Nissen Fundoplication: Post Surgery Update

Everything with the Nissen Fundoplication surgery on Wednesday went really well and am feeling alright so far!  

I was feeling extremely nervous before the surgery earlier in the week after reading some of the post surgery forums that they have out there (you know those garbage forums where hypochondriacs and paranoid elderly people post about their nightmare surgeries??).  I know that I shouldn't have looked at those that but I didn't listen! And I was scared out of my mind!

Luckily though I have a friend that works here in the Cities within the healthcare industry that made some calls to her fellow doctors, did some investigative research and checked some references on my surgeon and hospital very last minute for me.  Without her I'm honestly not sure that I would have been able to do it...I was THAT nervous.  But I went through with it and I'm here to tell those of wondering what to expect (weather you are considering the surgery for GERD or if you have already decided to have it done) since I couldn't find what I was looking for online when I went searching for someone in their 20's that had went through with the procedure .

Choosing a Surgeon

I had the procedure done at Abbott Northwestern, which is one of the more well known hospitals in the Twin Cities for surgery.  As far as who performed the surgery, I met with Dr. Dawn Johnson of Surgical Specialists of Minnesota a few months back and after having met with three doctors in the past about my GERD issues, I chose her for multiple reasons: 

• She is a good listener, which is actually quite a rare quality in a doctor...especially for one that has been in practice for over 15 years.
• When I asked her questions about my test results done previously I could tell that she actually had looked through my charts and results and had taken time previous to our appointment and was respectful of our time.  Because nothing drives me more nuts then when they come in late and then skim through your chart for the first time when they sit down and waste your time to ask the same questions that are in your medical history.
• Dr. Johnson had done about 200 of this specific procedure and while that might not be 1000, this procedure has become more rare since the introduction of PIP's and other medications for acid reduction and I have been told by other people that it's a good number for this particular procedure.
• Surgical Specialists of Minnesota operates with two surgeons (versus a surgeon and a nurse) which I thought was great, especially since there were so many hands needed for this laparoscopic procedure.
• Dr. Dawn Johnson had also nominated by a group of 140 of her fellow doctors as one of the "Best General Surgery as well as Gastroenterology Doctors for Women" in 2010 as well as 2011 (which is a project run through the Minneapolis Monthly magazine).  She might even have been nominated before that as well but I couldn't find great information for the result previous to 2010.

What Happened That Day?

Upon arrival and after being checked in, they had me put on my gown and socks and meet with my Surgeon, Nurse and then Anesthesiologist.  Dr. Johnson and Dr. Nissen (my Anesthesiologist, what a coincidence!) walked me through "best case scenario" and then "not best case scenario".  Best case was the laparoscopic where I would have 5 small incisions on various parts of my stomach and would hopefully only be taking pain medication by mouth for a week or so post surgery.  

If you're going to go...go in style!

Not best case was that they would, for one reason or another, need to make a large vertical incision on my abdomen to get at what they needed to.  They then explained that a epidural would be done post surgery, which would be slightly higher then where they insert it for child birth epidurals.  Shots in the spine...I could get sick thinking about it!?  Another not best case was that they would need to elongate my esophagus; they would do that by taking out a bit of my stomach near my esphogus so that my esphogus had more slack and they could fully wrap my stomach around it.

They then put on my IV, inserted some relaxants, hooked my gown up to a little warmer (which was liked a pimped out snuggie!), rolled me into the operation room, put the gas mask on me....and from there it was all gone memory-wise.  During the surgery they put a breathing tube in me, made their five incisions and completed the full wrap successfully in a procedure that lasted about 2 hours from start to finish.

Post surgery they woke me up and let me know that everything went well, I was able to have it done laparoscopically and that they would send my fiance up to my room (versus post-op where I currently was) to meet me in about a half hour.  As far as discomfort, my throat was pretty dry from the breathing tube and I felt like I had just done about 2.5 million sit-ups.  Luckily there were good pain meds though and was relatively comfortable.

I know that this is probably not cool to some of you, but, the  reason I put this on here was that I was having issues finding pictures of the incisions when I had been looking before my surgery and would have like to see one like this to make me feel a little more comfortable of what I was signing up for.  It's kind of bloated (looks worse than it is actually) but the stitches were less invasive then I was expecting so that's good.  The belly button one is kind of red since that incision was used the most for the scopes but the others look better.

Today I do have quite a bit of pressure in my chest since I've started getting up and moving around but nothing too serious, mainly just overall soreness.  Some people on the forums talk about having extreme discomfort in their shoulders (sometimes feels like a heart attack) and ab cavity from the gas that they fill up your abdomen with during surgery but what I've been feeling is luckily bearable with the pain medication.

As far as food, I've had some chicken stock, apple juice, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes with gravy and blended canned pears.  So far so good and while I can't eat very much and it feels kind of funny, my esophagus seems to be working and letting these things down.

Now with that all out of the way, a THANK YOU goes out to all of you that prayed for me and sent over well wishes the last few weeks and supported me through this!  Seems like the prayers have worked so far and I appreciate it more than you know!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Amber for the beautiful flowers! Love them!

Lastly, another really big THANK YOU goes out to my very handsome fiance Adam, who has had to see many of the ups and downs of me dealing with this but has always been there for me.  You've been super supportive and helpful (especially over the last few days when I have needed the most help) so thank you for all of the help around the house, with spending extra time with Wallace since I can't :(, the slippers that you got for me, moving the TV and all of the things that went with it into our bedroom so that I was comfortable, the little grocery trips that you've promised to make for me this weekend and for sooo much more!  XXOO!  Sorry that I've had to test out the "in sickness" part of our vows before the wedding but hopefully this means that I will be reflux-free while having our wedding meal! 

Yeah, I think that black and white is probably best for this one so that you don't see the bags under my eyes.  You'll find out about my delightful roommate in my next post and how we had a GREAT  slumber party the other night!  Only weird thing was that she slept all night and I didn't!?*