Jennifer,

My son had the fundo when he was six years old. It was his fourth surgery, one
of
his other surgeries was for a life threatening birth defect when he was less
than a
day old.

I was very reluctant to do the surgery because of my own fears, as I am sure you
are.
The one thing that allowed me to consent to the surgery was that we had
exhausted all
means of medical therapy and yet there was still evidence of chronic
inflammation of
the esophagus. My son actually had a condition called Barrett's metaplasia,
which is
an automatic indicator for surgery. We had tried clearing it medically with
Prilosec
yet it returned anyway. (Barrett's is believed to be a pre-cancerous condition
in
the adult, in the child the implications are unknown but an automatic indicator
for
surgery due to the implications of letting it continue through adulthood).

Anyway, at that point I felt there was no alternative but to do the surgery. I
verified that by getting a second opinion, and I gathered a lot of information
and
asked questions about what kind of surgery would be done (open vs. laparoscopic,
Nissen vs. Thal, etc.)We discussed pre-operative management of his asthma and
post
operative management of pain. I tried to get as much information as I could so
I
could reaffirm not only that it was the right decision, but that every other
preparation was in place as well (control of asthma, control of pain, etc.)

I realize that you are very scared, as I was. I think the best thing you can do
is
get another opinion (or even two) to put your mind at ease and ensure you are
making
the right decision. If her condition is not responding to the Prilosec, then it
well
could mean that the decision is already made for you regarding her need for
surgery.
Make sure, though, that the condition she has is not eosinophilic esophagitis,
because if it is, the surgery may not fix the problem. The biopsies should
reveal
whether eosinophilia is present.

Make sure that you have selected a hospital you are comfortable with as well as
a
surgeon who you feel good about.

Matt had the open fundoplication which required 6 days in the hospital. I was
very
glad that he was able to have a continuous epidural until the fourth post op
day,
which greatly controlled his pain. He was also given morphine for the first 24
hours
or so after surgery on an as-needed basis (he is allergic to demerol). He had an
NG
tube until the fourth post op day, and by the afternoon on the day the NG was
pulled
and the epidural was pulled, he was almost running down the hall! He didn't
even
need a tylenol for surgical pain after that. He left the hospital on the six
post op
day feeling very comfortable, needing no pain medication. We had to keep him on
a
less active schedule but otherwise, he had a smooth recovery.

He has regained his ability to burp, don't know about the vomit part yet--he
isn't
prone to tummy bugs.

Lynda
(Matt, age 9, allergies to milk, soy, apples, coconut, demerol, e-mycin, yellow
dye,
enviromentals (ragweed, oak, dustmites, cats). Asthma, reflux. History of
anaphylaxis, history of Nissen for reflux, history of congenital diaphragmatic
hernia)