> Good day.  I'm a (young) sufferer of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux
> disorder) and have a hiatal hernia.  I need information on essentially
> two things:

>         If anyone out there suffers the same disabilities as I and has had
> laproscopic surgery, I would be interested in hearing your story,
> especially what the outcome was.  Has anyone had persistent reflux after
> the operation, or any other complications?  Were you
> satisfied/dissatisfied with the procedure.  And for any physicians, what
> are your opinions on the procedure?  I'm especially interested in the
> long-term reliabity of the correction.

>         Secondly, if anyone out there has been taking Losec (omeprazole) for a
> long time to deal with GERD I'd be interested in hearing if you've
> encountered any side-effects, discomforts, or are you completely
> satisfied?  I'm also interested in finding out how long it will be
> before Astra's patent is up and some generic versions of the drug will
> be available (at lower cost).

>         Thank you for your conisderation.  Please respond by e-mail.

> --
> Jason Mueller-Neuhaus
> Vice-President, DUPS
> Dept. of Physics, Dalhousie University
> Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada