Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - North Mississippi - (Page 55)

Call Elwanda Walker “Now I rarely have to take something, only if I’ve eaten something that doesn’t agree with me. And I can eat pizza again. I hadn’t had pizza in years!” to be sore and my throat to be swollen, but all I had was a little tenderness in my stomach. I didn’t even take a pain pill. Immediately I could drink water, which I had not been able to do before without it coming back up.” She spent one night in the hospital and was able to return to normal activities within a week. Like Nissen fundoplication, the procedure is done laparoscopically through five small punctures in the abdomen. “Once we are in the operating room, we can decide which procedure the patient is better suited for, depending on anatomy,” Gilliland says. “The LINX procedure cannot be done if the patient has a hiatal hernia larger than 3 centimeters.” No More PaiN Another benefit is a quicker return to solid food. “We try to get LINX patients to eat regular food right away to train the Could You Be a Candidate? Because the LINX procedure is new, insurance coverage varies by provider and is usually approved on a case-by-case basis. For more information, call 800-THE DESK (800-843-3375). device,” Gilliland says. “With the Nissen procedure, they are on a prescribed diet for at least two weeks.” Before the procedure, Walker was taking medicine for irritable bowel syndrome five times a day, plus medicine for indigestion and pain. “Now I rarely have to take something, only if I’ve eaten something that doesn’t agree with me,” she says. “And I can eat pizza again. I hadn’t had pizza in years!” Gilliland and Robert McAuley, MD, of Surgery Clinic of Tupelo both began performing the procedure at NMMC in 2012 as part of a select group to launch the procedure nationwide. Outside of Tupelo, the closest facility offering the LINX procedure is in Atlanta. “It’s the most amazing thing that has happened to me. When I went back to see Dr. Gilliland after the procedure, I asked if I could hug him,” she says. “He saved my life. I had no quality of life.” Summ er 2013 55

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Help for Your Heart
The Ultimate Backto- School Checklist
Join the Movement
Stroke Stories
5 Steps to Better Bone Health
Gut Instinct
Morgan Freeman
Prostate Playbook
The Main Ingredient
Looking Ahead
Virtual Health
A Place for Peace
Don’t Be So Vein
Reflux Relief
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2013 - North Mississippi