needed all that surgery and are still in an uncomfortable place.  I hope something can be done to allow you what you need and want.

      I had my op laparoscopically.  I was in intensive care for one day and on the ward for four more. The external wounds were not bad at all. There was pain particularly on the left side under one of the ports but the surgeon said that would happen. 

      I needed a friend to live in for a week but then I was able to look after myself with the help of neighbours. 

      I am feeeling much happier thanks to you and Judy. I hope you apprciate how much your experiences can help others.  I hope I will be able to do that too in time. At least I now have more idea of what lies ahead and don't feel i am the only one who has had this op!

  • judy54212
    judy54212 Sunchild

    Posted

    Sunchild,

     I am 68 years old too. My whole stomach was also in my chest. I found it difficult to sit before my surgery, too squished up and very uncomfortable. I had some very severe chest pains that felt like a heart attack and was told that was the stomach moving.  The operation was very necessary as they said the stomach could twist and cause strangulation. I went to the hospital emergency four times in the last few months before surgery. Things were very tense for me. About a month and a half after surgery I ate some rice that wasn't soft enough and I did vomit. The surgeon said it was okay because it would be repaired enough by that amount of time. I have vomited  two more times since then. I have also felt nausea and tried to vomit but only have wretched. I find I stil need to avoid fatty foods as I did before the operation. I am so happy that the worry I felt for my life is gone. I feel a lot better but know that I burp differently. I can travel again and am not losing weight anymore. I lost 20 pounds . 

    Judy

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild judy54212

      Posted

      Hi Judy.  Thanks for this. It is such a comfort to hear of your journey.

      You sound in a similar place before surgery although I was not as aware of what was happening internally. 

      I had severe neck and shoulder pain for a year before being diagnosed.  I had chiropractic treatments but they obviously made little difference.  Now all that has gone, as the surgeon predicted could happen.  Also now I realise I had pressures in my chest, funny heart flutters and breathing problems. That has all gone too. Ulcers on the hernia site were bleeding too when I took naproxen for the pain so I also had severe anaemia.  That was treated and cured before the surgery. 

      I understand that my health and indeed my life was being under threat.  Now with care that has been resolved. I now intend to enjoy life as much as I can.  I just need to make haste slowly as my Mum used to say!

      Your experiences of vomiting have helped me a lot not to worry any more.  I will just get on with living like Andrew has said. 

      I have lost 10 lbs and the dietitian does not want me to lose any more at present although I could happily lose a few more in time!  We are never satisfied are we? 

  • andrew62131
    andrew62131 Sunchild

    Posted

    hi sunchild

    thank goodness you had laproscopic surgery it is less invasive. with less surgical truama. i have found diclofenic gel(voltarol) which you can buy in asdas or chemist helps relieve the neuralgic pain i get from the post op scars. it has no side effects like taking pain killers.

    i cant tell you how lucky you were getting you proceedure done by laproscope.

    because with an open op the surgoen does more damage to your body going in to repair a small tear in your diaphragm. the op itself leaves you with a large scar around your chest, surgically broken ribs , a collapsed lung due to air entry into your chest a swollen abdomen due to handling of you bowel longer operation time 6hr op. 5 days in intensive care 2 weeks on the ward then discharged home with cocodamol and a 12 month convalesence time without any medical  support. then another 3 ops to repair reoccurrent hernias with the same surgical trauma then an other op on my back to cut nerve endings to kill my intercostal pain due to damaged nerves. then i was informed i needed op to remove half my stomach as it wasnt working properly due to all the surgery i had needless to say i declined .this what i meant jokingly  when i said that i had used up all my National health contributions.on ops.i id not mean to be to graphic  but you cannot make ommelette without cracking eggs surgoens words not mine. i am going for an endoscopy soon to check where my stomach is. i have already been informed that i cant have anything done due to scar tissue from previous ops i am hoping if it comes to a serious situation that they can perform a laproscopic proceedure.

    i was clearly an individual with a high propensity for reoccurranceof this problem no 2 people are the same. you will feel alot better soon , remember the old saying tome heals all wounds and any scars you have will serve to remind you of how brave you have been

    Andrew

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild andrew62131

      Posted

      Andrew that sounds awsomely awful!

      I was told quite clearly that I may well have woken up to find I had had open surgery but thank goodness that did not happen! I knew about the consequences if that had had to happen. I am SO glad that it was not necessary.

      I do feel very fortunate which is why I want to do all I can now to maintain what has been given to me. 

       Thanks for saying I have been brave. I had not seen it quite like that but it has taken some endurance and determination as I was widowed three years ago so I have been alone at home.  But blessed with the support of family, friends and neighbours. 

      Nothing to the endurance test you have been through.  Well done! I really hope they can do more for you. 

  • andrew62131
    andrew62131 Sunchild

    Posted

    hi sunchild

    i am sorry to learn of your loss, when you are ill yopu get to know who your true friends are sound like you have a very close and caring family.  maintaining all the work the surgoen has done to improve your quality of life is the best road to go down

    as time passses you will get fitter and stronger but always be careful in what you eat and do i know its not easy going through life not lifting anything or bending down.

    give yourself time to recover and heal internally people think thay are healed because they see there scars healed on the outside. but it takes far longer to heal inside.

    dont worry about your energy level as the body is working overtime to repair itself inside.

    if you feel sore that is the time to sit down and rest with acuppa

    remeber its only ten weeks since your op so take it easy.

    Andrew

    • Sunchild
      Sunchild andrew62131

      Posted

      Once again Andrew you have managed to lift my spirits and put everything into a better place.  And once again, thanks very much. 

      I have called myself sunchild because I love outdoor living and it has certainly been a lovely day for the garden today.  That lifts spirits too. 

      I have just had a small cheese sandwich and I think it may have bben a step too far!!  But it tasted yummy at the time. Now a rest I think. 

      Sunchild

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