Hi, My name is Ben and this is my Fundoplication story.
I just had my surgery on Jan. 26th/00 late in the afternoon. I am a 27 year old male in otherwise good health. I think all in all, my procedure went very well. I had self administered morphine wed. evening after the surgery, and asked them to take it away thurs. morning at 8. I have been taking extra strength Tylenol since. Codine makes me feel stoned - don't like that feeling. I was up and about at 10am thurs.

I had no difficulty passing wind or with bowel movements. The pain has was tolerable. Deep breathing,coughing and sneezing produced a considerable amount of pain. I felt really good all day considering I had five hols cut in my body 12 hour before. Fri. morning my surgeon allowed me to go home. Ifelt pretty shitty all day fri. and sat. Very sore and tired. Had some tuna and chinese food friday night - kinda tough to get down.

The surgeon said I may never belch again - wrong. No problems at all! In fact, I have been very belchy, especially if I try and eat too quickly.

Eating has been my only obstacle so far. I find myself having to eat VERY slowly, taking small bites, and chewing them thoroughly. If I swallow too much at a time, I can feel it get stuck, creating a painful pressure until it can work it's way through. They say this will loosen up a bit in the weeks to come, but I will always have to eat slowly and not overeat. Even the tylenol pills get stuck briefly before they work their way through. I find myself getting bored or tired of eating before I can get full. Maybe I can lose a couple of unwanted pounds now!

I wanted to share my story because I couldn't find any prior to my sugery, so hopefully this will help someone else to not be too afraid. I was very lucky that everything went as they said it would. I even drove myself home from the hospital. It has now been six days since my sugery, and I feel pretty great! Minimal pain, and I hope to be back building boats soon. Good Luck everybody! Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Ben Tanchak, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.