Hi Molly,
Every time I come here I learn new words.
Yes, I had the fundoplication done. They took the portion of my stomach that was trapped in my chest cavity and wrapped it around my esophagus. They also had to fix the diaphragm too. I have some "clips" in my upper abdoman area left from the hiatal hernia surgery, but I don't know what they are for, or exactly where they are located. While I was under they also fix my umbilical hernia (a small minor hernia in my case). They did all this laproscopically.
My left lung collapsed during HH surgery, and we never would have known about it if the surgeon didn't tell us, because it was already fixed when I awakened. I never had a problem with it either, not even at the hospital. Complete recovery seemed to take forever, because it took me so long to be able to swallow food and liquid without feeling any pain. During the first few months I had a hard time with foods getting stuck down there and I had to keep sipping liquids to get those stuck foods moving downwards. It got better as time went on. I'd say the complete recovery took me about 1.5 years, but the general recovery from the surgical wounds was only maybe 4 months.
Both my umbilical hernia and hiatal hernia are doing fine, (but I think I got a possible ventral hernia now). I still do have some swallowing trouble once in a great while from the tightened spincter, but I have a harder time swallowing in the upper part of my throat on a daily basis now. I need to take small bites of food, and not gulp my liquids. Pills aren't so bad, except the ones without the coatings. About 3 to 4 nights a week I wake up to choking on saliva. It puddles in my throat because I can't swallow well while laying down. This newer swallowing problem is because my throat is getting squished between my collarbones and my cervical spine due to kyphosis, and also loss of height I presume. My doctors are all telling me "some things are better off untouched". On the other hand, My spinal surgeon said he will consider it when and if the time is right. He thinks I might be ready for it 3 years after my past back surgery date. That means in a year and a half or so I can talk to him about it.
I also have that schwannoma my doctors want to take out, which is scarier to me. Before any of this happens though, I want to make sure my bone mass is up to par.
Take care,
James
