Surgery

hello

due to have Nissen fundoplication surgery in 2 weeks !!

whats the general thoughts about the surgery and recovery.

cheers :)

hello

ive had the endoscopy and the tube up my nose for 24 hours.

im confident in the surgeon etc he has answered all questions etc, he is the ony surgeon in my area that does them.

just wondered on what i can expect after the surgery etc.

cheers

no worries mate

ah right, have you had the surgery done?

hopefully mate, its been a long 5 years on omeprazole then laprozole, 20mg then moved onto 30mg, i had to push for the endoscopy as my doctor just thought it was reflux but when i had the endoscopy they found a tear and thats what caused the hiatus hernia, i dunno if thats how they happen on other people tho?

cheers for that, much appreciated its a good read.

my op is 2 weeks tomorrow, i just want to get it done now, but having said that im starting to have second thoughts mainly due to the recovery process but the pro's outweigh the con's.

cheers :)

it used to be manageable but the past year its not like, ive woke up in the middle of the night with heartburn the only way i could shift it was to make my self be sick this has happened a few times and its becoming a regular occaurance, i usually take 1 tablet on a morning and im having to take another one after work, and then again before i go to bed.

i know you mentioned that drinking alcohol wasnt a problem after the surgery, am i right in thinking i wont be able to go out drinking with my mates on a night out etc, or will i be limited to a few drinks.

cheers

dencha,


how long did you suffer from GERD before you decided to go for surgery?

Hi crosseye,
I had been diagnosed GERD for about 15 years. It was never really severe, and my doctors suspected that much of it was "silent GERD". The problem was that I have asthma, and starting about 2003 my asthma started getting worse and worse. I always had some breakthrough reflux even with 40mg Protonix before breakfast and dinner. I was even put on 300mg Ranitidine (Zantac) at bedtime.

My testing did not show severe GERD ever. My PCP and asthma docs were both convinced that my reflux was what was making my asthma uncontrollable. By the time of my surgery in 2009, I'd been hospitalized once for gastritis/GERD and dangerous asthma.

My GI doc dragged his feet, not thinking I needed the surgery, but my PCP kept pushing and pushing. Finally, in desperation, he referred me to a surgeon himself. That surgeon did more testing and an endoscopy, and determined (I'm sure mainly on the recommendation of my PCP) that I would be a good candidate for the surgery.

Having found this forum and done research I knew how important the right surgeon was. I took the information I'd received and went back to my GI doc for another opinion. He did yet another 24 hr PH test (in which my score was 14.8, which is very borderline as normal is considered <14). FINALLY he must have realized that my PCP might be right, and though he said I could continue the medication route, he also said I could make an appointment to consult with a surgeon. He said that, "Probably a couple good reflux episodes a day could be enough to get my lungs going." Duh.

So off I went to the surgeon (I went with the one recommended by my GI office, but checked with others I knew in the medical field regarding the surgeon's reputation, which was stellar. I had a lung infection when I had the surgery, and it took about 2 and a half months to heal those sick lungs.

I didn't know if the surgery would even work when I had it, but was out of options. I couldn't go on like I was, and my PCP said my lung condition was "life threatening". Thankfully, it did.

Good luck with your search for answers!
Vest wishes,
Denise

hi stucowley,as Denise mentioned my surgery did not go well,but i think that was down to the surgeon either not doing the surgery correctly or i had a motility problem that was undiscovered,im currently seeking a second opinion.Thats why its very important to make sure your totally prepared for surgery with a highly experienced surgeon and all tests carried out,no corners cut! Good Luck! Barry

Hi Stu,

Generally during the first two months, lots of people probably regret it, as they may not have been prepared for what the recovery is like.  I've read posts of people who think that the way they feel in the second week post-op is how they'll feel forever.  That's why it's good to be prepared with lots of information.  The vast majority, once healed, are thrilled with the results.  It's a huge improvement over the problems we faced with GERD.

Best wishes,

Denise

Hi les

I am in the uk as well and not to far from you, I will be having surgery at Darlington.

Cheers for the reply, I don't think I will be Drinking alcohol as I used to then, which to be honest isnt a bad thing :)

Are you happy with results 10 year on from your op? Have you had any GERD symptons ?

Cheers

Hi Stu

Glad to catch up with a Darlo bloke, I live in Redcar.

I haven't had a single PPI or any problem with reflux/heartburn since my op which was a full Nissen done laprascopically (this was quite big news in Boro back then, as most of the Nissens done here before mine were performed as open surgery - a massive incision through your back!).

I'm very happy at how my op worked out as I'd had reflux for years before and PPI's had stopped working - to the point where the coughing and pain were making my life a misery.

You get used to the changes in eating quite quickly in the 1st year (slower and more chewing), and otherwise everththing is normal.

Now I'm in my mid 40's I don't drink anywhere near as much as I used to 10 years ago, but I can still keep up with my mates on a night out.

What's your surgeon called? Mine was Mr Vishwahna, and in my case he was 100% successful (might have spelled that slightly wrong, it's been 10 years!).

Good luck.

Les.

Hi reet

Did you have your Nissen as open surgery, as I know not many had been done laprascopically in the UK when I had mine?

Really sorry to hear that your problems have come back, when did your symptoms start up again? I'm just coming up for 10 years and haven't had any problems yet, so I'm hoping this will last me for the rest of my life.

I'm not sure what the NHS rules on a redo are here. The NICE website doesn't have any recommendation on this, but classes a Nissen as a standard procedure - so I'd use that in part to argue that a redo should be a standard procedure to repair a failed Nissen.

Given that there are a number of posters on this forum in the US who have had redo's, this indicates that there must be strong medical evidence to suggest that a) this works, and b) it is a cost effective treatment for a failed Nissen.

I would also use this to argue the case with your GP. If they still won't authorise a referral, speak to the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) adviser at your local Primary Care Trust (PCT), and push for a decision to be made there - although PCT's are changing to something else called NHS Local Area Teams (LAT's) from March.

In a worst case scenario, you could always find a surgeon in the UK who specialises in Nissens and ask them for an initial private consultation (these usually cost around £200), then use the advice they give you to enhance your argument with your GP for redo surgery?

While I was in hospital after my op Prince Andrew visited to open a new bit and as a celebration all patients were treated to a meal of smoked salmon with croquet potatoes and asparagus tips. Have to say I was somewhat disappointed as mine was finely puree'd and consisted of a pink blob, a yellow blob and a green blob on a plate!

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Les.

Post Edited (eLaReF) : 2/26/2013 7:10:54 AM (GMT-7)

It's a small world les :)

I had a reply wrote out but I pressed the wrong button but now it's disappeared :(

My surgeon is a dr. Gillingham he seemed very informative and confident in what he was doing.

Glad to hear your still happy ten years on hopefully ill be the same, do you have any tips for recovery and indeed after recovery ?

I plan to eat what I want next week as it will be a while before I can again.