Question about a hiatal hernia operation?

I was recently diagnosed with a hiatal hernia (a hernia in your esophogus) which is believed to be the cause of my acid reflux. I talked to my gastroenterologist about it, and he said to simply take medicine and follow a specific diet to keep the acid reflux under control. I asked him about removing the hiatal hernia, but he said that the operation is too risky, meaning you could die from it, or it may not resolve the problem at all and could in term make you feel worse. I kinda have a thing where I don't exactly trust the "medical department," so my question is, is that true? Is a hiatal hernia operation really that risky? I was also told by him that no surgeon would perform the operation on me because I am not in enough need for it, because my condition is not life threatning.

[jackid]

if i were you and they told me it was not life threatening i would just follow a strict diet and not get it. especially if you dont really trust doctors.. would you really want them doing an unnesisary surgery on you...?  sorry for my speeling im so tierd.. but anyway i think i have acid reflux or something in the dept too i dont know yet exactly whats wrong yet but, if its not life threatening i would just do whatever i could without medicine to prevent any future trouble. i dont know if its that risky though. i never heard that.

[xalannabananax]

I recently had the hiatus hernia surgery, 1st may.

my hiatus hernia was really bad, i was vomiting my food up and belching constantly from it... my doctor also said i just had to change my lifestyle instead, i was put on omeprazole but i was vomiting those up too... they didnt work for me.

alll surgery has risks.. but these surgeons do this type of surgery everyday and are very experienced in it.

there are lots of people who have had the surgery and recover very well.. 99% of the time its done by keyhole. they pull the stomach out from ur oesophagus tube then wrap some of your stomach around the esophagus to make it tighter. you will have 5 small scars on your stomach afterwards.

i feel a lot better from it.. but i still have belching episodes which are annoying.. hopefully i can sort that out soon though :)

if you really need the op and the tablets aint working for you, then ask your doctor to refer you to the surgeon, you will probably have to have a capheter through your nose for 24 hours, which will be attached to some thing which u have to press when u get heartburn or belching, and it measures how much acid is rising up.. then they send ya for the op!!!

the op isnt that bad though, its not as risky as it used to be, so just ignore ya doctor cause most doctors talk out their arses anyways.. and get them to refer you :D goodluck.