When does this normalize!? -Pit of Stomach Pain and Churning

[Miss215 21]

I am 4 days post-op. For starters, I apparently had a large hiatal hernia that they repaired and it is causing dull middle chest pain sometimes when I swallow, that sometimes radiates to the center back. It is a weird feeling that stops me in my tracks. In my research the swelling of the esophageal-stomach junction area repaired can cause discomfort when swallowing for as long as 6-8 weeks after surgery. Has anyone experienced this?

Separately, my stomach seems to hate everything I try to put into it. I can really only COMFORTABLY ingest Water, Protein Water, Jello, and broth...even Protein Shakes are causing discomfort. By Day 4, I would’ve expected to tolerate more. Everything else causes my stomach to have 5 second episodes of flipping and flopping and cramping with each sip. I’m over it!!! The one thing I hoped for with this surgery was an uncomplicated and easy recovery. So far, it’s not happening.

I’m sure I probably need to just be patient and let my body heal, but I’m becoming anxious.

[New&Improved 1,780]

Ring the surgeon ASAP

[Miss215 21]

On 05/29/2020 at 21:33, Miss215 said:

I am 4 days post-op. For starters, I apparently had a large hiatal hernia that they repaired and it is causing dull middle chest pain sometimes when I swallow, that sometimes radiates to the center back. It is a weird feeling that stops me in my tracks. In my research the swelling of the esophageal-stomach junction area repaired can cause discomfort when swallowing for as long as 6-8 weeks after surgery. Has anyone experienced this?

Separately, my stomach seems to hate everything I try to put into it. I can really only COMFORTABLY ingest Water, Protein Water, Jello, and broth...even Protein Shakes are causing discomfort. By Day 4, I would’ve expected to tolerate more. Everything else causes my stomach to have 5 second episodes of flipping and flopping and cramping with each sip. I’m over it!!! The one thing I hoped for with this surgery was an uncomplicated and easy recovery. So far, it’s not happening.

I’m sure I probably need to just be patient and let my body heal, but I’m becoming anxious.

All is well...literally 6 hours after I posted this, I turned a corner lol..my stomach is still figuring out what to tolerate, but I can definitely get down my Protein and fluids each day with no difficulty and I’m having much less discomfort! It’s as I surmised, I just need to be patient!

[NikkiOwl 24]

Hi Miss! I was having issues like you mentioned and was sad thinking I would live on Jello forever but this week got so much better. I am 3 weeks today. I also had to take antibiotics which made food uncomfortable so there’s that. I am glad you turned the corner. Keep us posted!

[Abcdefg 17]

On 5/29/2020 at 8:33 PM, Miss215 said:

I am 4 days post-op. For starters, I apparently had a large hiatal hernia that they repaired and it is causing dull middle chest pain sometimes when I swallow, that sometimes radiates to the center back. It is a weird feeling that stops me in my tracks. In my research the swelling of the esophageal-stomach junction area repaired can cause discomfort when swallowing for as long as 6-8 weeks after surgery. Has anyone experienced this?

Separately, my stomach seems to hate everything I try to put into it. I can really only COMFORTABLY ingest Water, Protein Water, Jello, and broth...even Protein Shakes are causing discomfort. By Day 4, I would’ve expected to tolerate more. Everything else causes my stomach to have 5 second episodes of flipping and flopping and cramping with each sip. I’m over it!!! The one thing I hoped for with this surgery was an uncomplicated and easy recovery. So far, it’s not happening.

I’m sure I probably need to just be patient and let my body heal, but I’m becoming anxious.

I’m 3 day post op and had a hiatal hernia repair too and I’m beyond miserable. I’m so happy to read you turned a corner. Gives me hope! I know we’ll be ok eventually but dang this is worse than I expected.

[Lanie992 168]

I had my hiatal hernia repaired too and did not know that the sharp pain was related to that... I thought it was related to the sleeve surgery. It is such a jarring feeling but luckily mine only lasts about 15 seconds each time.. I keep having good "hours" and not so great "hours" (instead of days.. it is now marked by hours).

I think we just need to give it time. I am on day 10 (almost 11).

[Miss215 21]

05/31/2020 06:05 PM, Angienharry said:

I’m 3 day post op and had a hiatal hernia repair too and I’m beyond miserable. I’m so happy to read you turned a corner. Gives me hope! I know we’ll be ok eventually but dang this is worse than I expected.

Yes, it definitely gets better. For a second, I was ready to tell the surgeon that something was wrong! Lol I’m officially one week post-op today and I feel 10 x better than a few days ago. I am getting my Protein in and able to swallow much more comfortably. My tummy is still freaking out at some things I try to give it, but it has calmed down for the most part. One thing that helped, that my surgeon did not actually prescribe me, was an acid blocker. In my experience as a nurse, we usually always give patients who are eating little to no food some sort of acid reduction coverage to prevent upset stomach. So, I started taking low dose Pepcid on my own a few days ago and that seemed to help also. My primary issue now is constipation!! Oy vey! 😩

[Miss215 21]

On 05/31/2020 at 23:35, Lanie992 said:

I had my hiatal hernia repaired too and did not know that the sharp pain was related to that... I thought it was related to the sleeve surgery. It is such a jarring feeling but luckily mine only lasts about 15 seconds each time.. I keep having good "hours" and not so great "hours" (instead of days.. it is now marked by hours).

I think we just need to give it time. I am on day 10 (almost 11).

Right! We just have to relax, trust ourselves and let our body work itself out.