Reversal of a fundoplication

Hello, I'm new to this group, but I can see that there is a lot of experience here. There are a lot of unhappy experiences out there and I might say that I'm one of them, but I naturally want to avoid making it worst. I've got a very unique situation and have encountered a variety of problems in getting diagnosed and establishing a path back to health. Since this group is focused on GI, I will also, but my issues actually involve neural and vascular as well. I'll try to be as specific as possible, but I must apologize for such a long narration. It may not be obvious, but this is a highly condensed version of the issues that I have to navigate.

I have been motivated by an periodic abdominal just to the right of the solar plexus. It can wax and wane over months. It can also be a mild nusance or drop me to my knees gasping for breath. My gallbladder was deficient and was removed 2 years ago in the hope of relief, it did not help.

I had a nissen & highly selective vagotomy about 15 years ago. It was successful up to a couple of years ago and it has now "slipped" and appears to be hanging on the esophagus below an enlarged hiatal hernia. I've recently underwent the gastric emptying test that showed a delayed action on the first hour. i.e. gastroparesis. If this is a complication from the Nissen, I don't know, but in my opinion a pyloroplasty will most likely make things worst. That leaves my main question. My options are 1) do nothing 2) Nissen redo 3) Nissen unwrap. I'm tempted to go with the unwrap, but I would like to find out what to expect.

Working out from that issue, right next door, just a inch or two away, I have a celiac stenosis, which fits the classical pattern for MALs (Median Arcuate Ligament syndrome). This can inhibit blood flow to the digestive system. Unfortunately, completely unrelated to me, there is an academic dispute regarding the legitimacy of the syndrome. It turns out that Stanford, where I have been evaluated, does not consider this to be valid condition. If being caught up in this argument wasn't frustrating enough, their vascular surgeons have completely invalidated their "objectivity" on a unrelated matter.

About 10 years ago, I came down with a idiopathic peripheral neuropathy with a devastating fatigue. To control the pain, I've been seeing a pain specialist that has kept me on a moderate dose of methadone. At my first appointment with Stanford's vascular department, they immediately classified me as a drug abuser and things went downhill from there. They concluded that methadone is only used for heroin addiction and could not understand why I was taking it since I never even tried heroin. That physician offered no help in any form, no testing, no useful referrals, and then wrote a false narrative that included some actual facts, but altered the context and sequence of events. Just to be sure, he phrased it to make me sound like the classical abuser, not an actual patient. In short, he did everything in his power to keep me from decent medical care.

Obviously, I'm still angry about this. Especially since that report has played out in following visits where I was subjected to very abusive treatment from the very doctors that are suppose to help. However, I persisted and finally got a bit of my message out, but even so, the bariatric surgeon that I'm presently talking too can only offer an opinion on the digestive side of my case. Obviously, however, the digestive tract cannot function properly without an adequate flow of blood. The laparoscopic entry is identical for both the Nissen and MALs. I've already had my gallbladder out in an attempt to alieviate the abdominal pain, so I don't want to break this out into multiple surgeries. But, then Stanford does not subscribe to the MALs diagnosis and apparently doesn't consider a celiac stenosis to be a serious condition because it is "widely patent", meaning other vessels feed the organs. Except I've had GI troubles for over 35 years, at any rate, though, Stanford's vascular department has lost all credibility for me. Which means my surgeon can only focus on half of my issue and leaves me in a position of having to go "shopping" for a diagnosis. It is a dilemma.

All this leaves me with a great deal of uncertainty as to how to find help. That is why I am considering to just have the Nissen unwrapped and learn to deal with the reflux. I already have the Barrett's esophagus anyhow, which is what the original surgery was intended to prevent.

Well, thanks to anyone that can provide some insight into these problems. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Hello, I'm new to this group, but I can see that there is a lot of experience here. There are a lot of unhappy experiences out there and I might say that I'm one of them, but I naturally want to avoid making it worst. I've got a very unique situation and have encountered a variety of problems in getting diagnosed and establishing a path back to health. Since this group is focused on GI, I will also, but my issues actually involve neural and vascular as well. I'll try to be as specific as possible, but I must apologize for such a long narration. It may not be obvious, but this is a highly condensed version of the issues that I have to navigate.

I have been motivated by an periodic abdominal just to the right of the solar plexus. It can wax and wane over months. It can also be a mild nusance or drop me to my knees gasping for breath. My gallbladder was deficient and was removed 2 years ago in the hope of relief, it did not help.

I had a nissen & highly selective vagotomy about 15 years ago. It was successful up to a couple of years ago and it has now "slipped" and appears to be hanging on the esophagus below an enlarged hiatal hernia. I've recently underwent the gastric emptying test that showed a delayed action on the first hour. i.e. gastroparesis. If this is a complication from the Nissen, I don't know, but in my opinion a pyloroplasty will most likely make things worst. That leaves my main question. My options are 1) do nothing 2) Nissen redo 3) Nissen unwrap. I'm tempted to go with the unwrap, but I would like to find out what to expect.

Working out from that issue, right next door, just a inch or two away, I have a celiac stenosis, which fits the classical pattern for MALs (Median Arcuate Ligament syndrome). This can inhibit blood flow to the digestive system. Unfortunately, completely unrelated to me, there is an academic dispute regarding the legitimacy of the syndrome. It turns out that Stanford, where I have been evaluated, does not consider this to be valid condition. If being caught up in this argument wasn't frustrating enough, their vascular surgeons have completely invalidated their "objectivity" on a unrelated matter.

About 10 years ago, I came down with a idiopathic peripheral neuropathy with a devastating fatigue. To control the pain, I've been seeing a pain specialist that has kept me on a moderate dose of methadone. At my first appointment with Stanford's vascular department, they immediately classified me as a drug abuser and things went downhill from there. They concluded that methadone is only used for heroin addiction and could not understand why I was taking it since I never even tried heroin. That physician offered no help in any form, no testing, no useful referrals, and then wrote a false narrative that included some actual facts, but altered the context and sequence of events. Just to be sure, he phrased it to make me sound like the classical abuser, not an actual patient. In short, he did everything in his power to keep me from decent medical care.

Obviously, I'm still angry about this. Especially since that report has played out in following visits where I was subjected to very abusive treatment from the very doctors that are suppose to help. However, I persisted and finally got a bit of my message out, but even so, the bariatric surgeon that I'm presently talking too can only offer an opinion on the digestive side of my case. Obviously, however, the digestive tract cannot function properly without an adequate flow of blood. The laparoscopic entry is identical for both the Nissen and MALs. I've already had my gallbladder out in an attempt to alieviate the abdominal pain, so I don't want to break this out into multiple surgeries. But, then Stanford does not subscribe to the MALs diagnosis and apparently doesn't consider a celiac stenosis to be a serious condition because it is "widely patent", meaning other vessels feed the organs. Except I've had GI troubles for over 35 years, at any rate, though, Stanford's vascular department has lost all credibility for me. Which means my surgeon can only focus on half of my issue and leaves me in a position of having to go "shopping" for a diagnosis. It is a dilemma.

All this leaves me with a great deal of uncertainty as to how to find help. That is why I am considering to just have the Nissen unwrapped and learn to deal with the reflux. I already have the Barrett's esophagus anyhow, which is what the original surgery was intended to prevent.

Well, thanks to anyone that can provide some insight into these problems. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Hi,Debbie here.I just had my nissian Fundplication wrap redone on July 6,2017.I have been telling my surgeon and Gi doctor for 3 1/2 years it was too tight and ablot of issues .Well finally went in and reversed it to a loose wrap .So far everything has been going great .No more tight complctions and discomfort i had all time in chest .While he was doing it realize it was starting to colapse and that s why i was having more and more issues my food was getting stuck.I am keeping myself on liguid diet for at least 6 months to make sure all heals well and no issues.So pleased with the reverse ...My surgeon was especially pleased with my results so far ......

No just said I had a hiatal hernia so needed to do fundiplication. Wish I'd never had it done but it has loosened up a little bit. It's just to tight & makes me miserable.

Greg today was terrible, drank some Maalox and took some acid blocker hope to sleep through the night. You had the surgery ay Mayo? Have you done enough research to find out who deos the best reversal. I live in Cincinnati, I know it has to get better than this. Thanks Dennis

@deb1987, simply said... YAY! Thanks for the update!

Hey Dennis. I know your pain buddy. I haven't researched the reversal yet. I'm going to get scoped this Tuesday ( north and south pole) because this GI thinks I've got more than one thing going on. I literally have made my peace with God three times. Even though I did have a hernia, this doc says there's a reason for so much acid. That reason he explained, is my body trying to control the bad bacteria in my small intestine. Well, over time somethings gotta give, and I developed GERDS. I've missed some work, but it's getting worse. And I too am worried. My stomach, chest, or guts hurt all the time now. I'm being checked for Celiac disease, Crohns, diverticultis, IBS, and some others. Once I get these results I will see what this GI recommends. I will also talk to him about benefits of a reversal. I did have mine done at Mayo in Phoenix. Awesome female surgeon. I won't ever go for surgery anyplace else. The only two things that give me some relief are, nexium, and keeping something in my stomach. I have been to a holistic doc. Spent about $600.00 on supplements. Got some relief. Short-lived though. My advice Dennis, for what it's worth is to see if you've got something secondary that's causing your symptoms. In the meantime, I will be researching the pros and cons of a reversal and let u know what I find out ok. Hang in there buddy. I know it's miserable. But you're not alone. I'm on the Internet every night talking with people about this. There's an overload if opinions though. It's hard to sort through it all, but I'm pretty damn perserverant, and tired of feeling like this. Try nexium for now is all I've right now. You may have also developed ulcers post surgery like I did. Take care.

I had a Nissen Fundoplication procedure done last Oct. I have not have success with it at all. The wrap was to tight and I have to have a dilation done almost every two months. I am looking at have a reversal done and wonder if anyone has had this done and if so, did things improve Thank You

Has anyone ACTUALLY gotten it and can tell us about it? Everything I have searched for on here is people just considering it but I have not seen one person talk about getting it done and what the results were.

I'm 33 years old, I was 31 when I got diagnosed with a hiatal hernia. I was the picture of health, everyone guessed that I was 20 years old. Out of nowhere, I had acid reflux built up to my vocal cords because of the hernia and it took them 4 months to figure it out. The surgeon convinced me to do a Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication, described it as "you'll only be out for 3 days and you'll be eating completely normal in 3 weeks." Sounded like a piece of cake, right?

After 3 weeks, I still couldn't eat anything besides Ensure and Jello, then I researched it and it was more typical that eating struggles were to continue 3-6 months in reality. After 6 months, I really started to panic. Long story short, it's been 2 and a half years since my surgery, and every day I am spitting up something if I attempt to eat it. It gets stuck in my throat. I have phlegm 247 no matter what I do.

I am at the point where I have had every single test done that I can, and the GI is telling me the only thing left to do is reverse it. I am worried about the risk. In trying to research it on my own, I can't even find anyone that has done a reversal to see what I can expect. I cannot live the rest of my life drinking smoothies for every meal.

Aside from wanting my health to improve, I am also wondering about suing the surgeon who make it sound like a no-brainer piece of a cake when I never would have done this surgery if I knew I literally wouldn't be able to eat normally again FOREVER.

Please, if you have had a reversal of a Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication, tell us your results.

PLEASE