Complications after a nissen fondu

  My husband had a nissen wrap done because of GERD and a Hiatus Hernia. Since his surgery he has been just misserable. He is scared to eat because everytime he does he get sick and he dry hieves for hours upon hours it hurts him so bad he also takes a regular script of phenergan he has already lost 20-25lbs since his surgery. He is still recovering from the surgery he is 4 weeks post op. Everyday he tells me that he is so misserable. he tells me about how he doesnt feel like himself anymore. He is starting to get really depressed. I dont know what to do. The Dr's say that they wrapped his nissen tighter then normal because he is younger... Is that right?? He says he wishes he never had this done... If he wants it to be revised does the dr have the right to tell him no?    

                           

Yes he is sticking to the diet that the dr told him to do. i know that it takes time for things to heal i am a cna i see it all the time but at the same time i know that he needed to do it. it was he do it now or the hernia would rupture and it would be a more serious case. the thing that really irritates me is that he is in a ton of pain and he is suppose to be on a liquid diet but they will not give him anything to help with the constant pain. they had him on roxicet after the procedure.. they only had him on it for a week and these are suppose to be specialists. when they did the surgery they ended up nicking one of his nerves fro his left shoulder and arm and now he doesnt have feeling in 3 of his finger and some of his arm muscles.i live in a small town and i dont have alot of money the surgery really wiped us out so it is hard to travel to see a dr.

NO they should not have made it tighter because he is younger. .studies have shown that a "loose" wrap works best. its not really loose but doesnt restrict things going through. if u dont mind will u tell us what tests were done before he had surgery? there are specific tests that should be done to determine which wrap to use and whether the esophagus can handle one. i get the feeling thiis surgeon isnt very experienced withis surgery or has a poor success rate.
I had a bad experrience with my first because alll i asked was if he could do the surgeyr. he had done my gallbladder but this takkes alot more finess and practice. i would recomend seeing about a redo and u might want to talk with other surgeons about it. some teaching hospitals are very good at these. not knowing where u are located its hard to recommend a surgeon but if u can go to chicago, loyola has a great redo surgeon there. i knoow from first hand experience. also the cleveland clinic is a good choice.
Sorry to hear your hubby is hurtin

Hi tshermcna,

I'm sorry your husband is having so much trouble with his wrap. As Bill said, tighter is not better. That's the challenge for a surgeon, and why it's so important to have the surgery done by someone who had done many, many Nissen procedures. It needs to be tight enough to hold the acid in, while allowing food to pass easily. It's an art form, and it takes lots of practice.

I would suspect that they will want to do a dilatation to stretch it and try to make it looser. The wrap is swollen in the early stages of healing, and could be swollen even now, but liquids should be able to go in fairly easily.

Try not to jump to conclusions. You may be able to get things straightened around without a redo surgery. If things don't get better for him, it would probably good to get a second opinion.

When you try to locate a surgeon to give the second opinion, try to do careful research. Make calls to find out who local GI docs recommend. Check the hospitals, ask friends in the medical field...you'll want to find the best person in the area. Also, there is always the option of going to a center where they are used to dealing with difficult cases.

Take it one step at a time, though. See what they can do for him.
Good luck! Hope things get better quickly.
Denise
PS--those are the pre-op tests that are typically done.