Re: I think that I fell too good

[Guest guest]

Misti,

Glad to hear you're feeling good after the op. I have to say that I

also was amazed – and frankly felt a little guilty - how well I felt

so soon after my lap op (I had mine on the 20th Nov). I think we

can consider ourselves very lucky indeed to live in an age when key-

hole surgery is possible.

I would though raise two points of caution:

Remember, although your surface scars are small and will heal very

fast, don't forget that the major work went on inside. I know I am

stating the obvious but it is easy to forget that it is your insides

that have been more aggravated and they will need more time to heal

and adjust than the visible scars. No heavy lifting and no

straining - which leads on to my second point:

The second, and sorry for raising this, is to be very careful about

constipation. I wasn't and as a result have had major difficulties

the past few days – though fortunately all now finally resolved. It

is of course common to have constipation after surgery but all the

more so given the soft diet which prohibits many vegetables and

fresh fruit and which advises one to restrict fluid intake during

meals to prevent the stomach stretching. Make sure therefore you

continue to take in lots of fluids between meals. Aside from any

stewed or canned fruit, stewed prunes or prune juice are of course

especially good; apparently brown sugar instead of white; and wheat

instead of oats (I had been eating oat porridge each morning which

apparently is high in soluble fibre but it is wheat which is high in

insoluble fibre- which is the type that is better for keeping

movements going). And if things do get backed up, I was advised to

use a mineral based laxative (in the UK: Mil-Par is less known but

better for post surgery problems than the common ones. It contains

Parafin etc.). So as I said apologies for raising this unpleasant

subject but given the real discomfort I have had the past few days,

I hope this might help you and others (pre or just post-op) avoid

the pitfall.

Wishing you a continued successful recovery,

(London, UK)

>

> I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to feel

REALLY

> good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating mashed

potatoes

> and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like they just

> punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed my

insides

> around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

exception of

> a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have nothing

else,

> not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks Guys,

Misti

>

[Guest guest]

- Thank you for your response. I feel better knowing

that I am not the only one. And thank you for your cationary tale.

I dont feel that I got very good post op care, living 350 miles from

my Dr., but the two things that they did send me home with was a

post op esophageal diet and a high dose liquid stool softener.

I did want to ask you though about the not drinking lots of

liquids while you eat meals. I was not aware of this. I have been

eating only half cup to one cup servings 5 to 6 times a day instead

of big meals, but I have been drinking lots of fluids with them.

Please tell me more of what you know on the subject, I thought that

we were supposed to drink alot to push the food down.

Also glad to hear you are still doing good, with few

difficulties. I think that seeing your message just days after you

had the surgery helped me to think that this wouldn't be so bad

after all. Thanks again, Misti

> >

> > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to feel

> REALLY

> > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating mashed

> potatoes

> > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like they just

> > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed my

> insides

> > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> exception of

> > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have nothing

> else,

> > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks Guys,

> Misti

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Misti,

Interesting, and very good of them, that they did think to give you

the stool softener and also a diet sheet. I actually only came away

with a pack of paracetemol - though I feel I should add my surgeon

was really excellent as was the care and attention I got at the

hospital.

As a result, the limited information I have on restricting water

during mealtimes came from a diet sheet that was recommended by

someone in this group (apologies but I can't remember who to credit

for it) but for reference it can be found here:

http://patienteducation.upmc.com/Pdf/NissenFundoDiet.pdf#search=%

And there was also reference made to limiting water intake during

meals on another diet sheet I found on the net here:

http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/learning-center/pted/docs/hc0431.pdf

(And just for completeness another diet sheet can be found here:

http://www.gisurgeon.com.au/pdf/nfds.pdf )

I guess the idea – and no doubt others more knowledgeable than me

could add to/correct me on this – is that since the soft diet should

be sufficiently sloppy (ie. liquidy enough) to allow it to drop into

the stomach without effort, one doesn't want to fill up on too much

extra water (they all say a little water is fine) and in so doing

either prevent eating enough or over fill the stomach since

certainly all seem to agree that around six small meals per day are

the preferred option.

What is interesting though as far as the diet sheets are concerned

is the inconsistencies between them. For instance one says to avoid

raw tomatoes and the other recommends them and the same seems to

apply to Bananas. I just wish though I could find a diet sheet that

allows Beer – though I guess the chances of that are pretty slim!

Anyway hope all continues to go well for you.

Best wishes,

(London, UK)

> > >

> > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to feel

> > REALLY

> > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating mashed

> > potatoes

> > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like they

just

> > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed my

> > insides

> > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > exception of

> > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have nothing

> > else,

> > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

Guys,

> > Misti

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone - Mal from Aust here again. Like you Misti, I'm

grateful to for talking about his op, as I'm coming up for

mine (Heller + Dor) on Wed Dec 13. Also glad you are both doing well.

Good too to hear all the other stories. My surgeon in Canberra told

me he has done over 40 of these and does almost all the ones for this

city (which has only 320,000 population btw) plus the surrounding

regions. He was friendly and seemed quite knowledgable - his

website reports he is a pioneer in laparascopic GI surgery in

Australia. ( - I won't even mention the cricket, apart from to

say maybe I have the perfect excuse now to sit back and watch the next

game starting on 14th, and see the English boys fight back...for

readers in non-cricketing countries, this incomprehensible game lasts

for up to 5 days, and even then there is no guarantee of a result.....)

> > > >

> > > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to feel

> > > REALLY

> > > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating mashed

> > > potatoes

> > > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like they

> just

> > > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed my

> > > insides

> > > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > > exception of

> > > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have nothing

> > > else,

> > > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

> Guys,

> > > Misti

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Mal,

Really happy to hear what I posted previously was useful. Having

silently gathered so much information from the old-hands of this

group during the run up to my op, I'm really glad to hear that I

have been able to put something useful back.

It's certainly good news too to hear you found the right surgeon – I

reckon that's certainly half the battle - and I wish you the very

best of luck for next week.

All the best,

(London, UK)

p.s. I would have wished you the " best of British " but given

England's, shall we say, less than stellar performance on your side

of the world, I reckon the less said about the British/English bit

the better! Of course we still live in hope – although perhaps that

should be denial – but I'm not holding my breath.

> > > > >

> > > > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to

feel

> > > > REALLY

> > > > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating

mashed

> > > > potatoes

> > > > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like

they

> > just

> > > > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed

my

> > > > insides

> > > > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > > > exception of

> > > > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have

nothing

> > > > else,

> > > > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

> > Guys,

> > > > Misti

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Micheal,

The problem for me is I have to have water!! Nothing goes down

without it.

JC

> > > >

> > > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to feel

> > > REALLY

> > > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating mashed

> > > potatoes

> > > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like they

> just

> > > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed my

> > > insides

> > > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > > exception of

> > > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have

nothing

> > > else,

> > > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

> Guys,

> > > Misti

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi JC,

I wonder if you misunderstood me. I wasn't suggesting that as a

general rule one should avoid water during meals. On the contrary,

as you say, having A means it is of course generally necessary to

drink water during mealtime since without peristalsis there is often

nothing to get the food down without lubrication.

The reference to trying to restrict water during meals came about in

relation to the suggestions made on various diet sheets covering the

post-op period of about six weeks (some more / some less) during

which time the wounds need to heal and the stomach to adjust. And

of course here too, the reason why I guess it is possible to

restrict the amount of water is because the diet during this time

should be sloppy (ie. very liquidy) and so hopefully will have

enough liquid/water in the meal itself to help it go down and drop

into the stomach.

That said of course it is also worth noting that most of the diet

sheets that seem to be available are for various types of

fundoplication and therefore apply as much to those suffering from

severe reflux as those having a Heller Myotomy with partial fundo

because of A. As such those with just reflux have I believe

perfectly normal peristalsis and so movement of food through the

oesophagus will not need the additional help that we need because of

A.

So I guess, as with all these things, the diet sheets have to be

treated only as a guide and everyone has to find what's best for

them.

Best wishes,

(London, UK)

> > > > >

> > > > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to

feel

> > > > REALLY

> > > > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating

mashed

> > > > potatoes

> > > > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like

they

> > just

> > > > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed

my

> > > > insides

> > > > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > > > exception of

> > > > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have

> nothing

> > > > else,

> > > > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

> > Guys,

> > > > Misti

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

In our case,after surgery,Dr.had suggested to have a glass of water 1 hr before

meals n also 1 hr after meals..he said to avoid drinking water during the

meals,if possible.

But, he said that u can drink as little as possible during the meals,only if

necessary.

But, I believe that this need is different person to person and hence it should

be taken as a general guidance..actually ,this is also true for people without

achalasia.

Mukesh

Re: I think that I fell too good

Hi JC,

I wonder if you misunderstood me. I wasn't suggesting that as a

general rule one should avoid water during meals. On the contrary,

as you say, having A means it is of course generally necessary to

drink water during mealtime since without peristalsis there is often

nothing to get the food down without lubrication.

The reference to trying to restrict water during meals came about in

relation to the suggestions made on various diet sheets covering the

post-op period of about six weeks (some more / some less) during

which time the wounds need to heal and the stomach to adjust. And

of course here too, the reason why I guess it is possible to

restrict the amount of water is because the diet during this time

should be sloppy (ie. very liquidy) and so hopefully will have

enough liquid/water in the meal itself to help it go down and drop

into the stomach.

That said of course it is also worth noting that most of the diet

sheets that seem to be available are for various types of

fundoplication and therefore apply as much to those suffering from

severe reflux as those having a Heller Myotomy with partial fundo

because of A. As such those with just reflux have I believe

perfectly normal peristalsis and so movement of food through the

oesophagus will not need the additional help that we need because of

A.

So I guess, as with all these things, the diet sheets have to be

treated only as a guide and everyone has to find what's best for

them.

Best wishes,

(London, UK)

> > > > >

> > > > > I had the lap sugery 5 days ago, but is it common to

feel

> > > > REALLY

> > > > > good?? I mean I have been out xmas shopping and eating

mashed

> > > > potatoes

> > > > > and soups and lots of fluid with no problems, its like

they

> > just

> > > > > punched holes in my stomach and sent me home, not changed

my

> > > > insides

> > > > > around. What has recovery been like for everyone else?

> > > > > It may be stupid to worry about no pain, but with the

> > > > exception of

> > > > > a few muscle spasms for which I take IB profen, I have

> nothing

> > > > else,

> > > > > not that Im not grateful, but I was just curious. Thanks

> > Guys,

> > > > Misti

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>