Digestive

[AGA88]

I am considering surgery to repair my hiatel hernea.  My doctor told me that after the surgery I will be unable to vomit.  I have searched the net and cannot find any information on this.  I also have delayed gastric emptying and have always had problems with vomiting and diarrhea.  What kind of problems might this cause me after the surgery?

[selmaS]

  Hi...I have heard many that had this procedure is one that has some lasting effects such as the ones u mentioned...some have had the procedure without the effects and were pleased with the outcome....but u do not know what ur out come will be.

If u use the search this community feature u can look up old threads on this topic.http://www.medhelp.org/forums/search/333?query=nissen

  Good luck and do keep us posted on what u do and how it all turns out...

BTW- there is a way to have a manual adjustment of the hernia via a well trained chiropractor....it is one way to see if u can have some relief....b4 u commit to surgery...and if it works u may not need surgery.

I feel u should try all means possible and surgery the last option...that is for me personally...diet and lifestyle modifications,....and if I can or need  more, then I may try the chiropractor.....and if that still did not work, I would have surgery if I was in a place that nothing else worked...lucky for me, diet, and lifestyle changes with occasional meds do the trick for me....

  Good luck and do let us know ur progress
     "selma"

[Flycaster305]

I also had issues with vomiting and diarrhea prior to my Nissen Fundoplication procedure, and it was of great concern to me.  My GERD symptoms were extremely severe.  I disagree with Selma in that I tried the manual adustment approach and it was completely a waste of money, and the science of manual adjustment of soft tissue makes little sense to me.  My sister in law is a chinese doctor, trained in China for six years,  trained in accuptuncture and massage, and gave me the name of someone who performed the procedure, but she warned me that success of this would be very rare.  She was correct.  
From what I learned from my studies prior to the procedure, the success rate of the nissen fundoplication procedure is very high, conditional on (1) choosing a surgeon who has done many procedures, and (2) has a high satisfaction rating from his patients, and (3) being ready for a difficult rehab after the surgery.  One must stay on a very strick diet for about eight weeks.  This is where I think many people have problems.  I'm very disciplined, and followed the diet carefully, and my results have been outstanding.  I'm almost a year post-surgery, and haven't had an acid problem since.  Having the surgery was the best medical decision I ever made.  If you would check out the surgeon carefully and commit to a diet prescribed by a dietician during your rehab, I'd procede with great confidence.  My vomiting problems went away with the surgery.  

[AGA88]

I am glad about the vomiting problems going away after surgery - gives me hope.  But my concern is that I understood my doctor to say that a person would be UNABLE to vomit after the surgery.  Have you experienced this?  Or is it that you could vomit if necessary but just don't?  

Thanks,
AGA88

[Flycaster305]

I haven't had a real need to vomit since the surgery, so I can't really answer your question.  I've corresponded privately with several people who have reported vomiting episodes either personally or someone in the family after having the procedure, and all reported no serious problem.  The cause of the need to vomit was in two cases people who were binge eaters, the other was a binge drinker.  There is no doubt in my mind, however, that vomiting soon after the surgery or repeated hurling episodes would undo the stitches.  It is thought by my doctors that a very violent vomiting episode when I had a bowel obstruction caused the LES valve to fail, and I'm sure if I went through that experience again, the successfully repaired valve would fail again.  In my opinion, there are no guarantees in life.  In my case, acid was destroying my vocal chords, and my teeth started turning black as the acid was removing the enamel.  Yes, that can happen.  It was a matter of risk vs. reward.  That's just the choices we have in life.  (I got my teeth capped,, my teeth are white as a sheet now).  Best wishes as you decide.