Nissen Fundoplication surgery in a week, what to expect?

[katec]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has gone through Nissen Fundoplycation surgery?  I am 22 and have been suffering for several years from severe GERD and IBS.  I was finally diagnosed in November and am having the surgery next week.  What can I expect in terms of recovery, did it work. . . ?
Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Kate

[Baseball_Mom]

Hi Kate:  Boy you are awful YOUNG to have to go through that surgery.  I had the Nissen Fundoplication surgery in September of 1995.  It worked wonders until this past February.  I have since found out this surgery is only suppose to last 7 to 10 years maximum.  Until February I had no heartburn or acid reflux.  It was really terrific.  I had my procedure done laproscopically. The one thing that I remember about the surgery is I had a heck of a time getting out of bed for the first couple of weeks.  I was suppose to stay in the hospital for 5 days but my husband talked the surgeon into letting me go home.  Getting out of bed was a real nightmare.  You may want to sleep on a bunch of pillows, this will atleast make it so you don't have to use your stomach muscles so much.  I also remember not being able to eat much for about the first 6 weeks.   Within 6 months or so I was back to eating the same portions I was use to eating before the Nissen Funduplication.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me via email.  I'll do what I can to answer your questions.   Take care and best of luck to you.  ***@****

[toy drive]

what were your symptoms? What test did you have . Please let me know . I just had a 24hr ph to see if they want to do surgery. If you had 24hr ph what were your levels?

[Baseball_Mom]

I don't know if your question was directed towards me or someone else, so I'll put my two cents worth in. hahaha   My symptoms were severe acid reflux and heartburn.  I had an upper GI done and that is how they detected the Hiatal Hernia.  As far as a PH Test, they tried to do one on me but could not get the tube in my nose and down my throat.  I chalked that up to an inexperienced technician.   So I ended up not having the PH test so don't know what my levels were, but I would guess they would have been high.  I was a prime candidate for the Nissen Funduplication Surgery.  Hope things go well for you.  Best of luck.

[toy drive]

Thank you i am just waiting to get results to see if they want surgery. on nexuim now 12 weeks

[katec]

Thank you for your responses.  I really appresciate it!  I went to the pre-admission clinic yesterday and my surgery is on Tuesday.  
I'm not sure if that 24 hour-ph question was directed to me, but I'll answer it anyway!  My test results showed that I have very high acid, I don't know numbers, but were they found the most informative result was from the esophageal manometry, the first test once the 24-hr tube is in place.  It tests the pressure on the swallowing tube.  I had 0% pressure which was causing the regurgation and severe acid.  
I'm young for the surgery, but as I have been suffering from this for just over two years and my system is showing serious signs of damage (holes in the esophogeus, tooth and gum damage, weight loss, asthma and now irritable bowel syndrome) my gastro doctor, the surgeon and I have decided that I really am an excellent candidate.
Thanks again for your quick response.
Kate

[toy drive]

Good luck on surgery I am a 30 yr old male this has been going on for 7 months now. I can't do anything anymore no running no sports nothing. I hope your gets better

[mar9114u]

Hi, My name is Marilyn. I had The Nissen fundoplication with highly selective vagotomy in 1998. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE HAVING THE SURGERY!!!!!
I feel I need to tell you my story of the events before and after my surgery. First I have to say that my results do not necessarily reflect the outcome of the majority of patients, although I also am searching for help online to see if anyone has been dealing with what I've been going through since my surgery! First a little background info about what led me to having the surgery. I am a 44yo female. I suffered from severe heartburn for years.It led to esophagitis with ulcer formations, I suffered from aspiration pneumonia,I had such severe esophageal sphincter tone that if I bent down at times I would reflux stomach contents out my nose and mouth. I found some significant relief from prilosec for about a year. I  had the 24 hour Ph probe,UGI etc, and finally had the surgery. The surgery worked great....no more heartburn(until recently its coming back). I ended up with a surgical hernia, which I've had repaired once so far, which came back and need to have it repaired again, but cant right now because I'm too ill and weakened from the dumping syndrome caused from the surgery!
( I dont want to take up a lot of time explaing what dumping syndrome is but you can go to GOOGLE. com, and search up "dumping syndrome") As far as I have been told their is no cure for it. Oh well, after my surgery I felt pretty good except for a little nausea and occasional diarhhea. I weighed 226 lbs when I had my surgery. I began losing weight almost immedietly but didnt think much of it , it actually was wonderful to be getting my weight down. The problem is I got more nauseous,lost my appetite as time went on.I have abdominal pain which gets worse when I eat,I'm to the point of having to force my self to eat and even keep my fluids going. I'm down to 145 lbs and no end in sight. Please dont think this sounds like a great weight reduction cure... because it is literally probably going to kill me.....I feel so weak from all this, that I feel like I'm dieing slowly.I'm a nurse and was at work last year and past out from this, ended up with a concussion and neck injury. The other night at work I had to leave and go to the emergency room to get IV fluids because I was so dehydrated. They did orthostatic blood pressures on me(thats where they take your BP and Pulse laying ,sitting, standing)and I passed out. Luckily I didnt get hurt.I have bad veins and when I get so dehydrated its even worse to find a vein.I'm soon going to need to have a mediport put in for IV access,and most likely will have to have a feeding tube put in because I just cant get enough food and fluids in to me because of the severe nausea.
My Doctor never told me this could happen, I since foud out through research that a small percentage of patients can end up with this dumping syndrome. It's the vagotomy part of the surgery that causes this. So please talk to your surgeon about this. If I had it to do over again I might have had the surgery,but told him not to do the vagotomy(a vagotomy is where they cut some of the nerves to your stomach that help you secrete stomach acid to help in digestion). I'm sure all I needed was to have my esophageal sphincter tightened up to prevent my stomach acid from coming up my esophagus and throat.
I am so disabled from this that I will have to go out on disability very shortly.
If anyone out there wants to e-mail me to talk about this feel free. my email is  ***@****, also I would love to hear any one elses experience with this and if your going through what I am!!!                  Thanks for listening and good luck,
                                   Marilyn

PS  you might want to print out this letter and show your surgeon before you go through with it.

[kajo]

WAS WONDERING HOW YOUR SURGERY WENT. I JUST SPOKE WITH MY DR. LAST NIGHT. WE ARE AT THE POINT THAT I AM GOING TO TRY THE LAST 2 MEDS., ACIPHEX AND THEN PROTONIX. IF THESE DO NOT WORK, HE WANTS ME TO TALK TO A SURGEON ABOUT THE FUNDOPLICATION. I ASKED HIM ABOUT 2 NEW LESS INVASIVE PROCEDURES, THE ENDOCINCH AND THE STRETTA PROCEDURE. HE SAID HE WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL VERY EXPERIMENTAL. SO, I WOULD BE CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR SURGERY BECAUSE I AM ALITTLE UNSURE ABOUT WHAT TO DO. ALITTLE SCARED, TOO. THANKS

[Simple]

I, too, had the fundoplication for hiatal hernia and lots of acid reflux in 1998 and I think it is wonderful.  I was on Zantac for 5 years and Prilosec a short time (my gastro doctor doesn't offer the later for prolonged periods of time) before the surgery.  Eventually a drink of water made me sick.  Old habits must not be continued after the surgery such as eating within 4 hours of bedtime, over-eating, caffeine drinks, and fried foods.  I lost no weight after fundoplication, even though I was unable to eat large portions. I had 2 weeks of surgical pain, mostly because of very bad bruising from the camera.  A friend experienced far less pain from the surgery.  I do recommend it highly.  Good luck.

[kajo]

HI!, BY NOW I SUPPOSE YOUR SURGERY IS OVER AND YOU ARE RECOVERING??!! AM VERY INTERESTED IN HOW YOU MADE OUT, HOW YOU ARE FEELING, WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE SURGERY??? I HOPE THINGS WENT WELL FOR YOU AND YOU ARE ON THE ROAD TO A SPEEDY RECOVERY. WHEN YOU FEEL UP TO IT, PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE. THANKS

[medtech28]

A related discussion, nissen fundiplication was started.