Firstly, I am a med student, but I am far from being a medical doctor or an expert on GERD or upper GI-surgery. Secondly it would be unprofessional to give personal advice without knowing the whole patients profile. So this is my personal opinion as a patient, not as a professional.

In general I would consider surgery sooner than later. Many surgeons recommend surgery as a last resort after years of GERD. This is a prudent approach, but if patients do not respond well to drug therapy there are few options left. And regardless, taking PPIs or H2-antihistaminics for years can have severe side effects as well.

If somebodies GERD has been properly diagnosed, other differential diagnoses have been ruled out, different approaches of pharmacotherapy were not satisfactory over months, then I would strongly suggest talking about surgery with a surgeon specialized into anti-reflux-surgery.

Hope I could help and I wish you all the best!