LINX Surgery

In 2012 I had an EGD. This is a scoping and viewing with a camera of the esophagus, stomach, and upper small intestine. One of my grandmothers had problems with regurgitation and reflux and eventually died of cancer though I don't know if of the esophagus or the stomach. There were no strictures (narrowing), abnormal lining, or tumors found in my esophagus. I had occasional heartburn and infrequently it felt like something was stuck in my esophagus as I ate, and I had two incidents of regurgitation (one in a fast food restaurant) that year. I did not have manometry, a test to see if there were swallowing/motility problems because I had insurance through the Indiana risk pool which provided minimal coverage with a huge deductible. Manometry is expensive.

Those symptoms have been getting worse the past few years, and in the past 15 months I have had regurgitation at least weekly. When I had blood in my stool last October, I was referred for an EGD plus the surgeon wanted to do a colonoscopy as well. That finally happened November 22nd. I was told I had a hiatal hernia. You may remember that on the day of those scopings I ended up in the ER that evening with fever and shivering so bad my whole body shook. After a CT scan, I was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia and admitted to the hospital for several days. 

It is interesting how God can use human mistakes to direct us down a new path. The surgeon who did the EGD made an appointment for me to see the local gastroenterologist. I thought this was odd as I had not yet had the follow-up visit with the surgeon, but I went.

 The visit did not go well. According to the GI doctor's nurse, the reason for the visit was listed as a follow-up to a barium enema which I knew I had not had. I showed her my paperwork from my surgery, and I told her I had questions about my hiatal hernia.

 When the doctor came into the room, he said I guess this is the appointment that wasn't supposed to happen. I said I didn't know the intent of the scheduled visit since I didn't make the appointment, but I had questions about my hiatal hernia. He said to me, "I can't help you; I don't know anything about you." I stood up and put my coat on and had my hand on the doorknob when he said, "Wait, sit down, I will answer your questions." He is at least in his 60's and it turns out he does not like having to look at the digital records for a patient, he prefers paper. I offered him my paper records, but he said he needed to see all the stuff in my records. Somehow I mentioned something about having had medical procedures/surgeries in Dallas. His response was why did you ever leave there and come to a place like this with gray cold days. (This was in December). There were several other awkward moments and comments, but in the end he provided me with some key information. I did not like what I had read about Nissen fundoplication, a surgery to fix a sliding hernia. He told me about LINX surgery. At the end of the visit, he said, "You know I think there was a mix-up, that you were not the patient that was to see me." When I asked if there was paperwork to check out, he said, "You just walk out of here like you own the place, and nobody will stop you."

When I saw the surgeon a week later, I told him about this odd visit. He excused himself and went to see his scheduler. Yes, there had been a mix-up. I was not the patient intended to see the GI doctor. He wrote off my co-pay for that day as a way to apologize. The GI had told me I needed hernia surgery. So did this surgeon. I asked about LINX. He had heard of it, but nobody in their practice was trained to do it. He referred me to a doctor in Fort Wayne who did LINX. If I had never had the strange visit, I would not have known about LINX, as the surgeon was surprised I brought it up.

That brings us to today's visit with Dr. Nearing, the Fort Wayne doctor. After looking at the barium swallow I had in Warsaw in December and then the results of the tests/procedures he did on January 5th, we decided to have the LINX surgery. It is scheduled for February 2nd. Suddenly things are moving fast. 

Since this is a long post, I won't go into the recovery from LINX which has a multi-page list of food to avoid. I have to eat certain kinds of things once an hour post-surgery (except while sleeping) for 2 months. It is going to be tough, but I think worth it.