My EsophyX procedure..9 days post-op

[soliver38]

jennNYC

hello.jenn..u said the symptomes r stil there u mean symptomes of reflux?or post op symptomes?have u suffered from burning throat initially?..what symptomes still after ur esophyx?tnxs

[dutch girl]

Hi Jenny,

good to hear that everything went well,the symptomps you are having right now wil go away over time....every day it will get better.
try to stay on liquid and soft food for some weeks to avoid presure on your new valve.
good luck to you and keep us posted about your progres

[dutch girl]

DTanna,how are you doing??
are you more nervous now??only 8 days to go...

[Nevermind]

nevermind, how long has it been since your esophyx procedure? are you still able to eat everything such as spicy food, food with acid, drinks with acid, 3 normal sized meals a day instead of 6 small meals a day and having to chew until food are small pieces before swallowing? are you or have you had any complications or problems after your procedure or are you normal like before you had this illness? it is difficult to stay off food that you like and used to eat because there are lots of temptations around, especially since the people around you are eating the food that you like to eat and used to eat. If you are having no problems whatsoever, no pain and no suffering after your procedure and you can eat normal like before your illness, then you are very lucky that this procedure has worked for you and hopefully you will not require a redo because people who have the nissen done need 2 or 3 redos due to slipping and loosening. They also have permanent complications, suffering and pain and can no longer be normal or do normal things such as lifting things, bending over, active physical things, lifting heavy things for moving house etc.

jennnyc, i understand that it is discouraging when after the op it seems like the symptoms are still there and you must be scared and worried that it has not worked because everyone who has had this procedure would have gone through this. I will cross my fingers for you and hope that it has worked for you. Keep us posted with your progress, even if you feel it has worked because this will help others going through this.

Hey Desert Rose! Yeah, my life is back to normal, I can eat everything BUT for my health I gave up Coke and avoid sodas, just because i don't like burping so much. I remember i was pretty paranoid in the beginning and one day I swallowed a bigger piece of chicken than normal, BUT it was ok.. and I could take big pills too.. it's totally normal for me now, just trying to keep it healthy.

[desert rose]

nevermind, glad to know that your life is back to normal. sadly you are only one of a small number of success cases with this procedure. If only this procedure is 100% effective, and works for everyone and no need for redos and everyone's life can be back to normal like yours, after the procedure. Then there would be no need for the intrusive bigger surgeries and no need for continued or worse pain and suffering.

[DTanna]

Oh....and dutch girl...I am totally nervous now. 3 days and counting I guess....they moved me up tp Saturday the 6th so it's like right around the corner. I hate that I have to go through this...but hate living this way enough that I have to make some attempt at normalcy. Rock and a hard place type of stuff, right!?

[jennNYC]

Hi all,
Well, it's been a week. I can honestly say that tonight is the first time since the surgery that I've felt "normal". I barely have any appetite but I've moved up from only liquids (broth, jello, ensure shakes, tea) to semisoft foods - scrambled eggs and loose mashed potatos. And those Jello chocolate pudding cups are going down just fine now. I've even lost about 6lbs so far . I find that cold things are very irritating, and warm things (soup, tea, etc) really help with the pain.

I had an interesting conversation with my doctor on Tuesday. I was still having a lot of gas, burping, pain in my sternum, etc . When I told him that, he said "What are you taking for the pain?" I said Tylenol, because I can't tolerate percoset, even with antinausea medication. He said "Switch to advil (ibuprophen)." Now, I avoid advil/motrin, etc because of the stomach irritation, but he said it would help. So...lo and behold...it WORKED. Apparently the antiinflammatory in the advil helped the swelling go down, and now the valve feels like a normal valve.

I'm still on 40mg Nexium 2x day, but hopefully after I see doc on Friday he'll start bringing me down from that. It'll be interesting to see what happens when I step down.

Good luck, DTanna. We're all rooting for you!

[DTanna]

Thanks for the kind thoughts jennNYC. I'm glad you are starting to get back to feeling normal! Also...if no one said anything, those little gas-x strips help a lot with the bloating when you start to introduce more foods. I am rooting for you in a big way too. I hope you have a great result and don't end up needing any further help. Keep getting better....and don't lift a thing for awhile!!!!

[jennNYC]

Keep getting better....and don't lift a thing for awhile!!!!

Thanks! I've been really careful with the whole lifting thing. My only concern is that I have a planned trip to London on 2/18, and I'm going alone. While the trip is only a long weekend (Thurs to Mon), I'm a little nervous about that - but I have a small rolling bag, so at least I won't be hefting it up and down. So that means no big shopping trips for me in London (it's too expensive anyway). I think I'll wear layers on the flight over so it's less to pack and carry!

[dutch girl]

Oh....and dutch girl...I am totally nervous now. 3 days and counting I guess....they moved me up tp Saturday the 6th so it's like right around the corner. I hate that I have to go through this...but hate living this way enough that I have to make some attempt at normalcy. Rock and a hard place type of stuff, right!?

Saturday already thats fast
counting down the days is very hard,but we are veterans right?
living like this for years is much harder than going thru the pain of recovery.
whenever you need to vent and share your worries i`l be here for you

[DTanna]

Thanks sooo much dutch girl. I am afraid I may end up taking you up on the venting offer even though, as you said, we are veterans at this point I am certainly getting the pregame jitters. I spoke with my Doc last night and he explained the takedown in more detail. He is confident that I will have a great outcome...but I'm pretty sure everyone hears that. He said the most difficult part of the takedown is definitely creating a seperation of the scar tissue that has fused to the esophagus. He is not worried about it..but says it is the most challenging part. He again told me, that once the area that was fused is taken down...the anatomy is essentially returned to where you were prior to having the esophyx. Then the nissen fun starts!! Thanks for being there....I'll give you all of the details along the way

[Kevin]

Best of luck with your surgery. I hope this goes well. I have to say that I am amazed that esophyx advertises the nissen as a simple rescue plan--if a 'takedown' is necessary, that sounds as bad as having a prior nissen taken down, one of the problems esophyx is supposed to avoid. Maybe it's simpler for some reason? I had thought a nissen could be done 'over' the existing repair. Apparently not--so much for my 3d imagination!

The redo of my nissen in 2005 left me with gastroparesis that became strongly symptomatic in 2007. This later improved and has now turned into rapid emptying--if I eat carbs on an empty stomach I get reactive hypoglycemia. According to the emptying study I had back in April, my stomach empties twice as fast as a normal stomach.

Most redos do not lead to these syndromes, but be on the lookout for them as time goes by. Any esophageal surgery carries some risk of vagal nerve damage.

All best, fellow North Carolinian!

Kevin

Thanks sooo much dutch girl. I am afraid I may end up taking you up on the venting offer even though, as you said, we are veterans at this point I am certainly getting the pregame jitters. I spoke with my Doc last night and he explained the takedown in more detail. He is confident that I will have a great outcome...but I'm pretty sure everyone hears that. He said the most difficult part of the takedown is definitely creating a seperation of the scar tissue that has fused to the esophagus. He is not worried about it..but says it is the most challenging part. He again told me, that once the area that was fused is taken down...the anatomy is essentially returned to where you were prior to having the esophyx. Then the nissen fun starts!! Thanks for being there....I'll give you all of the details along the way

[dutch girl]

Best of luck with your surgery,you have a great surgeon and you will be fine.
i know the reconstruction is working,the people that i know who had the Esophyx and a nissen afterwards are verry happy with their results.
the nissen fun starts but your reflux free life is starting also

Good luck to you and let me know how you are doing

[DTanna]

Well its offical....my esophyx is now gone a I am a then nissen fundo club. I was amazed at how esy the recovery has been through the firt 3 days from the nissen. I thought it would be way than the "less invasive" esophyx. I was expecting a nightmare...and who's to say that it is not still coming my way...but the initial wake up and stay at the hospital was a piece of cake. I didn't think the esophyx was bad, but this was easier. Cannot believe I let myself get so worked up over the nissen from the reading that I had done. One thing this whole thing has taught me is to never think you are out of the woods yet, but I was totally sure I would wake up in recobvery and be very sick. Totaaly not true...I felt fine. In fact...I csn't believe I had it done.

Of course only time will tell...aven't added any food yet of substance yet and I am sure that will be a challenge. But as far as comparing the 2 so far...in my case the nissen was an easier process. I did not expect that.

Oh...and I can't type on a blackberry very well either is another lesson learned.

[iva]

Well done DTANNA,

I am sooo happy for u! Really hope its the end of all ur problems! Keep us posted