Honestly, I knpw nothing about the procedure and hope to never have to educate myself, but Catherine's new ped brought it up at her check-up last week, and she's the third ped to mention it to us as a possible future outcome. How does it affect a child later in life ... teen years, adulthood?

Yes, it is forever, as in they can't put you back to pre surgery. I have heard of a few reversals but 99% wont do it.

The younger your child is, the more likely they will outgrow the fundo and need it redone over and over. I have also heard of kids who are now 29 and just having theirs redone. Its not a cure-all, it is a new set of problems, and we are back to vomiting again 6 months post op so go figure, and back on prilosec, not eating, choking, gagging, he has to work really hard to vomit, all the old symptoms.

He is still much better but seems to be heading back quickly. And, many find that to be true. I still think it was worth it because he had several months of perfection and gained leaps and bounds developmentally because he felt good enough to care. We dont even know if he is getting things stuck on top of the wrap (which is common) or if it has loosened up enough that is vomiting (and then would also be refluxing) through the wrap.

Whoops, sorry for going on, I am just really frustrated right now with this whole issue as Eli is not doing so hot at the moment and I am not sure if the fundo is working like it should or not because a good fundo can be vomited through but will prevent reflux so he may be fine, but why is he choking and gagging and not eating and was up all night last night? :roll:

Sam's fundo is only about a month old now but so far it has been a blessing. He no longer vomits and is tolerating more and more food. I am very happy that we decided to have it done. I know that there can be complications, but we have had none so far. Hopefully he can get the nutritin he needs so he can catch up developmentally now. It is sopose to grow with them, but from what I read sometimes they may need to do some "adjusting" later in life.

I have to agree what was said. I have three children that have had fundos,and one of them has already had a second one done. The other two have thier fundos in tact. All three kids still reflux through their fundos though and require medications to help. If the procedure needs to be done make sure that it is a last resort and that the docs have tried everything possible prior to surgery.

I know for us we were told that this would be a cure all for my kids but they were wrong. The fundo can create it own set of problems that can be worse than the reflux itself. MY dd did great with her fundo though and is did what is was supposed to for her even though she still has minimal reflux. My sons though had many complications after the fundo and it has taken three years to correct the ones problems and my oldest still is having chronic problems due to the fundo. I do know in my heart that we had no other choice for my children and that they required the fundos to be done. We had exhusted all options and permanent damge was being done to their esophagus as their stomachs. Also two of them had to have other surgeries due to the reflux such as sinus and ears twice due to the reflux. The reason I am saying this is not to scare you but realize that the child should have no other options. It should only be done when there could be permanent damage.respitory damage,or life threatening situations arise. I do wish you luck and hope that you dont have to come to this.

I was wondering if you have seen a peds gi and what their thought on the matter were.

Melanie

Oh, ya, I fogot that part, since the surgery we have had no pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections, or ear infections, and his immune system is doing great so we can take him in public again, he actually hasn't caught an illness since the surgery where as he used to have mulitples on top of each other all at once and for months at a time because of the damagin reflux. Which is basicly what made us do the surgery, it was all the other stuff the refluxing was damaging, it has helped us in that area... Hope it stays that way!

Oh and not to mention the damage to his esophagus, I am hoping it is still helping with that at this point :?

Our ped, feeding specialist and GIs all mentioned the fundo at one point or another, but we opted for the G tube alone, and now we're giving Daniel five smaller meals a day (used to be four with same total ounces) at a slower pace, and he's only thrown up twice in the last three weeks! Of course, I'd've kicked myself if the G tube plan backfired and D ended up needed a separate surgery for the fundo, but we're lucky things are working out so far.

Tucker just had his fundo surgery last week, so far no regrets... :)

I asked all of our doctors the same question: "is a fundo forever?" All of them (ped gi, ped, pulmo, ENT, ped surgeon, & intensivist @ PICU) said the same thing: that he will probably never be able to throw up like a person who has not had a fundo, but will most like either stretch it out or retch so violently that he'll rip it out eventually.

My big question was, so, when he's 5 and has a flu, what happens? Or what about when he's 18 and in college and goes on a bender? is he going to get alcohol poisoning because he can't throw up? :wink:

Bottom line answer from them all was, we'll just have to wait and see...Don't you just hate that answer?

I have three kids that have fundos and each one is different. My dd can vomit past her fundo and it has stayed in tac she now has past her 5th year anniversary. My one son vomits some but not like a normal person and my other son can vomit at all but he still has his gtube so we can vent him. My son that vomits some will tell you that he needs to get sick but it just doesnt happen and eventually passes. We have had no problems with them when they have gotten sick.

I do know other children that can vomit pass their fundos and they have remained in tac and then there are others that cant vomit and have had no problems when they have been sick. I think each child is so individual that you wont know until you have to deal with what to expect. I do wish you luck and happy to hear that there are no problems since the fundo I do hope that he continues to improve.


Melanie