Hi All
I haven't posted very often but have been avid reader to try and get myself in the best position mentually for this surgery. I have to say the words of comfort and advice that is available here on this site is truly wonderful.
Here in the UK the waiting times are somewhat ridiculous. I was put on the waiting list middle of June 2011 and have only just got my date through! As you can imagine the waiting has been difficult to deal with, especially when at times things aren't quite too bad you start to wonder if doing the right thing. I know I am as things have flared up bad at the moment. To add to that I have also come down with a throat and ear infection which has laid me really low!
When I look back I think for most of my 50+ years I have had reflux to some degree. I remember my mum, god rest her, telling me that at 3 months I was throwing back everything and the doctors just told her to keep persevering and I would eventually be OK. Obviously this must have helped as I am still here to tell the tale
Forward a number of years to having two children and to suffer dreadfully with heartburn and throwing up throughout the whole of both pregnancies.
Some years later having suffered on an off with uncomfortable pains in stomach, my husband left me and the children and my mother became very ill. Over the next few years my poor mum suffered dreadfully mostly health wise but also at the hands of the doctors. I am a firm believer that the stress that this put us all under has left its mark in one way or another, with me in particular it heightened the problems I was having with constant coughing, pains at the bottom of breastbone and all the other things that everyone mentions. Fast forward then to about
4 years ago I had a really bad case of pleurisy but they couldn't identify why I couldn't stop coughing and not getting better. I then met a most wonderful throacic consultant who, as it turns out was the person to diagnose me with GERD. Had egd which found gastritis, inflamed oesophagus and sliding hernia. Sent for various tests including barium swallow and some nuclear testing. I wasn't able to do mamometry as it appears I have some motility issues so tube wouldn't go down!!!
The surgeons have decided it is time to try and stop this refulx and give me some life back. They are to repair the hernia and do a partial wrap due to the motility issues. Part of me can't wait for it to be over but the bigger part of me wants to get off the roller coaster and say NO. I know I can't for myself but also for my two lovely children, whom I would not be without
Sorry for the long post but when I started I just couldn't stop
Anyway thank you for reading and just being there for me to read and learn as much as I can about
the recovery process.
Regards
Eileen