And I am doing awesome! I have not had heartburn or acid reflux since! I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want. It took me about 4 weeks before I could eat completely normal, but it was so worth the wait. I am grateful that I did have this surgery since I needed it so badly. So I was just giving some hope to those who may be facing this surgery. The recovery isn't fun, but the results for me were worth it all!!!

Andilyn:

I am facing the possibility of this surgery.

Can you tell me, in your opinion, if you think that if a person has a physical defect in their upper digestive tract that allows this reflux, that there is any other method (i.e. diet, sleeping positions, prescribed medicines, etc, etc.) that can really give a fairly COMPLETE & fairly permanent relief from the acid reflux problem ?

Thanks.

Well this is the way my dr explained it to me: He said that if it's a fairly mild case of the reflux, then after about 4-5 weeks of a strict diet change, and meds, you should be able to get by with only an occasional attack. However, as was the case with my situation, if there is damage done to the esophagus, then all the medicine and diet changes in the world won't help long term. He said that it would only be a short term fix. And also I have heard that sometimes down the road, your meds can stop working or not work as effectively. But now that I have been sown up down there, nothing can come back up, so he had me take prevacid for 4 weeks after the surgery to give it a shot to heal now that it couldn't get burned again. Like I said though, I feel so good now. I honestly don't remember what it was like to have heartburn and the reflux. I was scared going into the surgery itself, and the first 2 days weren't too fun. I had to have a nasal GI tube in, which basically pumps the acid out of your stomach until you can start eating again. The only problems I ran into were some chest pain afterwards, but I also had a hiatal hernia repair, so it might have just been from that. And for the first 3 weeks, when I would eat, it felt like it would get stuck a little, which is very common, and felt nauseaous on and off for a bit. But it's just one of those things ya gotta get through and know that it's pretty temporary. Good luck if you do end up having to have surgery, and if you have any other questions, I'm here for you!

Did you have a "normal" manometry test preop? The reason I ask is because medication is no longer effective for me (it helped for 5 years) and the doctor said the muscles in my esophagus arent properly clearing out food/stomach contents/etc. and he said they dont perform surgery for this. I dont know if he meant they dont recommend it or they cant. Ill have to ask when I have my next appointment in two weeks but was just wondering what your experience was

My manometry test was mostly normal. There was some parts of the esophagus that weren't functioning as well as they should have, but my dr said since I had a pretty bad case, that the best thing in the end was surgery. But he did say that if the test wasn't normal, then they couldn't do the surgery at that time. He would have given me meds that help strengthen the esophagus muscle, which I guess is the same meds they give to help stroke patients too. But after trying those, he said he would do a repeat test, and if it helped, then he would go ahead with the surgery. The reason they can't operate if you have that problem is because you need a strong muscle to be able to push the food through the smaller and much tighter opening post-op. I guess the food can just literally sit there and cause a lot of problems. But thankfully I didn't have to deal with anything like that. But hopefully they can help get it strengthened and do the surgery if you need it. Good luck!

May I ask you did you have the Nissen Fundo. for LPR or GERD?

I had it done for GERD.

Congrats on your recovery! I had the NF done 11 years ago. Recovery was a long ordeal, and I didn't eat solid for 7 weeks. 4 weeks is great for you! I haven't have one instance of hearburn in 11 years. But boy, what a trade off -- it took me almost a year to be able to burp -- thats no fun because I had to digest the gas that belching was supposed to get rid of. But the worst is the permanent side effect: not being able to vomit. I have had a few times in those years where I needed to, but physically couldn't. Still can't. Its still very hard for me to burp. I also have to make sure I don't take too big of a bite of meat or solid food, because if I don't chew it VERY good, it hurts going down. I do not recommend the surgery, and if I knew what the side effects were going to be (the doctor didn't tell me), I would have lived with the GERD.

Best of luck in your recovery! :)

andilyn - thanks for posting your experiences with surgery. It's something I'm considering as well thought my doctor has asked that I "tread water" for another 3 or 4 months until more data is in on the less invasive Esophyx implant procedure. Again, appreciate the upbeat message.

I had it done for GERD.

hey Andilyn,

I am 35 and just had the nissen done 5 days ago. I can not eat anything (except juice and water) with out becoming nausea and bloated. Does this go away and how long? I am miserable right now and wonder if the surgery was worth it. I read your testimonal and am impressed how much you like the surgery. My main question is how long until i can eat nomal again.

hi wazzurx...

I can completely relate to you! I felt for the first week or so after surgery that it was a mistake. I couldn't eat, I felt so sick, and I was so sore. But honestly, it does go away. Around 7 days post-op I was eating 3 small meals a day, but only soft things, like pudding and yogurt. It took about 3 weeks of eating that way before I could finally start eating more solid foods. But I had to be so careful and chew it so well or else it got stuck. But all in all I would say it took me a good 5 weeks before I felt like I was eating normaly. But the nausea feeling stayed with me for about 7-8 weeks. But it did eventually get better. Now it's been 11 weeks and I am only getting it occasionally. I can burp ok again, but I haven't tried throwing up. I hear that most can't, but haven't gotten to that point yet. So hang in there! It is rough for a bit, but I recovered so well from it that I am really satified with the surgery. Hopefully you'll be feeling good in a few weeks. If you have any other questions I am happy to answer them for you.

I had the nissen 2 years ago--I had similar experiences with eating, burping, vomiting, etc. After 2 months with difficulty eating normal size bites of food, I had a series of 3 dilation procedures to stretch the wrap at the top of the stomach. This made a big improvement in eating, but I am still having problems eating and drinking normally, probably because the wrap is still too tight--the food still back up and irritates my esophagus producing the same symptoms of the significant GERD prior to surgery.