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Fundoplication and hiatus hernia repair

Posted , 37 users are following.

stephanie66456
stephanie66456

Hello there!

I was on this site a lot prior to my operation and did promise I would update people on my experience, I have however been extremely busy due to personal circumstances, but finally here goes;

I had my operation at the end of October 2015, when I woke from the anesthesia I was in a lot of pain with my left shoulder, and being so drowsy I wondered if I had been given the wrong operation, however I was then dosed up with morphine and told it was normal, I later found out this pain was because of a nerve that runs from your digestive system to your left shoulder, for the following week I had this pain on and off, I'm not going to lie it was not pleasant.

Recovery in the hospital was a little longer than expected, I belive this was due to the fact that I was told by nurses to try and eat soup only a few hours after the op, and was being given several different tablets to swallow, this meant I actually kept being sick, aggravating the operation recovery, once they put me on IV pain relief and stopped suggesting I ate, I started to feel better.

Once home, my recovery was much better, the first week, understandably was the worse, lots of tenderness, lack of appetite and very lethargic, but this soon improved.

After three weeks I was eating solid foods again, albeit not large amount or anything like bread/biscuits!

And unfortunately food was just running back out of me. (not pleasant I know)

Since the operation, I have not had the slightest bit of indigestion/heartburn, I am on no medication and can eat just about anything.

My one downside from the operation is that my IBS is definitely worse than it was before, and as much as I hate this, I feel it's a small price to pay to help prevent the Barratts I was diagnosed with back in January 2015.

If anyone wants to know more details about my experience etc, I'm happy to answer people's questions more directly, if they think it will help them in making a decision on surgery, as I certainly struggled before but I can safely say 5 months in I don't regret it!

Steph

5 likes, 68 replies

68 Replies

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  • jamielewis
    jamielewis stephanie66456

    Posted

    Hi there,  I’m new to this but just wanted to share my experience as I have spent the last 3months reading  forums in the lead up to my fundiplication op. Before the op I had very bad heartburn every day and after meals would bring food up for the next few hours. I left this for years and in the end had an endoscopy where they found I had grade 4 damage to my eosophugus and a hiatus hernia. I decided to have the op due to my uncle dying last year of throat cancer at only 40years old. Due to poor swallowing  I would only be having a 180 fundiplication. I was extremely worried about the op due to the amount of people who had complained of complications on these forums. I had the op done 3 days ago. I went into hospital at 7am and the surgery was at 9.30am. The op was completed and I was back in my room in under 2 hours. When I woke I had some discomfort in my shoulders as I had expected but it really wasn’t that bad just an ache and no worse than when you’ve had a hard session at the gym for the first time in a while. Apart from that the pain was minimal. I was drinking water within 30mins and had a cranberry juice 3hours post op. I had a tube up my nose to take any gas/liquid out of my stomach which went to a bag. This was a little uncomfortable but wasn’t bad. Within 4/5hours I managed to get myself out of bed and go to the toilet (Pass water). When I stood up I felt a little nauseous for a minute or so but that passed quickly.  At around 6.30pm they offfered me a thin yougurt which I swallowed fine but took my time. My bag didn’t inflate so the nurses decided I was ok to continue my recovery at home. I havnt had any heartburn or reflux since the op and have been eating soups and breakfast shakes mainly for last 3 days. I have also had mash potatoes and veg blended with gravy which went down my throat fine but my stomach hurt a bit afterwards and was very bloated so I will stick to soups for a few more days. Overall my op seems to of been a success so far and my only real issue at the minute is a bit of bloating which I can imagine is due to the swelling whilst I heal. Please don’t be put off from the operation it could save your life. I will continue posting my recovery on here. I am a 29 year old male in case anybody was wondering ! 
    • Barnie
      Barnie jamielewis

      Posted

      Thank you so much for this positive posting Jamie - it will help many on here I am sure.  I will look forward to your next updates.  At the present time my reflux is being controlled quite well with drugs so I haven't considered an op and hope I never have to.  However, your positive posting will have me less afraid should ever the need arise.  Thank you.

    • jamielewis
      jamielewis Barnie

      Posted

      Hi Barnie,

      No problem I will continue to document my recovery on here. Lanzoprazole did contain my reflux to an extent but I wansnt very good at remembering to take it at the right times and because of my age and how long I would have to be on the medication for my consultant advised surgery. Another point that I missed  is that after surgery I was able to do small burps and still continue to be able to now. I see a lot of people saying they are unable to. Also the pain in my shoulders disappeared by the morning after surgery. 

  • robert53020
    robert53020 stephanie66456

    Posted

    Hello Steph I'm glad to here you are feeling better.with regards to your IBS you need to restore your hydrochloric acid in your stomach this can be achieved by juicing a bunch of celery and drinking the juice first thing in the morning

  • anne19449
    anne19449 stephanie66456

    Posted

    Jamie,

    Has your doctor brought up the prescription 'carafe?' It's not over the counter but should be. It's just a big chalky pill and coats the stomach enough for the little heartburn I get sometimes as I don't want any heartburn at all on my Barrett's Esophagus. 

    One year and 4.5 months post-fundiplication and I sleep with one pillow and no reflux. I had a hiatal hernia since my 30's (65 now) and the Barrett's Esophagus  diagnosed three years ago. I had to campaign for my fundoplication but so glad I did. I am sure I was headed for esophagial cancer after the Barrett's diagnosis. I will be tested for that again in a month or so and expect it to have retreated if not disappeared.

    For anyone concerned about the post-surgery discomfort: Yes, it was uncomfortable but I got through it easily enough and the little 'holes' for the surgery are all gone now too. So happy to not worry about more issues due to reflux. I have also noticed a great improvement in any heartburn since I :

    1) Went Keto and don't eat til 2 p.m. or later and usually just once a day

    2) Started drinking (for great health benefits, see 'autophagy'wink green tea mixed with Stash Black Tea with Bergamot Oil first thing in the morning. I found I don't care about a coffee til late morning so that helps too to reduce coffe to one or two cups a day.

    I wish I had done this at your age, Stephanie. What a relief!

  • john52407
    john52407 stephanie66456

    Posted

    Hi Stephanie, well you certainly have recovered fully, congratulations. You mentioned your IBS, sorry I'm not sure what this is. I had the operation over a year ago and I think I've almost recovered, I do however experience a little pain or perhaps it's more of a discomfort in my upper chest when I wake up in the mornings, but it's nothing compared to the pain and acid in the mouth pre-operation and don't regret having the surgery. Do you experience any mild pain or discomfort in your chest?

  • jeff80979
    jeff80979 stephanie66456

    Posted

    hi Stephanie i want to let you know careful on your nissen fundoplication it can damage the vagus nerve which controls from the brain to heart, lungs, liver, stomach, and pancreas...i got the nissen fundoplication and it damaged my pancreas causing pancreatitis in a month time frame from when i got the surgery doctors wont tell you this but there has been cases in ncbi.gov websites that say rare cases of pancreatitis after the nissen fundoplication surgery it maybe due to damage vagus nerve which controls the whole body...and if your stomach gets worked on it there is a chance that the vagus nerve becomes damaged which hurts other organ around aswell ...the reason i say it is because im living it bone and flesh....

  • jeff80979
    jeff80979 stephanie66456

    Posted

    hi Stephanie i want to let you know careful on your nissen fundoplication it can damage the vagus nerve which controls from the brain to heart, lungs, liver, stomach, and pancreas...i got the nissen fundoplication and it damaged my pancreas causing pancreatitis in a month time frame from when i got the surgery doctors wont tell you this but there has been cases in ncbi.gov websites that say rare cases of pancreatitis after the nissen fundoplication surgery it maybe due to damage vagus nerve which controls the whole body...and if your stomach gets worked on it there is a chance that the vagus nerve becomes damaged which hurts other organ around aswell ...the reason i say it is because im living it bone and flesh....

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