I had the same life threatening para esophageal hernia as you. Had it repaired in May 2020 and no problems since. My symptoms were spontaneous shooting pains through my back that would randomly come and go. I thought I had pancreatic cancer. I did all kinds of tests before the doctors finally eliminated everything else except this large hernia which I had had for years. The hernia surgeon knew right away. He also did a Toupet fundoplication at the same time to eliminate my acid reflux.