Good fundo /Bad fundo?

[Anonymous]

My son Tyler is due for a second opinion today for his Nissen Fundo. I have a feeling this doc will agree that this is the best option. I am very concerned about any potential side effects though.

Inability to belch or vomit? Retching? Is the cure worse than the disease in this case? He’s tough to burp as it is.

Gtube or no gtube? He has no feeding problems, so the gtube would act strictly as a relief valve.

I am pretty well educated about the surgery, but I would like to hear some success stories to boost my confidence in this decision. I would also like to know of any side effects your little ones experienced. I’m the kind of person who has to have info from all angles to make a sound decision and feel confident about it.

Any personal stories that you wish to share would be appreciated.

Thank you all for your help.

[Anonymous]

sylvia’s fundo was a total success as far as her reflux was concerned. she has had absolutely no bad side effects from it. she is able to burp, but does not do it very often. she thinks it’s funny when she does. she cannot throw up, but that has not really been an issue. the first time she got sick and started retching it scared me to death. i didn’t realize she was sick, so i thought she was choking. we now have phenergan suppositories in the fridge in case she gets nauseated again. i posted the pictures from sylvia’s fundo on the little gerdlings website if you are interested (not everyone wants to see peoples insides LOL!) both of my twins have reflux and are on prevacid. one of them really has trouble with her reflux—-i would like to do a fundo on her.

[Anonymous]

Hi! I shared a little in your other post. But, wanted to tell you that we are very happy we did Emma’s fundo. On one side, yes, there were some possible side effects (issues w/ retching, ‘dumping syndrome,’ etc.) BUT on the flip side, Emma was aspirating, suffering from severe GERD, FTT, & not eating (so, she needed the gtube).

Emma has not had any bad effects. For one, it is REALLY nice (PEACE OF MIND!) knowing she is not aspirating or refluxing. Generally, she seems happier & more peaceful (esp while sleeping). She is still on Prevacid, because her retching was bad (BUT, she also has a neurological disorder, SO the docs were anticipating this. This is NOT THE NORM!!). She does still retch if she is sick, & yes, it is hard to watch. Emma CAN & HAS thrown up…she has had an Upper GI & fundo is intact. The times she has thrown up (3) were when she was very sick & followed very forceful retching (again, NONE of that is the NORM!).

We keep the phernegran on hand too! Our docs gave us a cream you rub on the insides of her wrists (mainly b/c Emma’s last tummy bug also brought on diarrhea, so we were unable to use suppository form of it). This helps TONS!

I am not “PRO-FUNDO” in the sense that I recommend it to one & all. I think it should ONLY be done when every possible option has been considered or if the child’s health is at risk. It sounds to me like that is certainly where you are with Tyler. A BIG factor that helped me sleep better at night following our decision to go ahead with the fundo, was reading an article on the lung damage aspiration can do. Emma had MANY URI’s, but never pneumonia. However, the docs felt she was on a slippery slope & couldn’t ‘escape’ pneumonia for long. The article I read said that even if a child who aspirates is not getting pneumonia, long-term lung damage is occurring. As it stands, Emma does has asthma & continues to have upper resp infections monthly. Thankfully, we know her lungs are not being damaged even more by the reflux.

Emma doesn’t burp…but she does have the gtube, so she gets vented throughout the day. I’ve heard of kiddos like Sylvia who do not have the gtube & do just fine. It might take a little while for Tyler & his body to ‘learn’ how to burp again, post-fundo. Talk to the docs, if they feel he does not need a gtube, & you agree, then he should do fine without one. Some surgeons won’t do a fundo w/o a gtube (temporary), so it will depend a lot on that.

Hope some of this helps. I remember how stressed my husband & I were going into the fundo. It is not an easy thing to think about. You know your son best & it certainly sounds like you have covered all areas–2nd opinion, research, etc. Take care. (((HUGS)))

[Anonymous]

sylvia was not given a g-tube because she was a good eater—–and then 7 weeks after surgery she had not gained and ounce. a tube was considered then—but we managed to get some weight on her. once again, at a later time, she was not gaining and a tube was again mentioned–but we got some weight on her again and avoided it. she had eating problems after her fundo, but they were totally unrelated to her fundo. initially, it was from esophageal thrush, and then she developed obstructive sleep apnea and had such large tonsils it must have made eating difficult. getting her tonsils and adenoids out made all the difference in the world. you can hardly see sylvia’s 5 tiny little scars from her fundo.

[Anonymous]

Got back from the 2nd opinion and it was not as I thought. He wants to repeat the swallow study and send Tyler to an ENT to check for a laryngeal web. So no Fundo for now. I dont know how I should feel about this. If we are going to do the fundo, I’d rather get it done and over with, but at the same time I am relieved that we are not quite at the end of that road and there are a few more things to check out.

His thing seems to be that his wheezing gets worse the second anything enters his mouth – solid or liquid. That’s why this doc feels that the Nissen will not completly fix the problem. and that there is something going on above his collarbone as well as below.

Thank you all for your stories, keep em coming, because eventually, he may end up getting the surgery and I want to be solid on my decision.

[Anonymous]

glad you have a doc that wants to be sure that surgery is really necessary before doing it.

[Anonymous]

Hi my name is elena and i have a 4 month old who wheezes and has reflux mspi we are flying to marci kids center for her to get testing ph probe and pulm for her lungs i see you had good results from fundo where was the surgery done and how did they do what type of wrap i think we might discussfundo we will be seeing the surgeon while in Missouri your reply and thoughts would be gratly apppreciated thanks elena

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