How can I avoid my 19mth old having surgery for reflux?

JD was born with sever reflux, although it did not get diagnosed till he was about 8 weeks old, so it was no wonder I ended up with PND. The only time he did not scream was when he was asleep. The Peadi advised us to put him on AR formula's until he was 4.5 months and we started him on solids. We also had him on Zantac and Mylanta. We thought that he improved, but he continued to chuck his breakie up and I just thought he was lactos intollerent or something else.
When he continued getting sever ear infections and always on antibiotics, we went to a ENT and he discovered that not only did JD have mild deafness in his right ear from the ear infections, his adenoids were huge and very infected. The ENT suggested that he may still have reflux which was bringing all the bacteria from the stomach into the airways and causing the ear infections, and adenoid infection.
So into surgery he went (2 weeks ago now). He has grommets inserted, adenoids removed, a dermoid cyst removed from his left ear lobe, a circumcision and an LBO (endoscopy) to see if his thoughts were right.
They discovered sever reflux, his airways were so badly damaged they were swollen and blistered. His vocal cords and throat were even all burned.
The Dr's said he must have been in terrible pain and very anxious about eating. My husband and I cried as we wrestled with him coming out of the general.

They now have him on losec, which we have had to make up into a banana flavoured liquid. He is on 10mg a day. It does not stop his vomiting his breakie, but its meant to reduce the acid.

Problem is they are going to let him go till he is 2 and then do another endoscopy and if they feel he has not grown out of the reflux they are going to do surgery to pull up some of his stomach lining to make a smaller opening. I am scared, it was horrible the first time he had surgery. Is there other things I can try first?

sorry for long post, I thought it best to explain the journey so far.:pray:

Ohh your poor bubby. I dont have any advice, except some swear by chiropractic/osteopathic work.
Maybe try that?
Also, I found that having my DS on losec and AR formula made him not eat much and a bit constipated as it all seemed to slow his digestion down too much.
But my DS grew out of his reflux by 12mths.
Hugs
PS, losec can take a while to work, like 2 weeks, so dont be disheartened if you see no change for a while.

I got excellent results seeing an osteopath for my DD2's reflux, and I know others have too. Ask around for a good practitioner in your area who specialises with treating babies...there may be a bit of a waiting list but I'm sure if you explain the severity of the problem they will do everything to get you in as soon as possible.

Oh the poor little man :(. And poor mummy :hug:.

I highly recommend taking him to a paediatric chiro or osteo. I have taken all my kids to a paed chiro and have seen wonderful results. They are great at treating reflux sufferers, it's definitely worth a go. I have a hiatus hernia (that causes reflux) and the kid's chiro was kind enough to work on it for me (for free too!) and I haven't had a problem since!

Best of luck :hug:.

Thanks, I must admit I did not think chiro would help. I took him when he was just 4 months old the once and did not notice anything. Might try again. One question though, what is the difference between a chiro and an osteo?

Puppies, I took my little one to a chiro (and still have a few sessions to go) and have found that it's helping immensely.

Good luck
Sue xxx