The surgery was worth it for me for several reasons, and I realize that these reasons aren’t applicable to most people.
I have very bad asthma, and apparently GERD can contribute to it quite a bit. Even though I was on a PPI I still had reflux fumes coming up out of my gut that I would breathe in. Strengthening the pyloric sphincter kept that from happening. I noticed that my breathing improved drastically a few days after the operation. I also had a hiatal hernia, which was likely not helping my breathing.
I also noticed that right around the time I stared using a PPI that I also developed multiple food allergies. It could be a coincidence, but even my gastroenterologist said that the change in digestion from the PPI might have contributed to development of the allergies. And I developed a few more along the way. So getting off of the PPI was important to me in that regard.
Anyway, my experience has been pretty positive. I can burp. Not sure if I can throw up from my stomach yet, but I have thrown up stuff that was sitting in my esophagus (I tried challenging foods too quickly street my surgery - learned my lesson there). I can finally sleep flat without regurgitation. So I’m pretty happy.
I don’t know if you have any desire to get off of Protonix, but if you ever do, I read this recently and it’s pretty interesting: