A weird post surgery question

[JudithD23]

Hi,

I haven't posted in a while, kind of because Tom is (which I'm very happy about), but I've missed it.

Anyway, Tom has been burping a lot, which he never did before the surgery and it really only started about two weeks ago. We spoke to his cardiologist on a followup visit and he prescribed protonix, but that hasn't helped at all and Tom says it really doesn't feel like acid reflux, just air.

Tom is doing better and better, but still with bumps in the road: the throbbing, pounding, etc. still really gets to him, mostly at night. I try to get him to do less during the day (very hard to do) to see if that will help alleviate the pounding at night to some degree and I think yesterday was a little better. Last night was his best night yet and I could tell by his mood, and still I remind him that we can expect "three steps forward and two steps back". That is so true. The unusual thing (or is it?) about the pounding is that he'll be sitting relaxing and the pounding will be background, and then all of a sudden it'll come forcefully to the foreground, without him doing a thing. Any ideas?

We see his OHS on Monday for his 5+ week followup and will ask his opinion about the pounding. Tom's latest theory is that he needs to build up some more muscle mass to kind of muffle the sensation/sound. I can't believe it'll be five weeks already; the time has flown by and thank goodness we're on the other side of the mountain.

Thanks everyone and take care,

Judith

 

[Susan BAV]

Hi Judith -

I've missed your posts too but it's also so nice to see Tom posting!

A lot of us have had more indigestion issues post-op. Possibly others will post about that soon. There is even a way that I lay to sleep at night (on either side) that allows the heartburn to creep up and burn; but with just a slight body movement, the heartburn instantly stops. I guess that esophagus flap down there is different on me now or something.

Also, I don't know if this is similar to what Tom is experiencing, but sometimes my heart will just start pounding in the middle of the night and wake me up and if I get up and drink some water, it will settle down; so I think that in my case it is a bit of a hydrating issue. If I just drink a glass of water right before bed, I'm not aware of it happening.

 

[CHDDoug]

As I sit here and type, I can feel the pounding that you are talking about. I am 5+ weeks post op as well and I can feel (even see in my stomach) my heart pounding when I sit in my chair or lay in my bed. I think that is normal. My surgeon told me that the reason it's so pronounced after surgery is lack of fluid surrounding the heart...to help muffle the beat. As time goes by, the fluid slowly comes back and helps to muffle the beat. Makes sense to me. Good luck with the rest of the recovery!!!

Take care!

 

[MikeHeim]

I can address the burping as it was an odd issue for me as well. I would burp 1-2 times per hour, regardless of whether or not I had eaten or drank anything. Very odd. It got better with time, but I never did find out what the deal was or what it had to do with OHS. Pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, from my point of view.

 

[Cooker]

As others have said the pounding will subside?.it takes time?..As far as the burping, I had none of this but I had other ?weird? things?..Our bodies take a heck of a beating with OHS?..things settle down, I promise.

 

[Bina]

Post op I had a weird "hiccup" thing for a few months; this changed to what I would call excessive burping.
I still burp, but at least I can control it more.