Fundo what?

It looks as though Jordan is going to have to have the surgery done. He is not getting any relief from the small procedure that they did. The good news is that its eight years later. 8 years ago, the laproscopic fundoplication was new and very few doctors did it. We did find one in Nashville, Dr. Cyves, that would do it. He moved to Jacksonville Florida to work at the Mayo clinic.

There is a couple of great doctors around here that are doing it now, and I guess we have to make a decision on what to do. We can go to Jacksonville to get his doctor that he previously had, we can go to Nashville and get one of the doctors in the same practice to do it, or we can stay here and let one of the doctors at UT do it. Dr. Kendall seems very confident that the doctors around here can do a superb job, and coming from him that goes along ways! Decisions, decisions, decisions!!

Jordan has had 2 previous fundos, when he was 2 he had one that flipped inside out and they had to do it over. We were in the hospital for a total of around 2 months down there. This will be his third and with each surgery, comes more risks and complications. We are at the point now that we were then where we dont have much of a choice. His quality of life is non exsistant right now. He is taking phenergan about every 4 hours, causeing him to be overly tired, and if he chooses to not take the phenergan the pain from his retching is unbearable even to watch :(

I continue to remind myself that God will not give me more than I can handle, I know that God knows how I feel having to watch his own son suffer and even die for us.


What is fundoplication?

Fundoplication is the standard surgical method for treating gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD causes inflammation, pain (heartburn), and other serious complications (such as scarring and stricture) of the esophagus. GERD results when acid refluxes (regurgitates, or backwashes) from the stomach back up into the esophagus. Under normal conditions, there is a barrier to reflux of acid. One part of this barrier is the lower-most muscle of the esophagus (called the lower esophageal sphincter). Most of the time, this muscle is contracted (constricted, or tight), which closes off the esophagus from the stomach. In patients with GERD, the sphincter does not function normally. The muscle is either weak or relaxes inappropriately. Fundoplication is a surgical technique that strengthens the barrier to acid reflux when the sphincter does not function normally.

What happens during fundoplication?

During the fundoplication procedure, the part of the stomach that is closest to the entry of the esophagus (the fundus of the stomach) is gathered, wrapped, and sutured (sewn) around the lower end of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter. (The gathering and suturing of one tissue to another is called plication.) This procedure increases the pressure at the lower end of the esophagus.

Also, during fundoplication, other surgical steps frequently are taken that also may reduce acid reflux. For instance, if the patient has a hiatal hernia (which occurs in 80% of patients with GERD), the hernial sac may be pulled down from the chest and sutured so that it remains within the abdomen. Additionally, the opening in the diaphragm through which the esophagus passes from the chest into the abdomen also may be tightened.