Coping With Nissen Fundoplication

I had this surgery 3 1/2 years ago. I can say that I do not have heartburn…but I do have alot of the other problems that “they” talk about. This surgery was rough. My out-patient surgery turned into 6 days in the hospital unable to swallow my own saliva.

When I awoke from surgery, I was very nauseated. Of course, I was unable to vomit. The area that they worked on swelled completely shut. After a few days I went back to endoscopy to have the area enlarged some. When things finally started to settle down and I went home, it took me about 4 months to recover from this surgery.

To this day I have problems. Somedays I just can’t seem to get anything to pass through, but otherdays I have no problems. I think eggs and bread are about the worst. If I turn wrong or god forbid have the flu, my stomach balls up and you can see the lump proturding through my abdomin. The “gas bloat”, I have finally got used to. The inability to blech…that causes a big problem. That tends to hurt.

I had a rough time with this surgery and it scares me to death to think someday that might have to “fix it”. I have spoken with patients of my surgeon on his asking, about the bad side of the surgery. It always is not easy. I would never discourage anyone from having this surgery, it truly does help. Having someone that had been through it and knows what you are feeling, would have helped me alot. I had no one that understood the worst of the worst. If anyone needs to talk about the surgery, let this forum know. If I can help, I will.