Nissen Fundoplication 2 months Ago - Hiatal Hernia reherniates itself - more surgery

Good Morning

I had a nissen fundoplication surgery at the end of July, 2012, roughly 2 months ago, I started experiencing a lot of pressure and decided to phone my surgeon after an esophogram, CT scan with contrast, it has been discovered that my stomach is reherniating itself hitting the wrap, so instead of it being straight it looks like an L now.

Now they are going to re-do the surgery where they go in and anchor the stomach to the abdomen wall and hopefull the wrap will be in good shape...

Have any of you heard of this before??

I should mention, that I never experienced GERD, but did have a paraesophogeal hernia where 80% of the stomach was in the chest cavity.

Would appreciate any feedback....

Thank you, for all of you, who had this surgery you know how difficult the recovery is, I am very scared.

Thank you, Liz

Thank you so much Deb for responding.

My stomach is re-herniating back into my chest. As of now the wrap is in place. When I had the surgery done in july most of my stomach was in my chest, he explained to me that this was a rare complication and that this time he would anchor the stomach down into the abdominal wall.

I used NYU hospital in NYC, and Dr. Bizeckas a thoracic surgeon who specializes in this type of disease.

Where are your docs?

Liz,
Have you had your surgery yet? I am 2 weeks pst op and my stomach was anchored during the surgery to prevent migration. I also had the Nissen Fundoplication.

I hope you are doing well.

Welcome to the forum, Tamtam.

I had GPEH repair for stomach partly in chest and took a bit extra long to get back to "normal." Due to a vomiting (nothing actually comes up) episode my stomach is again partly above the diaphragm. So I understand where you're coming from. You can look up lots of posts by myself and others by putting keywords in the search box at the top of the page.

Have you had a new barium swallow that shows where the stomach is? Did your surgeon tell you your stomach had reherniated? Problems with swallowing can be from swelling. Mine didn't go down for at least a couple months, probably because of fairly extensive surgery. (Mine was nearly 5 hours.) Pain can last a really long time, several months for this more involved type of surgery.

Have you had any problems with trying to vomit? If you are nauseated ask the doctor for a prescription for something like Zofran. I keep it on hand all the time, in my purse in a little plastic pill bag.

I wasn't on normal diet on for many weeks. Clear liquids for first week, added milk for another week or so, soft diet for I can't remember how long. 4 years later I still have trouble with dry or hard things like meat. Cutting meat into tiny bites and drinking with each bite helps.

Tamtam

Yes, I can't imagine going back to work so soon after a GPEH repair.

So you don't have any evidence that you have reherniated? You can't just look and see it. You can expect to be swollen for a couple of months though. This was major surgery and it takes about 3 months to recover, maybe more since it was a big one. I didn't feel recovered until 6 months, not really new normal until 9. 4 years later I feel so much better for having it.

I would call the surgeon with any serious concern, which reherniation this soon would be. I wouldn't insist on any particular test, but I would tell him of my concern. Maybe they are so confident now they don't do the followup barium swallow anymore. I'd ask about it.