RE: Draft version of welcome to new members letter

[Guest guest]

Gee, Debbie, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Maggie

The wicked old witch from the south.

[Guest guest]

I think that this "welcome letter" is as good as it can be. In other words, I can not think of anything that has been left out. If people actually read this, they'll have a good basis for reading any posts by members relating personal stories of eating or drinking habits that may help the condition.

MY .02

Jan in Northern KY

[Guest guest]

Deb,

You amaze me. That was perfect!

Sandi

Draft version

of " welcome to new members " letter

Lemme

know what y'all think of this....anything to add? change? delete?

Debbi,

who is off to run some errands.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome " aboard " to any

new (or lurking) members of the Achalasia Group!

This message is to let everyone know

about what this group is (and isn't!) and how to use the information in this

group to your best advantage.

First of all, this group is a SUPPORT

group. Soliciting, Spamming, Flaming, Trolling, and Personal Attacks

are not

tolerated within this group. The people that are members of this

group either have achalasia or have a family member with achalasia.

Members share information regarding things such as diagnostic information,

treatment information, recommended doctors/clinics, and personal experiences of

what it's like to live with achalasia. The group also shares a tremendous

amount of caring and support. Achalasia is a very " lonely "

disease, and when family and friends can't understand what you're going

through, the people on this board CAN, because they have " been there and

done that " -- you are NOT alone!

The members of this group are

generally NOT healthcare providers (although in many cases the members of the

group are better educated about achalasia than the majority of healthcare

providers!) The postings on this forum are meant to share information on

whatever has been helpful in understanding and living with this disease. It is

hoped that this information may in turn help others. This group is NOT intended

to replace proper diagnosis and care by qualified licensed physicians. Anyone

who even suspects they (or someone they know) have Achalasia should immediately

contact a GI specialist order to be properly diagnosed. Do not delay, as

Achalasia only gets worse with time and any delay may cause

irreversible damage to the esophagus.

Unless otherwise indicated as being

documented by experts (with appropriate references and/or links to the original

documentation), the information posted by members of this forum is based on

personal experience, and should not be construed as being applicable

to each and every case of achalasia. As achalasia is a unique disease, it

is also unique to each individual. What may help one person may not help

another. The symptoms that one person experiences may be different from the

experiences of another. It is therefore recommended that

before one tries anything mentioned on this site, they discuss it with

their attending physician to ensure there will be no complications. All

information (as any information posted on the Internet) should be taken with a

large grain of salt or salt substitute (if medically required.)

There is an incredible amount

of information already contained within this website. It is

recommended that everyone educate themselves as much as possible about

what achalasia is, how it is diagnosed, and how it is treated. Because

of the infrequent occurrence of achalasia, most family doctors/general

practitioners are not familiar with it, and even many GI (gastrointestinal)

specialists aren't well-versed on the most up-to-date information that is

available. Therefore, it is crucial that everyone educate themselves in

order to make competent, informed decisions about their own healthcare

treatment choices.

In the " Links " section

(accessible through the link at the left-hand side of each page of the website)

there are links to hundreds of informational websites. Some of these are

broken down into folders by category, and some of them are just posted

alphabetically by title. If you have questions about what achalasia is,

check out the links in the folder titled, " Descriptions of Achalasia/Dysphagia

and how Diagnosed " , etc. There is also information available in the

" Polls " and " Database " sections.

If you have questions about a

specific item, try doing a search in the archived messages. On the

" Messages " page there is a search box in the Headings bar.

will search through the messages a couple hundred at a time, starting with the

most recent posts, and return with a link to any message that contains the

keyword you searched for. To search the next couple hundred messages,

click on " next " on the search results page. If you see a

reference to a specific message number, there's another box (just below the

" search " box) where you can enter the message number and go directly

to that particular message.

In order to post to the group, you

need to first " join " the group, which requires that you have a free

identity (screen name.) When you join the group, will by

default assign your email address (your-screen-name@...) to

receive the group messages individually via email.

You can change your email settings

at any time by using the " Edit My Membership " link on the

upper right side of any group webpage. You may change the email address

to any other address you may have (which requires you to " verify " the

address by replying to an email that will send to the alternate

address.) [Please be aware that any address you use to post to the group

will be visible via the internet to the public and to other group members via

email.]

You can also change the frequency

with which you receive emails. " Individual Emails " means that

each time someone posts to the group via website or email, you will receive an

email containing that post. " Daily Digest " means that the day's

posts will accumulate into one big email, one message listed after

another. At the end of the day (or more often if there are more than 25

messages in any given day), will send this one long email to your

inbox. " No Email " means just what it says -- no emails will be

sent to you, and you will have to read each message on the website's

" Messages " page.

To post a new message to the group,

you may either type it out on the " Post " page of the group, or you

may send an email to achalasia .

To reply to an existing message, you

may either reply on the website, or send a reply via email. When replying

to a message, the " to " field will be to the GROUP address, not to the

individual person who posted the message to which you are replying. If

you wish to send a private message just to that one person, you will need to

change the " to " field to just that person's email address.

If your email program is set up to

automatically quote the original message when you reply to an email, please

edit out any excess material before sending your reply. This is

particularly important for people who are on " Digest " mode, as the

quoted material will be the whole entire 25-message email and not just the one

portion of the digest that you are wanting to comment upon.

If you have a file that you want to

share with the group, you may attach it to your email and it will be

distributed via 's Group email delivery to those who are on

Individual Email mode. However, no longer archives the attachments,

so they are not available to people on Web-Only or Daily Digest mode. For

that reason, you should also upload any attachment to the " Files "

section (link available from left side of any web page.) It is helpful if

you title and describe your file so that others will know what it

contains. " Document1 " is NOT a descriptive title....

" Questions to ask your surgeon " gives a much better idea of what is

contained inside the file!

This group is provided as a free

service of , and it may experience " glitches " from time to time

that are beyond anyone's control. Samples of glitches are messages

'disappearing' after they are sent, messages posting on the website that don't

get sent via email, messages being delayed by several hours, or messages

arriving in a different order than they were sent. It doesn't happen all

the time, but it does occasionally happen, and there's not much that can be

done about it.

This group is a tremendous resource

to the members, and it is hoped that everyone will find the information to be

helpful. Please feel free to post any questions, worries/concerns, or

suggestions that you may have.

Welcome to the Achalasia Group!

[Guest guest]

Excellent Debbi !! I like it as it is. I do suggest that you write out GI as gastroenterologist or gastrointestinal specialist (GI) as persons new to the condition may not be used to the terminology.

Joan

Johannesburg South Africajpearse@...

Draft version of "welcome to new members" letter

Lemme know what y'all think of this....anything to add? change? delete?

Debbi, who is off to run some errands.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome "aboard" to any new (or lurking) members of the Achalasia Group!

This message is to let everyone know about what this group is (and isn't!) and how to use the information in this group to your best advantage.

First of all, this group is a SUPPORT group. Soliciting, Spamming, Flaming, Trolling, and Personal Attacks are not tolerated within this group. The people that are members of this group either have achalasia or have a family member with achalasia. Members share information regarding things such as diagnostic information, treatment information, recommended doctors/clinics, and personal experiences of what it's like to live with achalasia. The group also shares a tremendous amount of caring and support. Achalasia is a very "lonely" disease, and when family and friends can't understand what you're going through, the people on this board CAN, because they have "been there and done that" -- you are NOT alone!

The members of this group are generally NOT healthcare providers (although in many cases the members of the group are better educated about achalasia than the majority of healthcare providers!) The postings on this forum are meant to share information on whatever has been helpful in understanding and living with this disease. It is hoped that this information may in turn help others. This group is NOT intended to replace proper diagnosis and care by qualified licensed physicians. Anyone who even suspects they (or someone they know) have Achalasia should immediately contact a gastrointestinal (GI) specialist order to be properly diagnosed. Do not delay, as Achalasia only gets worse with time and any delay may cause irreversible damage to the esophagus.

Unless otherwise indicated as being documented by experts (with appropriate references and/or links to the original documentation), the information posted by members of this forum is based on personal experience, and should not be construed as being applicable to each and every case of achalasia. As achalasia is a unique disease, it is also unique to each individual. What may help one person may not help another. The symptoms that one person experiences may be different from the experiences of another. It is therefore recommended that before one tries anything mentioned on this site, they discuss it with their attending physician to ensure there will be no complications. All information (as any information posted on the Internet) should be taken with a large grain of salt or salt substitute (if medically required.)

There is an incredible amount of information already contained within this website. It is recommended that everyone educate themselves as much as possible about what achalasia is, how it is diagnosed, and how it is treated. Because of the infrequent occurrence of achalasia, most family doctors/general practitioners are not familiar with it, and even many GI (gastrointestinal) specialists aren't well-versed on the most up-to-date information that is available. Therefore, it is crucial that everyone educate themselves in order to make competent, informed decisions about their own healthcare treatment choices.

In the "Links" section (accessible through the link at the left-hand side of each page of the website) there are links to hundreds of informational websites. Some of these are broken down into folders by category, and some of them are just posted alphabetically by title. If you have questions about what achalasia is, check out the links in the folder titled, "Descriptions of Achalasia/Dysphagia and how Diagnosed", etc. There is also information available in the "Polls" and "Database" sections.

If you have questions about a specific item, try doing a search in the archived messages. On the "Messages" page there is a search box in the Headings bar. will search through the messages a couple hundred at a time, starting with the most recent posts, and return with a link to any message that contains the keyword you searched for. To search the next couple hundred messages, click on "next" on the search results page. If you see a reference to a specific message number, there's another box (just below the "search" box) where you can enter the message number and go directly to that particular message.

In order to post to the group, you need to first "join" the group, which requires that you have a free identity (screen name.) When you join the group, will by default assign your email address (your-screen-name@...) to receive the group messages individually via email.

You can change your email settings at any time by using the "Edit My Membership" link on the upper right side of any group webpage. You may change the email address to any other address you may have (which requires you to "verify" the address by replying to an email that will send to the alternate address.) [Please be aware that any address you use to post to the group will be visible via the internet to the public and to other group members via email.]

You can also change the frequency with which you receive emails. "Individual Emails" means that each time someone posts to the group via website or email, you will receive an email containing that post. "Daily Digest" means that the day's posts will accumulate into one big email, one message listed after another. At the end of the day (or more often if there are more than 25 messages in any given day), will send this one long email to your inbox. "No Email" means just what it says -- no emails will be sent to you, and you will have to read each message on the website's "Messages" page.

To post a new message to the group, you may either type it out on the "Post" page of the group, or you may send an email to achalasia .

To reply to an existing message, you may either reply on the website, or send a reply via email. When replying to a message, the "to" field will be to the GROUP address, not to the individual person who posted the message to which you are replying. If you wish to send a private message just to that one person, you will need to change the "to" field to just that person's email address.

If your email program is set up to automatically quote the original message when you reply to an email, please edit out any excess material before sending your reply. This is particularly important for people who are on "Digest" mode, as the quoted material will be the whole entire 25-message email and not just the one portion of the digest that you are wanting to comment upon.

If you have a file that you want to share with the group, you may attach it to your email and it will be distributed via 's Group email delivery to those who are on Individual Email mode. However, no longer archives the attachments, so they are not available to people on Web-Only or Daily Digest mode. For that reason, you should also upload any attachment to the "Files" section (link available from left side of any web page.) It is helpful if you title and describe your file so that others will know what it contains. "Document1" is NOT a descriptive title.... "Questions to ask your surgeon" gives a much better idea of what is contained inside the file!

This group is provided as a free service of , and it may experience "glitches" from time to time that are beyond anyone's control. Samples of glitches are messages 'disappearing' after they are sent, messages posting on the website that don't get sent via email, messages being delayed by several hours, or messages arriving in a different order than they were sent. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does occasionally happen, and there's not much that can be done about it.

This group is a tremendous resource to the members, and it is hoped that everyone will find the information to be helpful. Please feel free to post any questions, worries/concerns, or suggestions that you may have.

Welcome to the Achalasia Group!

[Guest guest]

> Gee, Debbie, I couldn't have said it better myself.

>

> Maggie

> The wicked old witch from the south.

Well, given how often you and I seem to " brainwave " I wouldn't be so sure

that you DIDN'T write it... but you were in my head when you did it! LOL

Debbi, who has a hard time believing that Maggie is either wicked OR a witch!