Hernia Repair and Toupet Fundoplication Dec. 5, 2022

Hi. I am a 50 year old male, 5’ 8” 150 lbs, from Chicago. I started having severe symptoms of airway reflux (cough, breathing issues) and lots of regurgitation in March 2020,. Only occasionally the reflux was acidic. But often it was non-acidic or even silent. PPIs and inhalers hadn’t worked well for about a year or two. But in 2022 I started a heavy dose of Rabeprazole twice a day and Gabapentin. After almost a year of this, I slowly got a little better, enough to manage symptoms and live my day. But I was never symptom free for a full day. I researched and researched, saw over a dozen doctors, some of which said hernias don’t cause problems and GERD has nothing to do with pulmonary issues. Finally I met a few surgeons who recommended surgery and after debating for a long time, I figured why not fix the Hernia at least and see what happens. I debated hard whether I wanted Nissen or Toupet. A Chicago surgeon was adamant that Toupet is just as effective at stopping reflux. So given it was in Chicago, where I live, I decided to go with it. I am now 9 days post op for 3cm hernia repair and Toupet Fundoplication. A few hours after surgery, I was burping a lot, especially when trying to drink or eat anything. My stomach and esophagus felt like it was rejecting anything. Now it feels like it has gotten worse.. These burps have continued and have progressed into wet burps and reflux. Post op it feels like I am refluxing more than prior, but maybe with less volume. I expected difficulty swallowing (which I have) and some pain when breathing from diaphragm trauma (which I have), but the reflux is concerning. I am wondering whether this is part of recovery or whether less than two weeks post my 1st fundo, that I am destined for a redo because the wrap is too loose. My instinct was I will take longer recovery time and temporary post op issues for a more durable and effective wrap. about my only complaint of the Surgeon was his insistence that looser wrap is better. And the research is conflicting. Just hoping to get some insight from the very knowledgeable folks here. Maybe I need to give it more time, but weird that my desire to reflux is for more ubiquitous than before. - Thanks for any insights.

Thanks SharonZ