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Paraoesophageal Hernia to be or not to be?

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Posted 3/5/2012 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
Well what can I say confused Am at a loss now as to what is going on inside me.  Had a gastroscopy about four weeks ago and was told i had a paraoesophageal hernia, was sent for CT, got a phone call from surgeons secretary a couple of weeks ago booking me in for repair on 5th April and an appointment with the surgeon today.  Just got back from seeing surgeon who says CT doesn't match what the gastroscopy was showing (ie no PH).  I now have to have a barium meal to see what is going on.  Am now really confused, do I have one or not, or is my stomach just twisted (? volvulus)  which wouldn't show up on CT.  Surgery hasn't been cancelled yet until the results of this next investigation.  Has anyone else experienced anything similar?  I still have the same symptoms and anaemia so don't know what is going on.  Although was not looking forward to surgery was looking forward to being symptom free and hopefully no anaemia. Would appreciate anyones thoughts.

Thanks

Nurse Molly x

 

Posted 3/5/2012 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
Iama new member too and am scheduled for repair of paraesoph. hernia on apr. 17th. i have dx. of this based on barium swallow. showed significant sliding esoph. hernia, infiltrate into thoracic cavity around esoph.,with stomach twisting but SYMTOMS FEEL LIKE a hand is sqeezing my stomach and twisting it, i feel pinching too. i am a registered nurse and have had gerds and hernia since 1987,brought on by first pregnancy. been on some med. since 1990 daily. I am not having Nissen procedure. my surgeon is trying something new witth me. Mesh, organic type,sewn against outside of esopho. and onto stomach near diaphragm,and stomach sutured to anterior wall of abd. cavity, then a gtube for 8 weeks to generate fibrin around sutures to hold firmly in place. no solids , liquid diet with gradual reintro. of solids. I refuse to have stomach wrapped around esophog.. I have had cat scan and mri and esophogoscopy and biopsy in past all indicating my dx. No ph values. my surgeon says do not need this measure as it is a foregone conclusion that i have a longstanding gerds problem. hope this helps and please anyone out there can you tell me about your experiences post op with similar operations. As a nurse i know way ttoooo much and am very nervous. Is ignorance really bliss with chronic issues???
Posted 3/5/2012 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi oldbird, I too am a nurse and can appreciate how nervous you are. I has siked myself up for surgery but now not sure if this is happening or not will have to wait for the barium meal before I find out. Sounds like you have had a rough time over the years my symptoms have been intermittent for probably about 5 years but brought to a head in December when I had chest pain radiating into by jaw and was admitted to a&e which ruled out cardiac but found anaemia. which led to gastroscopy and then CT. Good luck with your surgery. there is a lot of useful information on this site so hope it helps you too, just want it confirmed for sure so that i know what i'm facing. Take care. Michelle x
Posted 3/5/2012 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum old bird and nurse molly,

Mesh erodes into nearby tissues and causes more problems that it fixes. It's not new, it's out of date. A good medical center won't use it for hiatal hernia repair. I'd get a second opinion from a large med center doc who has done thousands of repairs.

If a paraesophageal stomach twists you will have excruciating pain and need to be rushed to a hospital for a repair. It's lift-threatening. Don't wait, get it fixed. I had to wait 4 months for my surgery, jumping through hoops, reading everything I could in that time.

CT should show where the stomach is, but it's often mis-read. Barium swallow is pretty definitive for sliding or paraesophageal hernias. Endoscopy could mis a slider if it's not in the chest, which it probably isn't during the exam.

You can look up all sorts of conditions and repairs by using the search box at the top of the page.
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