Nissen Fundoplication

This was the surgery they told us about shortly after Molly was born. The one we thought we would never do. Our first understanding of it was some artificial band put in around her esophagus to stop the reflux from happening...the theory being of course that annular muscle between the esophagus and stomach is not doing its job. For fun, here is a link to surgery #1

This surgery was black listed by us because she would not be able to throw-up anymore...and that is bad. What if she got food poising or the flu? Or later in life when she may make some bad choices in college? All good reasons not to do this.

But now, years later, after talking to her pediatrician and the #1 surgeon in the country and everyone else we can think of...maybe it isn’t so bad? Yeah, so now it seems that not being able to throw-up is not so bad. If the body can’t throw-up during a flu, then it ejects the other way. If she drinks too much in college...she will feel so bad that she will never do it again hopefully...but they say it isn’t dangerous. The only concern is if she gets actually poisoned...then her stomach will need to be pumped.

But, we are years into trying things for Molly’s reflux with no success. And even though it isn’t super critical, she hasn’t ever had a comfortable night sleep and that is a real issue. So, the nuclear option.

Go to our favorite place, Rocky Mountain Children’s Hospital and go through our normal check-in process. The surgery this time is about 45 minutes. But we need to stay overnight this time since it is fairly invasive. Also, as an added bonus, her surgery will be broadcast live to the company who makes the tools for this surgery. Here is the video...not Molly specifically, but you can learn all about this surgery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=iVXgw-eAuR0

The surgery, despite all our fears, was a total success with no problems. The surgeon even bragged how fast he went...yeah, thanks. The next 24 hours even were not so bad. The biggest frustration with this surgery is the diet which has to be fairly liquid for a couple of weeks, which, for soup loving Molly shouldn’t be a big deal. But, of course, now she doesn’t like soup. So all the work Katy did to make multiple soups was not appreciated.

Basically, her esophagus was a bit swollen so food doesn’t get down easy. She has to have slippery food with small bites. The weeks that followed were a bit troubled with a few throw-up/choking incidents. The ‘throwing-up’ this time is a bit different in that food is getting stuck in her esophagus and she all of a sudden gets bad back pain and spits up what is stuck...then feels just fine.

End of the story though, we are all good now. She is eating normally and the reflux is gone. Amazing. Years of discomfort, gone. So thankful. And we are even getting a good nights sleep now...occasionally. Pictures here

This isn’t getting any easier, BUT, this may be the last surgery for Molly. At least as it relates to her chronic reflux.