Hi,
Hiatus hernia is quite common and one of the main causes of acid reflux which contributed to your developing Barrett's.
Barrett's is best thought of as "armour plating" cells produced by the body to protect against acid attack.
Acid is produced in the stomach which is protected from it by columnar cells and mucous. The oesophagus doesn't have that protection.

Barrett's is a permanent addition and has no symptoms of its own. If you have any symptoms, it will be from acid attacking the oesophagus or the reflux that carried it there.
The concern is the cells have the ability (in a small number of cases) to mutate to cancer.
Management of Barrett's is with Acid suppressant medication (PPIs) to make reflux less damaging and lifestyle modification to reduce reflux.
PPIs have been shown to reduce the risk of the cells mutating probably through reducing risk of further attack promoting the production of more Barrett's cells and through cell apoptosis (death) of bad cells.

Those of us with Barrett's are the lucky ones who will not only receive the medication but regular surveillance scopes every few years to look for signs of mutation early enough to treat and prevent the cancer developing.

This leaflet, "Bite Size" provides an straightforward introduction.
For further information, see the free encyclopaedia, "Down With Acid", or the Barrett's Wessex website.
If you would like a printed copy of the Down With Acid encyclopaedia, please message me or email chris@chrisrob.co.uk with your address and I'll pop one in the post.

Another useful site is BarrettsEsophagus.org established for World Barrett's Day (16th May).
And another useful forum is the Facebook group, Barrett's Esophagus Awareness with over 6000 members ready to chat.