Hello all. I am a 23 year old male and six days post-op of the Nissen Fundoplication.
I am a Music Education and Performance major, majoring in Voice and Piano. Though I have suffered from severe GERD for MANY years, it wasn't until a little over a year ago that I really became concerned with the damage it was causing. I was studying with my voice professor and I was having trouble with my vocal range...it seemed to have gotten smaller. Over our next few sessions, we both noticed that my voice was becoming "breathy" and "raspy" both when talking and singing. This continued for a few months until I could barely sing and was experiencing pain. Luckily here in Cincinnati we have the Professional Voice Center where a large majority of singers and other vocalists go when there is a problem. I made an appt. and on my first visit, the doctor performed a stroboscope and saw that I had severe burns on and around my vocal folds due to the back-splash of stomach acid which had also caused a tissue to begin to form between the folds, not allowing them to come together properly. After six months of vocal therapy there was no improvement and a second stroboscope showed that my condition worsened, and I had developed ulcers on my vocal folds.
From the very discovery of the damage my primary doctor and I had been treating the GERD with various medications that seemed to have a very minimal, if any affect. So about a month ago he referred me to the GastroInterologist. This doctor is amazing and excellent at what he does; he ordered a esophageal pH monitoring (a wireless system called Bravo). When the results came in, we discovered that the my acid levels were severe. He and I discussed my options of the Lap-Nissen or being on numerous daily medications for the rest of my life and I obviously opted for the surgery in an attempt to save my voice. So within a few days I had the Esophageal Manometry (the measure of the esophageal sphincters) and scheduled the surgery.
When I was awakened after surgery, I was horrified to find that I could not feel or move my hands! (Remember, I'm a vocalist and a pianist.) Turns out that due to the way the op team positioned me, I sustained nerve damage! This lasted for two days, then I slowly began getting the feeling and movement back. Today (the 6th day post-op) everything finished coming back and I have full feeling and use of my hands again...WHEW!
So anyway, it seems that the surgery went well other than the hand problem. I, too, am experiencing the severe left shoulder pain, but it seems to be slightly getting lighter. The only other major issue I am having is since yesterday, I have been experiencing severe nausea and fatigue. Today I feel like I've been hit by a steam roller. I plan on calling my doctor to see if he can give me something to control it. Though my diet isn't much at the moment, I haven't experienced any symptoms of reflux or heartburn. But again, is only been six days. My outlook is that if I have at least ten years of success, eliminated/extremely reduced symptoms and my voice heals, the the benefits by far outweigh anything else. To be able to sing opera (well anything) again will make me the happiest person alive. My incisions seem to be healing nicely, and I hope to return to work and school within the next week. My surgeon (different from my Gastro) is a very talented man and I commend him. I blame the nursing staff for the nerve damage, but all is well that ends well.
Winston
Hi,
I am having the lap nissen done at the end of October. I have been reading the posts and noticed that people have problems with gas after the surgery? Is that permanent or temporary? My surgeon didn't mention that as a permanent side effect. Also I am concerned with the not being able to vomit situation? Not that i do it a lot, but sounds serious......I sometimes get sea sick or car sick............Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I will of course question my doctor too!
I am having the lap nissen done at the end of October. I have been reading the posts and noticed that people have problems with gas after the surgery? Is that permanent or temporary? My surgeon didn't mention that as a permanent side effect. Also I am concerned with the not being able to vomit situation? Not that i do it a lot, but sounds serious......I sometimes get sea sick or car sick............Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I will of course question my doctor too!
Hello,
I had the open nissen surgery done in february and have been very happy with the results. It did take quite some time to recover. I did not have the option of laproscopic. The only draw back is gas, but I will take that any day compared to the pain of acid burn. No. You cannot throw up, but this has not been a big problem for me. I do still get food caught in my throat when swallowing, but it just reminds me to slow down and chew. It did scare me at first, but with time you will adjust. Luckily I have not had much if any nausia for some time. I am aslo able to enjoy a few glasses of wine without the burning sensation I used to have. That is very good news. It does change your life, but in my opinion it is only for the better. I am very glad that I had it done and would definatley do it again if I had to. it is alright to be scared and you should be it is a big sugery, but keep asking questions and weigh all of the options. Good luck to all.
I had the open nissen surgery done in february and have been very happy with the results. It did take quite some time to recover. I did not have the option of laproscopic. The only draw back is gas, but I will take that any day compared to the pain of acid burn. No. You cannot throw up, but this has not been a big problem for me. I do still get food caught in my throat when swallowing, but it just reminds me to slow down and chew. It did scare me at first, but with time you will adjust. Luckily I have not had much if any nausia for some time. I am aslo able to enjoy a few glasses of wine without the burning sensation I used to have. That is very good news. It does change your life, but in my opinion it is only for the better. I am very glad that I had it done and would definatley do it again if I had to. it is alright to be scared and you should be it is a big sugery, but keep asking questions and weigh all of the options. Good luck to all.
I had two lap nissen fundos. The first was Dec 27 1999. That seemed to be going well until this year. In March/April I started having severe pain in between my ribs and couldn't eat. I would vomit randomly. I went to my gastro who told me half my stomach was in my chest, that explained the chest pains, nausea, etc. So he referred me to the top surgeon at University of Maryland. I had the redo nissen, my esophagus lengthened and my diaphram sewn tighter closed. I also had some sort of type sticking out to hold my stomach in place, drain and just in case they needed to go back in. Recovery is going "ok". Since this surgery and I started on liquids (after 3 days), I have diarrhea almost constantly. Since the tube came out after 8 weeks, I have been almost constantly nauseous. The doctor now has to do the upper endo (EDG) again. Hopefully everything will be fine. Has anyone else had this sort of problem? My surgeon is the top surgeon for this at Univ of MD and he is doing everything right, I just want to see if anyone has the same problems and how they were resolved.
Hey there dilbertsmom...welcome to healingwell...I would encourage you to start a new thread and introduce yourself, as you may get more replies.
As you probably already seen, we have a lot going on with this topic, so please, feel free to go ahead, and read on those, if you haven't already, and I am sure you will find the encouragement, and support you need here!
Stick with us!
As you probably already seen, we have a lot going on with this topic, so please, feel free to go ahead, and read on those, if you haven't already, and I am sure you will find the encouragement, and support you need here!
Stick with us!
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HI,
I had the nissan done Nov6th. I had a chronic cough for 15 years that is now gone. Today I had a very scary thing hapen , I got a piece of hamburgetr stuck and I had to cough it up which I did and it hurt really bad. I was afraid I tore the wrap but the pain went away so I thin the pain was due to it getting stuck. They say not to throw up or it iwill tear it, not to lift heavy opjects etc. I am thiking I would know if the wrap tour or slipped? I was doing so good and was in a hurry and didnt chew. Looks like alot of people have had things stuck. I guess I just want some reassureance everythign is still ok even though I am only 3 weeks post opt!
Thanks.
I had the nissan done Nov6th. I had a chronic cough for 15 years that is now gone. Today I had a very scary thing hapen , I got a piece of hamburgetr stuck and I had to cough it up which I did and it hurt really bad. I was afraid I tore the wrap but the pain went away so I thin the pain was due to it getting stuck. They say not to throw up or it iwill tear it, not to lift heavy opjects etc. I am thiking I would know if the wrap tour or slipped? I was doing so good and was in a hurry and didnt chew. Looks like alot of people have had things stuck. I guess I just want some reassureance everythign is still ok even though I am only 3 weeks post opt!
Thanks.
You do need to make sure you chew really really good. I had a hard time with this and had to remind myself all the time. I just wanted real food. When I forgot, I ended up with a lump in my throat that could only be resolved by walking around. I never tried to throw it up as much as I know that would have been a much quicker solution. Deal with the pain and walk until it finally goes down. If you have trouble breathing that is another story. After awhile it will not be as much of a problem. I had my surgery in February and wasn't able to burp until June. What a relief. I got sick a couple week ago and needed or felt like I needed to throw up, but I went to the bathroom and cannot. I try to stay away from throwing up for the same reasons as you stated. I would think it's pretty safe now if I did, but don't want to risk it. Were you actually able to vomit? I just wonder if anyone really can after this surgery. If you did I would think you would know if the nissen slipped, but I am not an expert just a patient. Good luck with it and I hope it turns out well for you. It only gets better with time.
Yes I hope I have learned my lesson on chewing. I have had things stuck before an dit woudl go down but this just wouldnt and I couldnt breath. Yes I did throw up but not the kidn that comes at the bottom of your stomach. It was just the hamburger and water. None of that nasty taste or acid or anything. I was told that I can throw up but not too and if I became nausau or near anyone with a stomach bug to take the pnegren. I think it is the retching, I think they descriped as violent that can hurt it. What I had happen today was not like that but scary none the less and I hope everything is ok. I would think the dry heaving people are describing would be bad too but I have seen alot of that on the board. The other problem was I was in my car in traffic, so walking and being calm were not an option, again lesson learned!
Wow. You can throw up. I know that's sounds strange, but I cannot and I know that you are not supposed to, but some times I really wish I could when I get very nauseous. I guess it is for the best. Sorry to hear you had these problems and especially while driving . That must have been horrible. I am glad that you are now chewing more. Like I said before as time goes by everything will seem normal and you won't notice anything except no more heart burn. Well, once in awhile you will get that stuck feeling, but not very often. If you do they may have made it too tight and you should have it checked out. Best of luck to you. Keep us posted.
Well when I threw it up it was onlybecause it was stuck where the new valve is and couldnt get through. I am not sure about really throwing up, stomach contents. If I ever feel nausea I take teh pnegryn because if I were to get the stomach bug and had heaving retching it coudl tear the wrap according to my surgeon. Mr. T how long has it been since your Nissen?
I had my surgery in February. It really has been a blessing. I am sure the same as you, it was a nightmare before the procedure. I have never heard of that medicine. I will have to see if they have it here. Did you have open or laproscopic surgery? Living in Thailand I really did not have the choice so I had open. It took a bit longer to recover and get around, but all is well now. It just worries me that I may get food poisoning and dry heave. I don't want to go through any repairing surgery. Knock on wood. How are you doing now with it?
No I had it lyperscoptically so my recovering is quicker. What were your symtons before the procedure? I am almost 4 weeks post opt and other than the swelling I am great. I did get a case of Bronchitus that set me back a little but over all still good. Its call phenergan and it does act quickly. I have noticed that some other people have some similiar stuff but I do feel better having it around. I would definitly ask your doctor about it because food poinsing, the stomach bug could happen. Glad you are doing well.
As we are all different in are healing, so are our surgeons in the way they practice. My surgeon never suggested giving me any Phenergan and I never had any nausea. I can also throw up, not that I look forward to being able to do that. But, it certainly came in handy when I got a stomach bug. I've noticed several of you post that your surgeons had given you Phenergan post-op and that you had needed it. It's a good thing you had it. Just reflecting.
Carla
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Well, my constant symptoms were acid reflux so bad that it was eating through the esophogus. I could not eat anything without taking additional medicine. It eveb started to effect my mouth and teeth. We did some tests where you swallow some pepto at night and checked to see how much came up through the night. My mouth was always pitch black. Nothing stayed down and heart burn was unbearable. Then I had a hietal hernia. Medicine didn't help for years so after alot of searching and tests we went through with the surgery. You are lucky you had laproscopic(well not lucky, but) I was opened up from the sternam to the belly button and it was a long recovery. No food or liqiuds for about 8 days and had that darn stomach tube in which was the worst part. Then I was able to have soup which they served me liver broth. Oh what a smell that was coming into the room. Then solids. I think Including pre tests and recovery I was in for about 3 weeks. I look back now and it's all worth it. The doctors and staff at the hospitals here in Thailand were very nice.
How was your procedure and how did it go. I am curious to see the difference from there to here. I am glad you are feeling better. Can you belch yet? I will see if I can find that medicine here, just in case. Thanks
Hi Mr. T,
Well my procedure doesnt sound anywhere near what you had done. I was in the hospital for 1 night. They gave me Jello/Soup at the hospital. I didnt do any solids for at least a week and gradually put some soft veggies in there. On week 3 I was able to do one solid meal a day and the doctor made me up it to 3 meals a day because I was getitng malnurshished from just drinking Ensure and having Veggies. It will be my 4th week on Tuesday and other than the swelling I am back to my ole self. I can eat 3 meals a day, I am still staying away from Bread and any carbonation. Ever since I started adding more solids I have had more energy. I took 2 weeks off of work, worked 3 days the week of Thanksgiving and last week was a full week which was fine. I had a chronic cough for 15 years and it is completley gone. I also had heartburn several hours a day. It was totally worth it to me and I wish I had known about it sooner, everyone always said it was due to my allergies. Well I finally found someone that diagnosed it correct. The Protonex helped for around 6 months and then jsut stopped. I was taking 2 a day and a Zantac. I tried Prilosec, Nexxium and Prevaid and it woudlnt help. Finally they did the Ph test and even staying off acidic foods, I was 8 times the normal limit for acid. So abotu a month after I was scheduled for surgery. This was my 1st time in the hospital but it wasnt so bad. I am sorry to hear you had to have the open but it sounds like you are now benefiting so that is great.
Well my procedure doesnt sound anywhere near what you had done. I was in the hospital for 1 night. They gave me Jello/Soup at the hospital. I didnt do any solids for at least a week and gradually put some soft veggies in there. On week 3 I was able to do one solid meal a day and the doctor made me up it to 3 meals a day because I was getitng malnurshished from just drinking Ensure and having Veggies. It will be my 4th week on Tuesday and other than the swelling I am back to my ole self. I can eat 3 meals a day, I am still staying away from Bread and any carbonation. Ever since I started adding more solids I have had more energy. I took 2 weeks off of work, worked 3 days the week of Thanksgiving and last week was a full week which was fine. I had a chronic cough for 15 years and it is completley gone. I also had heartburn several hours a day. It was totally worth it to me and I wish I had known about it sooner, everyone always said it was due to my allergies. Well I finally found someone that diagnosed it correct. The Protonex helped for around 6 months and then jsut stopped. I was taking 2 a day and a Zantac. I tried Prilosec, Nexxium and Prevaid and it woudlnt help. Finally they did the Ph test and even staying off acidic foods, I was 8 times the normal limit for acid. So abotu a month after I was scheduled for surgery. This was my 1st time in the hospital but it wasnt so bad. I am sorry to hear you had to have the open but it sounds like you are now benefiting so that is great.
I am happy to hear that you are doing so well so quickly, but you are right even though my recovery was a bit longer at least we both got good results. I am sure you are relieved not to have the cough as well. I have heard many people including doctors say not to do it, but for me it really changed my life. I still do not drink many carbonated drinks. The gas can build up in my chest and cause alot of discomfort, but other than that all is good. The one thing you do have to watch is, even though you can eat spicy foods or drink wine without acid reflux, your acid levels can still be very high and it's very hard to detect because it does not come up anymore. Best of luck to you and may you live heart burn and cough free for many years to come.
I just tried to contact my surgeon re: what feels like recurrence of symptoms. I was only allowed to speak w/ the nurse practitioner who said the lap nissen i had 6/06 should be a permanent fix. She said she never heard of it becoming undone. She also said my wt loss, exhaustion, malnutrition were not related to my surgery. She did set up some tests for me, including upper Gi and put me back on protonix at my request. She balked at my constant rib pain as well. I'm an ICU RN and weigh 101 (up from 89)- orig wt 115- never overwt in my life. I feel let down and wonder how others who don't have our knowledge must feel. Anyone relate to this?
I am sorry to hear you are having the symptoms return. My doctor spoke to me before the surgery and said that some may return and some people will still have to be on medication the rest of their lives even with this. I know that is not the best thing to hear, but it's good to know. Some people I have spoke to have had to have the surgery done again. It's different with each person. I would definatley push this issue with you doctor until you get an answer you are looking for. I guess I am lucky here in Thailand because they do listen and will check out everything you request and it's always done the day or the day after the request. They will tell you straight up what is going on or they need to do more tests. So many doctors around the world just don't take the time to really check everything out. They want to see a major problem before checking it out. Good luck. I hope you are able to get the tests to find out your next step. Keep us informed. I'm sure it will help alot of people.
i have had the fundiplication for acid reflux. 
.. ruined my voice. im still refluxing. 
having all the same symptoms. would another help, close off the stomach/esophogous altogether, what is next in the sequence of ppis, surgery, more surgery
m
.. ruined my voice. im still refluxing. having all the same symptoms. would another help, close off the stomach/esophogous altogether, what is next in the sequence of ppis, surgery, more surgerym
Post Edited (diaspora) : 6/26/2008 1:57:30 AM (GMT-6)
I am soo sorry to hear of all the roblems you are havng after Funoplication. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. No lng term problems at all. I fyou are still having problems, I would just go to the doctor and demand tests to prove or disprove what is going on. Nothing is eve easy for us, but we have to do th best we can. AGood luck and keep us informed.
Mr. T