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[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Hey all,

So first off, if you have this affliction, I feel for you. My wife has had GERD for about 10 years now. Basically the muscles that keep acid from coming up don't work properly and the end result is pure agony. The only medicine that works for her has been Nexium, but aside from it costing as much as a car payment monthly, the long term effects are reduced calcium and magnesium absorption. Needless to say women are already at a higher risk for bone issues later in life, and she has already been on it for about 10 years. At this point she needs to make a decision, continue on the meds and deal with weaker bones, possible fractures, muscle issues including pulmonary or, get surgery to wrap her stomach tighter.

Has anyone gone through the surgical approach? How has the outcome been for you? Are there any questions you would recommend asking the surgeon during consultation?
Thanks in advance for your responses. I would just feel better talking to those that have been in this situation as currently I don;t know anyone who has.

 

[bjb]

I'm sorry to hear what your wife is going through.

When I was younger, I was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer as it was revealed I had a tear in my lining somewhere. I took Zantac for years before stopping sometime in high school. Lately I've been having really bad stabbing pains all around my stomach.

Went to a GI doctor and she told me that they have to do a colonoscopy and upper scope. Estimated cost with insurance is about $5000. No way in hell I can afford that right now. Luckily a CT scan revealed no tumors or anything, so I'm hopeful it's just GERD and nothing malicious.

Guess I'm just going to live with it for now.

 

[shira]

the long term effects are reduced calcium and magnesium absorption.

Well if you are worried about these, it helps if she is an active person. Low calcium alone doesn't cause osteoporosis.

 

[echoshifting]

Ugh, sounds awful. =/ I don't have this but I have a chronic condition of my own and eventually went with a surgical approach. One of the best decisions I ever made.

Good general questions:
1) How many times have you performed this procedure?
2) Do you have a high success rate with this procedure?
3) Are there any other options we haven't explored?
4) Can I meet with my anesthesiologist before the procedure?
5) How long will the recovery period be? What should we expect?
6) Just how much relief can we realistically expect from this operation?

You might consider a second opinion if her current doctors are all telling her these are her only options for relief.

 

[bjb]

Just a rule of thumb regarding major surgery:

Always get a second opinion.

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Thanks so much for the responses thus far. I really feel for you guys too, especially if you cant afford it, that just makes me feel awful. It's hard to make a full decision at this point obviously, but any bit of advice is a ton of help, thank you.