Hiatus Hernia Surgery, Who Has Done It?

reply to post by Stormdancer777


Cool...

Do you smoke/drink still?

You're free from those terrible "heart burns" or has it never been inflamed?

Have you ever had medication?

Thankful for response

Nowdays they do a lot of these with small portals, cameras, and manipulating devices. Depending on how long you've had the hernia, there can be a defect in the diaphram where the top part of the stomach herniates into the chest. Not actually into the chest, but the connective tissue weakens and stretches out to such a degree the contents of the stomach backs up into the esophagus, and you end up with food in your throat while you sleep. Over time these defects grow larger and larger, so you're much better off having them fixed on the front end, sooner rather than later.

I assume you mean hiatal hernia. Which is a hernia in the hiatus in the diaphragm.

The muscle that assists in your breathing, called the diaphragm, is generally the separator between your chest cavity, and your abdominal cavity.
Your esophagus which runs from your mouth to your stomach has to pass through an opening in your diaphragm. That opening is called the hiatus.

There are several reasons this area can weaken, and when it weakens it can allow the stomach and esophagus to start to try to push up through this area. The other kind of hernia is where a part of the stomach other than described above push up through the affected area. The hernia itself is in the muscle though...your diaphragm.

Generally, a small hiatal hernia causes little or no symptoms, and requires no surgery. Surgery is generally reserved for people who have a very large hole that has either been ignored, that has opened pretty quickly,or for people who have not responded well to other treatments. OR for people who have the second kind described above called a paraesophageal hernia. Generally initial treatments involve such things as antacid medicines and treat the effect, not the cause.

What concerns me here, is your doctor saying it is inside your stomach.
Larger hiatals can cause stomach acid to back up into your esophagus. This can lead to an eroding of the esophageal lining and/or the area right at the stomach/esophagus sphincter. This may mean what he means by that. This is not good if that is what is happening, as eating away your esophageal lining is bad. Also, in the paraesophageal hernia situation, this can cause the stomach to lose part of it's blood supply. This also is bad.

You need to have him clarify to you what exactly he is fixing, and which form of a hiatal hernia it is. In the above scenario, they would still surgically repair the diaphragm in order to stop the erosion, but they would also have to fix the ulcer that is being caused by the acid buildup.

Not trying at all to diagnose you, or scare you here. I'm just trying to understand what exactly is wrong with you. Some good info on hiatal hernias can be found here: www.mayoclinic.com....

Surgery is generally done laparoscopically, and there is minimal invasion.
Recovery is usually pretty quick for this as long as there is no heavy lifting involved. Usually in about a week. Since you said you were in Europe, usually around 10kg is the maximum they may allow you to lift for 3 months after surgery. Also, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the hernia won't come back later on. That doesn't mean you shouldn't still have this fixed now.


If you have more questions of me, or find out some more, please feel free to ask away.

Originally posted by Raud

Originally posted by pablos
reply to post by Raud

 

I have had a hiatus hernia. I had it removed. Surgically.

Just to clear something up, it is IN your stomach.

Yes, it is inside of my stomach.


reply to post by foxhoundone

 

But this was on the "outside" of your body? Like, you could see it?
Mine is inside (as said above).

I might have misunderstood you though

Sorry if I'm sounding too technical here, but do you mean inside you actual stomach, or inside your abdominal cavity, which most people generally refer to as their stomach?
It just dawned on me after my last post and then rereading this thread you might have meant it is not visible from the outside of your body, like and abdominal wall hernia, and is fully contained inside your abdominal cavity, and diaphragmatic areas.

I do apologize if I'm sounding way too technical. When it comes to medicine, I have a very left brained way of thinking.

I talked to my dad.

He's had surgery done twice on two seperate hiatus hernia's. He said it took about an hour for each surgery, and he was in pain for about a month afterwards.

He currently has a 3rd hernia that he WANTS to have surgery on.

My dad doesnt know when to stop doing heavy lifting, he's always doing physical work regardless hernia or not.

If you have any questions I could ask him if you would like.

reply to post by webpirate


It is exactly what you are referring to in your (linked) post.
The acid and heartburns and all that jazz.

My doctor says it's a 90% chance I'll be happy with the medication and that my problems will go away...but I don't know if he meant that I will be okay as long as I keep taking it...or if I have to change "lifestyle" as well...
If I have to stay medicated and forever stay away from certain foodstuffs and all that...quite frankly, I'd rather have the surgery....

reply to post by Oozii


Hey man, I am very thankful for your help!
I don't bother your ol'man too much though.

I guess you have answered most of my questions already.
I know how heavy lifting makes it worse....it's like there's a small nuclear detonation inside of you...ouch...

I must admit, however, that his situation seems way worse than mine.
I only had it "critical" like once (after a drinking binge)....but then it really felt like something was seriously wrong inside of me.

Tell him to get well soon.

I would also like to take the opportunity to quote myself from the thread I link to in my OP:

So, anyway, it turns out I have this inflamed Hiatus Hernia, which is a hernia just where the esophagus, or gullet, meets the stomach.
Now, the hernia itself doesn't hurt, people can have that all their life without even taking notice of it; but the inflammation is the source of my discomfort.

I hope we are on the clear now about my condition.


[edit on 9-5-2010 by Raud]

Update;

As for today, it is my first day after about a month of medication
(40mg Omeprazol). Been taking them once daily.

From now on, my stomach is "on its own".

If the pains and the heartburns comes back, I guess I have to do the surgery.

I'm off tobacco now, but I intend to have a beer and/or a whiskey this weekend just to see if I can take it (won't live without 'em!).

Very interesting indeed...

Update:

So, for a week now I have been off the meds.

Sad to say, my problems seem to have returned.

Next week on friday (28th) I'll return to the clinic and have that camera shoved down my throat again (yes, I have had nightmares of it).
I guess I will ask the doctor for surgery...

Not so nice to think about...but what'cha gonna do?

Here's the best advice you will get - go to the BEST doctors you can find. They aren't all equal. If it will be done laparoscopically, it really, really depends on the surgeons skills and equipment.

Sometimes a doctor will say they will do a minimally invasive surgery but then wind up doing a full open cut. This happened to my mother during her knee surgery. Once it's done, you can't undo it. We were told this type of thing happens a lot.

Also, talk to the doctor about the type of material which will be used. They had a lot of recalls on mesh - so some have switched to other materials which have a pretty high failure rate.

reply to post by Daughter2


Thanks for the tip!

I am going to the oldest private clinic in Stockholm, so I guess they know their stuff.

What I most of all want to know is:
For how long will I be recovering, as in: not able to work?
and:
Will the surgery take care of the problem for good?

I know I could just ask my doctor the same, but I'd rather hear it from someone who had it themselves...best source there is.

Update:

So, last Monday (24th) I went back to the clinic and got the hernia checked.
Even though this time the procedure was quicker done away with, it felt worse than last time. Maybe because I knew what I was in for...

Anyhow, it had gotten better, but it was not all good. I still have some medication and I will probably be on it back and forth for the rest of my life...

I asked about surgery, but the doctor said that it wasn't a "permanent solution". There are side effects to it that are just as bad, or worse, as what I've had.
He also told me that with the speed that medical science advances these days, it's not all to crazy to wait for either some miracle medication or a whole new type of surgical method.

I think I'll stick to the meds for now. I'm already off nicotine since a couple of months now and I have cut down a lot on alcohol (I think I was a bit addicted to that as well...).

Thank you all for the input!

One of the most common types of hiatal hernia repair surgery is called a fundoplication. This procedure is also known as endoluminal fundoplication and Belsey or Thal fundoplication. This type of surgical procedure is common for those diagnosed with anti reflux disease. The minimally invasive laparoscopic surgical procedure utilizes very small incisions through which a cannula, or long, thin tube with a camera (called an endoscope) attached to one, is inserted into the body cavity. The surgeon is able to view the surgical field within the body via a monitor or screen in the operating theatre. Source: www.placidway.com...