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From: christophe on 6 May 2008 16:23
This is my first post for some time and I hope all of my friends on
this site are faring better. For a while, I decided to stay away in
order to remain positive before the fundo. As it turned out, my fundo
was long delayed, but I finally had it last Friday.


I had a 270◦ wrap. The surgeon made the decision on the spot because
of the relatively good condition of my esophagus.

When I was informed on Saturday, I was in a state of rage. I have
heard stories about the high failure rate of these wraps.
Nevertheless, he remained confident in his work. I also suspect he has
had bad experiences with very tight wraps. I wish I knew all this
before surgery and I told him!

The upshot is that my recovery post-op is going very well. I am onto
soft and pureed foods. In fact, I was having them as early as the 2nd
day in hospital!. I am still getting saliva coming up to my throat,
although apparently this has nothing to do with the wrap, but the
difficulty of some liquids going down. A modified barium swallow
showed no reflux or esophageal spasms.

I am now very worried, but I am feeling quite well. I didn't take the
pain killer last night and got out of hospital yesterday morning. I
guess if the wrap lasts 5 years, I'm extremely fit and so probably
could get it done again. In saying that, anything less than 5 years
and the surgery is a failure in my books.

I don't want to give the impression that recovery from a fundo is
smooth sailing. I did have quite a lot of pain and was a little
nauseas after going from clear fluids to a thicker soup for the first
time. I can only imagine what recovery from a full fundo would be
like. The worst part of my recovery, however, is by far my doubts
about the partial wrap. I always thought that if manometry was
successful, that is, if it didn't point to swallowing or motility
problems, the surgeon would attempt the tightest wrap possible.

One curious detail about my experience was my surgeon's response to my
concerns on day 2. He said that if necessary, he could change the wrap
from 270 to 360, but the time to do it was while I was in hospital -
while the holes were fresh :) He did say that while tighter wraps
were more successful for periods longer than 5 to 7 years, studies
before that time period the two wraps were equally good for symptom
prevention. He also wanted the ability to use medication again if
necessary.
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