Fundoplication

Posted by christina1508 @christina1508, Jun 14, 2023

Hi

I had my toupet ( partial wrap) fundoplication on the 26th of May. I am now 4 days post op and I'm back home.

So I'm not going to lie and I want to give my honest opinion of my story but remember everyone is different and copes differently.

when I woke in recovery room I was obviously highly dosed on drugs and didn't feel any pain.

back on the ward pretty sure I just dosed on and off. I realised pretty soon I could swallow with no issues despite having a gastric tube in my nose down in to my stomach. This was in place attached to a bag to drain contents and gas from the stomach. At first it wasn't bothering me but I was soon begging for it to be taken out. It was so thick and everytime I moved or spoke it was rubbing on my throat causing me to retch.. this hurt my stomach area. it was also causing me to swallow therfore filling me with more air. Had it removed later in the morning and that was such a relief.

Had to have help to get out of bed and was up walking round the day after.

The gas they use to bloat you up to be able to do the surgery is very uncomfortable in your chest and shoulders and it does feel like it very hard to breathe. you can breathe but it's uncomfortable... heavy.

walking around definitely helps get rid of this.

laxatives are a must as you get bunged up and can make you feel very sick and of course you can't be sick after this operation.

Day 4 I feel pretty okay actually. I'm resting and tired. Not got much of an appetite but swallowing as not been an issue and I am able to burp. little burps.

the gas bloat is real though but totally normally and I've told that will calm down after 2 to 3 months

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

Sounds like you’re doing better now and I’m so glad. I had a Nissan fundiplication done 10 years ago. Not at Mayo, now it has re-herniated and partially unwrapped and I’m having the surgery done at Mayo the end of this month. I wish I would’ve had it at Mayo in the beginning. Maybe it wouldn’t have unwrapped, but I went to a local small hospital three hours away from Mayo where I live the first time. I appreciate your comments and hopefully I can learn by them. I wasn’t aware that we would have a gastric tube in place after surgery. I’ll have to ask my surgeon.

REPLY

Hi there,
Sorry your having to go though it again. Unfortunately these don't last forever and just like everything with our body they loosen over time. I'm 35 now and was told by my surgeon that I will probably need to have this redone in my 50s. They say it should last 15 years but this is not always the case.
I did so much research about fundoplication before my surgery and did not find anything saying about a gastric tube after operation, so was shocked myself to have it. I will be asking at my next appointment why i had it and is it standard, that was by far the worst part of it.
Good luck with your re-do I hope you recover well

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I had a toupet fundoplication five months ago. Still having dysphagia and can’t advance my diet past soft foods. I can’t eat more than small portions at a time and I am exhausted after so much chewing. Eating is so tiring. Only option is to undo part of wrap but that will bring back reflux. Dilation didn’t help. Had to stop omeprazole due to critically low magnesium levels. No non-PPIs work, so it would be untreated except for diet. Don’t want more surgery but cannot stand my restricted diet and diminished life style. Thoughts from anyone?

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I'm very surprised your having issues with swallowing after a partial wrap. Im 3 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I'm eating crackers with hummus, last night i had a baby portion of shephards pie. I obviously chew chew chew until its a soft mush but I've had no issues swallowing. I'm very full quickly and eat tiny amounts but again I'm early in my recovery. Have you tried to eat slightly more every few days to increase your stomach size?
You mentioned having the wrap undone..they can do 180 wrap instead, maybe a it's too tight for you currently.
H2 blockers are a different medication to ppis but they stop production of acid in the stomach... is this not an option?

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@christina1508

Hi there,
Sorry your having to go though it again. Unfortunately these don't last forever and just like everything with our body they loosen over time. I'm 35 now and was told by my surgeon that I will probably need to have this redone in my 50s. They say it should last 15 years but this is not always the case.
I did so much research about fundoplication before my surgery and did not find anything saying about a gastric tube after operation, so was shocked myself to have it. I will be asking at my next appointment why i had it and is it standard, that was by far the worst part of it.
Good luck with your re-do I hope you recover well

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Thank you and keep me informed of how you’re doing

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@beverlyrudy

I had a toupet fundoplication five months ago. Still having dysphagia and can’t advance my diet past soft foods. I can’t eat more than small portions at a time and I am exhausted after so much chewing. Eating is so tiring. Only option is to undo part of wrap but that will bring back reflux. Dilation didn’t help. Had to stop omeprazole due to critically low magnesium levels. No non-PPIs work, so it would be untreated except for diet. Don’t want more surgery but cannot stand my restricted diet and diminished life style. Thoughts from anyone?

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So sorry you are having post op problems. I have a redo scheduled next week. Fingers crossed that I have a good outcome. Keep us informed how you’re doing as well.

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@beverlyrudy

I had a toupet fundoplication five months ago. Still having dysphagia and can’t advance my diet past soft foods. I can’t eat more than small portions at a time and I am exhausted after so much chewing. Eating is so tiring. Only option is to undo part of wrap but that will bring back reflux. Dilation didn’t help. Had to stop omeprazole due to critically low magnesium levels. No non-PPIs work, so it would be untreated except for diet. Don’t want more surgery but cannot stand my restricted diet and diminished life style. Thoughts from anyone?

Jump to this post

Oh gosh, I am sorry to hear that. how are you feeling now? Any better? Worse? I am having the toupet fundoplication next month and I'm worried sick over it. I should NOT have come here to see all the comments about it NOT working. I can't find one comment that has anything good to say. 🙁 I wish you well, hope you are feeling better.

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Everyone’s esophageal physiology is different. I needed the Toupet due to uncontrolled GERD, that worked, I had a second surgery to take down the Toupet to a Dor in the hope that would help my dysphagia. It did not. After having gone through that, plus two more dilations, the conclusion is that my problem is not structural but a functional problem with ineffective motility. It’s taken weeks to get a referral but I am seeing a motility specialist next week. Don’t give up on the Toupet if you need it, especially if you have Barrett’s like me. But I would make sure that is your only realistic option. There is a new class of drugs the FDA just approved for esophagitis called P-CABs that might help in the future for folks that can’t tolerate the adverse effects of PPIs, like me. I learned through this yearlong process that surgeons think like surgeons, so make sure your general GI is on board. Cheers

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@isaumur

Oh gosh, I am sorry to hear that. how are you feeling now? Any better? Worse? I am having the toupet fundoplication next month and I'm worried sick over it. I should NOT have come here to see all the comments about it NOT working. I can't find one comment that has anything good to say. 🙁 I wish you well, hope you are feeling better.

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People who had the surgery and are back to normal don't follow blogs like this one. It's too bad because we could really use the info.

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@beverlyrudy

Everyone’s esophageal physiology is different. I needed the Toupet due to uncontrolled GERD, that worked, I had a second surgery to take down the Toupet to a Dor in the hope that would help my dysphagia. It did not. After having gone through that, plus two more dilations, the conclusion is that my problem is not structural but a functional problem with ineffective motility. It’s taken weeks to get a referral but I am seeing a motility specialist next week. Don’t give up on the Toupet if you need it, especially if you have Barrett’s like me. But I would make sure that is your only realistic option. There is a new class of drugs the FDA just approved for esophagitis called P-CABs that might help in the future for folks that can’t tolerate the adverse effects of PPIs, like me. I learned through this yearlong process that surgeons think like surgeons, so make sure your general GI is on board. Cheers

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which mayo clinic are you going too?

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