Canceled the Nissen Surgery

Hi All,

Lost my nerve, canceled my Nissen Surgery for next week and then called one of my Doctor's patients who has had the NF and then changed my mind. She is an elder lady and she told me it has changed her life to the good. I can't believe how worried I am to have the surgery. I'll be re-scheduling again as soon as the Doctor's office calls me back. I checked into the Linx and I would have to travel from Oregon to London to get it and the cost is $12K so that's out.

Thanks for the support

Sal

Hi Sal,

I totally understand your fear of having major surgery.  It would be foolish to go forward without very seriously considering all your options.

As Dave said, the Nissen fundoplication surgery is considered the "gold standard" reflux surgery.  The others are very new and untested. 

Like you, I tried hard not to have the surgery.  My lungs were in very bad shape and my family doc pushed and pushed for me to get the surgery.  As I'm sure you did, I also went online and read all kinds of very negative posts and warnings (from people who'd had poor results--likely due to an inexperienced Nissen surgeon) to not have the surgery.  My GI also held me off from surgery because my reflux levels weren't very high on the DeMeester scale.  Because of what I'd read online, I didn't push him at all.

In the meantime, my lungs were very bad and my asthma and family docs were tearing their hair out trying to keep me breathing.

Enter this forum...I finally decided I didn't have much choice because my lungs were out of control.  I found this forum and discovered people with a positive, yet realistic attitude toward the surgery.  They helped me gain the courage to go forward, and supported me throughout my recovery.

It is important that you have educated yourself and are prepared for your recovery.  The symptoms you are living with need to be worth the recovery time. 

Yes, it takes courage to go forward with this surgery.  If it will improve your health and quality of life, it is so worth the effort. 

I'm so happy I had the surgery, and I only wish I'd had it sooner.

Very best wishes,

Denise

I had a few days where I got really worried before my surgery. I don't know why... I knew it was the right thing to do, and it was my last option after trying everything else. I just had never had surgery or even been in a hospital before, so it was a hard thing to do. I even told some of my family that I was going to cancel it, but I was luckily talked into going through with it.

As the person you talked to, the surgery changed my life for the better. I am a night and day difference than pre-surgery. I used to have such terrible chest pain, I could barely leave the house. Had trouble going to work, couldn't go out to eat, couldn't go on vacations, couldn't do anything. I am engaged, and our wedding was basically on hold because I had trouble even participating in the planning. I didn't think I could even physically make it through a wedding. When I look back now, it was a terrible existence, and I kick myself for not taking the surgery step sooner.

This surgery is a miracle. I now feel great. I can do anything, eat anything. Since November, I've traveled on vacation twice (one to New Orleans to eat everything I couldn't eat before), I'm more social, I'm doing more with my life. Its like I was given a second chance. Wedding planning is back on track full steam, date set for 12/2/12! I had a job that over the years caused me tons of stress and anxiety, it was rough. I had the confidence to finally look for a new job... and this coming Monday I start at a job that I am going to love.

Good luck to you! Better days are definitely ahead!

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I would love to wait and try the Linx first, but I'm sure my insurance would not pay for something so new. I'm still waiting to re-schedule the NF. I'll let you know the date as soon as I have it. I'm feeling more positive about the NF every day after reading all the posts and talking to people like you all. In the interim, I'm going to call my insurance just to see what they say about the Linx. I've had heartburn for 12 years, so whats another 30 days.

Thanks to all

Sal

I came very close to also cancelling my surgery. It was reading all the horrible outcomes and post-surgery symptoms that really scared me. And I had had back surgery many years, which was a much more difficult and painful surgery with much less anxiety! Finding this forum allowed me to feel better prepared for the surgery and it made the recovery easier too.

I had my 7 week post-op visit yesterday and I am doing so much better then I had anticipated. While it is to early for me to know for sure what the ultimate success will be, I can now eat whatever I want to. I just have learned to eat slowly and chew well. The first two weeks were rough, but after that each day I felt so much better!

Hi All,

I think I'll forget about the Linx, would just take too long to change Doctors and start all over again. As soon as my Surgeon's office gets back from spring break, I'm going to schedule the Nissen. I really don't like the idea of magnets anyway.

Sal