Surgical help for heartburn brings major relief
Claudia Sweet, 67, had been dealing with heartburn and acid reflux for 30 years. In the last five years, it progressed to serious health issues, where she was throwing up and regurgitating after every meal. She could not find relief in her prescription medications.
“I was on daily heartburn medication. My doctor told me I needed to lose some weight. He upped my medication, but it never went further than that,” said Claudia. “I went to different doctors and did so many tests, but they couldn't find anything.”
Claudia did not give up. She knew it wasn't normal to throw up every time she ate. She was finally referred to Dr. Richard Englehardt, a surgeon at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant.
“I liked him right away. He made me feel comfortable, and he understood what I was going through,” said Claudia. “He found that 40 percent of my stomach was above my diaphragm through a hernia.”
Dr. Englehardt said that a lot of people assume these symptoms are just minor reflux, and they don't do the full evaluation to determine the real problem.
“It's mind-blowing that so many people believe they have to live with these painful symptoms, but this is something we can fix,” said Dr. Englehardt. “In this case, we did an endoscopy that showed us the hernia, and we did a manometry study and pH study that confirmed she was a good candidate for a magnetic sphincter augmentation. We have all these diagnostic tools available to us in this facility.”
Dr. Englehardt repaired the hernia and surgically implanted the magnetic sphincter augmentation device around the lower end of her esophagus to prevent the contents of her stomach from coming back up. The surgery was a major success for Claudia.
“I was beginning to think I was the only person in the world this was happening to. I was very disappointed that it took so long to send me to a surgeon,” said Claudia. “That's all stopped now. No more reflux. No more heartburn. No more acid.”
And after 30 years of taking heartburn medication, that's also stopped. Her symptoms have gone away, so she does not need to take her daily pill for heartburn.
“It's weird not having to take it,” said Claudia. “I'm so relieved now. It makes life so much easier.”
The Heartburn and Reflux Program at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant is designed specifically to diagnose and treat your GERD, heartburn and reflux issues. To learn more, call 210.575.FLUX (3589).