Paraesophageal Hernia - Post op

I wanted to post this because it's not common and I had a hard time finding information for post op RNY's on the subject.

I had a large paraesophageal hernia. Both my pouch and remnant stomach pushed through my diaphragm and caused reflux, difficulty swallowing, and pain sometimes when I ate. So after seeing my bariatric surgeon about it, having a barium swallow, endoscopy and CT Scan and based on my symptoms we decided on surgery.

So I had laproscopic surgery to repair the hernia. My pouch and remnant stomach were pulled back down below my diaphragm and my hernia "hole" was closed. I did not need a mesh to close it. 

This is considered major abdominal surgery and takes about up to a good 6 months I'm told for complete healing and feeling 100%. 

After this surgery, you will go through your various stages of bariatric diet again because your esophagus needs to heal. 

It was painful, I did have some post op issues that kept me in the hospital a few extra days than intended.

I hope this info is helpful to anyone else who has this type of hernia. Hiatal Hernias come in many different types and paraesophageal is the rarer of the hiatal hernias.

So I'm post op one week and liquids, broths, yogurts. No solid "chewable" foods until June 3rd my next appointment.

Thank you for sharing. Hope you heal and feel better quickly! 

Glad you got it fixed.  My surgeon found a paraesophageal hernia as he was doing my RNY and fixed it as well... so healing from that and the RNY happened at the same time... double the surgery, half the recovery LOL.

Audrey

Thanks for posting this. I haven't seen anyone address this. I am 3 weeks out from this surgery. I had sleeve surgery last October and recently went into my Dr with some chest pain. After a CT we found that my sleeved stomach pouch had migrated up through my diaphram and was sitting very high up in my chest. It had formed scar tissue that adhered to my heart and lung which made the surgery very scary. My Dr and husband decided that the safest thing to do was bring the sleeved stomach back down and convert my surgery to bypass. Now I have had both surgeries and am feeling like I'm starting over. Food stages etc. I am hoping I never have to deal with this again!

Hi Laura:

I too have started back on the diet post surgery. I went home Stage 3...liquids/soft foods. I'm 2 weeks post op. Was a very scary procedure. My bariatric surgeon did mine...I don't think he has done one like mine before...like I said both pouch and remnant stomach was herniated. 

I also hope to never do this again...they say you can reherniate...I hope I'm one of the lucky ones that doesn't. I wish you happy healing. I find my incisions will start to get sore if I've overdone walking or moving around, otherwise no pain. I see him Friday though I talked to him Monday and have a feeling I'm not going to be advanced anytime soon.

I also hope to never do this again...they say you can reherniate...I hope I'm one of the lucky ones that doesn't.

Best of luck :)

Gosh I hope we both are lucky and never have to do any of this again. What a nightmare. Food has been ok for me. I am almost 4 weeks out now. I can eat whatever my body will tolerate. My bariatric surgeon did my surgery too. It was the first one like mine he had ever seen. I actually had a small heart attack on the table when he tried to remove my scar tissue from my heart. It was very scary. But I trust him and he kept me safe. I just never thought I'd have to have 2 bariatric surgeries! Especially when I was just about done losing weight from the sleeve. 

Good luck to you. Keep in touch, it will be nice to compare our progress and help each other out!

I'm a week behind you...I"m about 3 weeks out. My incision sites usually get sore by the end of the day...having IBS, it's difficult not to "strain" so Milk of Magnesia has been a good friend. I still worry about reherniation...but I"m a worry wart anyways. I've been upgraded to "pureed" which is fine, I'm a little nervous to throw solid food in yet. I'm so glad you had a good bariatric surgeon. I love mine...when he said are you ready to do this I said, well I put my life in your hands once so I trust you enough to do it again lol.

Definitely keep in touch! Would love to compare progress!

Hi Brenda, Hope you don't mind me asking how you are doing now after several months of healing, and what complications you might of had after the hernia repair.

I also have a paraesophageal hernia that is to be repaired on 11/7/16. Not sure if at that time if my surgeon will do the vsg or rny. I was told depending wither or not he had to repair with mesh. Mine is large also. I'm scared to say the least. Any information or advice would be so greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Lory

Hi Lory,

My surgeon said it was like redoing my RNY...It really did kick my butt. I ended up being hospitalized for about 4 days. My resting pulse was in the 130s...they weren't sure why.

They did not use Mesh but he said he kept a gap for "swelling"...It took about a good 3 or 4 months to feel somewhat normal. I was on a mushy diet (lived on mashed potatoes and yogurt mostly) pretty much the whole 3 or 4 months because anything else hurt so my surgeon said to go by how I felt. 

Be prepared to not feel 100% for at least 4 months...it does progressively get better and sometimes you feel a step back.

Unless this hernia starts to bother me again or gets bigger, I'll just stay with the small sliding hiatal hernia. 

I hope this is helpful and I wish you all the best. Not trying to scare you but I like to have all info to know what I'm up against. 

Best of luck!

Brenda

Hi Brenda, and yes it helped a lot thank you so much for replying so quickly... I imagined it was going to be rough for awhile after surgery. Just so glad for this site and a place to come for answers.

So glad to hear you are doing ok, and I wish you the best to!!! Lory