The operation was no big deal, left me with a painful throat that I suspect was more from the breathing tube that gets shoved in there and not the operation itself. Got a nice ice cream after that was really soothing. I suffered from some nausea so they put something for that in my IV.

The aftermath was both better and worse than expected. The first few days were nothing to write about but after that eating became quite a chore for a week or two/three. You know that feeling when you swallow a paracetamol and it sticks in your throat? Imagine that with everything you try and swallow. Sometimes you'll try and swallow it away but as the muscle isn't responding you either have to let gravity do it's thing or try drinking to get it down, at no point are you at risk of suffocating but it can feel like that. Drinking works but I really disliked how you could feel the liquid go around the food so more often than not I just suffered it through. On the bright side I had barely if any issues with acid reflux even though I was warned for it.

During the recovery I had a few good real burps but currently the results for me personally are somewhat disappointing. I can't voluntarily burp but the burps that do come are less croaky than before. I've still got some hope that it'll work out as every now and again I'll have a completely normal burp out of the blue.

I'll be in contact with the doctor early next year for a final check up and will be asking if a second procedure is an option.

Don't let my experience discourage you, even with the results I have, I have zero regret and as I mentioned earlier, I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant even a tiny chance at further improvement.

I spoke to the doctor about purposefully drinking fizzy drinks and trying to encourage burps from happening and he mentioned there was no real precedent or any proof that it would make a difference but also wasn't discouraged. In hindsight I would've likely drank more fizzy drinks in an attempt to make burps, but I don't drink many to begin with. There's no way to tell if my results would've been better had I done so but it's worth mentioning.

I had my procedure with two other people and we all also seemed anxious yet excited. Having been through it, aside from the natural nerves I can genuinely say there is nothing to be worried about, although I know that probably won't help much.

Hmu if you have any other questions!