Re: Surgery date set!

[Guest guest]

Dear Peggy,

I'm happy that you are have a plan although I admit that I'm surprised

that you are going the thoracic route. You've done the research so you

know what is best for you. Steer the course that you've set out and

we'll be here by your side. cheering you on. I second your kudos for

Sandy in So CA; she speaks her mind, never maliciously, but always with

others' best interests at heart.

Gayle in SF

[Guest guest]

Dear Gayle,

Peggy maybe didn't say VATS. It is still just 5 cuts, not open. I'm

not shoving VATS " down your throat " (my son, 4th grade, relearning

grammatical things). Maybe he hypnotises us, he is very convincing

about his reasons for doing it that way. I'm not discounting all the

other surgeons. But for you, since you are half way close, he is worth

a phone call. What he is trying to prevent are the wrap problems some

of you are having after the myotomy.

We could be hypnotised, he is on the kind of cute side, not

Clooney style but the kind that grows on you. Not as cute as the

attending surgeon on " Grey's Anatomy " , how cute is he? If I was

Biljana I'd wait for him for 3 days to get to me. Back to VATS. I

think Peggy grilled him on VATS vs. lap. She probably has more

details. He doesn't discount lap and VATS is not for an inexperienced

surgeon. He mainly works on the lungs and esophagus and seems to know

the ins and outs (4th grade again) of the esophagus. I think he is

generous with his time returning phone calls. Ask him his opinion. I

will nag you until you call him. After you talk to him then I'll stop

nagging, and you are wrong I can nag you maliciouslly (adverb).

I do appreciate your comments, I have been outspoken and pushy and

demanding with some of you, I feel strongly about getting treatment

from the best place you can find that fits your schedule, health

system, finances and personal considerations. But to be informed and

make choices. However I am absolutely shocked Peggy and Dr. Fuller

view me as a Mom not a beach bunny. No mini van, gray hair covered,

flip flops, sandals, never nylons, thus no short skirts. They must

have known about the 's spoons in my purse, PTA card, ...oh they

are nagging me to go to school. There is a beach bunny left somewhere

under that. They are negotiating Target gift cards, what has happened

I used to know the schedule of best Happy Hours and went to work hung

over at least 2 times a week and thought soccer was played only in

Mexico. I'm digging out my spandex.

Sandy in So Cal

>

> Dear Peggy,

>

> I'm happy that you are have a plan although I admit that I'm

surprised

> that you are going the thoracic route. You've done the research so

you

> know what is best for you. Steer the course that you've set out and

> we'll be here by your side. cheering you on. I second your kudos for

> Sandy in So CA; she speaks her mind, never maliciously, but always

with

> others' best interests at heart.

>

> Gayle in SF

[Guest guest]

I am doing the thorascopic surgery -- it is a heller's but from the chest. I

recognize that the established lap surgeons are still conversing about

procedures effectiveness, but there are no clear outcomes studies pointing

one direction over another. The argument made by the Cedars surgeon

regarding avoiding a wrap by doing the thorascopic procedure because they

have full view of the esophagus and can cut right at the LES, rather than from

below it made sense to my husband and me, combined with Sandy's

experience and reported good outcomes 8 years out for his patients.

Peggy

>

> Dear Peggy,

>

> I'm happy that you are have a plan although I admit that I'm surprised

> that you are going the thoracic route. You've done the research so you

> know what is best for you. Steer the course that you've set out and

> we'll be here by your side. cheering you on. I second your kudos for

> Sandy in So CA; she speaks her mind, never maliciously, but always with

> others' best interests at heart.

>

> Gayle in SF

[Guest guest]

Sandy, you crack me up!

I did indeed grill poor Dr. Fuller -- brought a 2004 article that compares all

four

surgical procedures and looks at outcomes over time -- this article does point

vaguely in the direction of the lap with the wrap, but it was too close to call.

I think the biggest issue for me was experience with the esophagus -- Fuller

spent a year in a manometry clinic doing them himself, he was a fellow

focused on disease of the esophagus at USC and is the Director of Surgery at

Cedars' Esophageal Center. Besides, the RN who helped me through my

manometry gave me the thumbs up when I checked on him with her. She

rescued me from a mano MD who couldn;t get the job done yesterday, and

insisted another MD who had more experience be brought in.

Peg

> >

> > Dear Peggy,

> >

> > I'm happy that you are have a plan although I admit that I'm

> surprised

> > that you are going the thoracic route. You've done the research so

> you

> > know what is best for you. Steer the course that you've set out and

> > we'll be here by your side. cheering you on. I second your kudos for

> > Sandy in So CA; she speaks her mind, never maliciously, but always

> with

> > others' best interests at heart.

> >

> > Gayle in SF

[Guest guest]

Good for you Maggie,

Your decision making process is exactly why I get pushy. You were

informed and recognized a surgeon that maybe wasn't that

experienced. In that situation I'd also have a dilatation probably.

Dear Charmaine,

Please come back, like a family, we accept you for who you are, come

back and let us help if we can.

Dear other lost members who have dumped us... if you've had treatment

let us know how it went, assumption is it went well and that is why

we were dumped. If it went well, even if didn't go well, for sure

put your doctor's information in the doctor database. We need to

know the doctors to avoid.

Sandy in so Cal.

> For what it's worth, my GI is very much opposed to the wrap.

> He says in his experience they create problems down the road.

> Now that may be because of the inexperience of the surgeon doing

the

> myotomy, who knows? I do know that I have not found a

> surgeon at UAB that I would want to do surgery on me.

>

> He also recommended a thoriac surgeon for a VAT for me at UAB

> I feel sure he is a very good thoriac surgeon, but I was not

happy with his

> experience (lack thereof). I emailed him with a set of questions

and I was

> not happy with some of his answers. I didn't

> feel he knew much about myotomies. Are we becoming smarter

> than the doctors or am I just becoming egoistical? LOL Anyway

> I elected at that time, February, to have a second dilatation. This

> decision was probably not the smartest one, but was based on

> a combination of factors at the time.

>

> Good luck with your surgery.

>

> Hugs,

> Maggie

> Alabama

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> For what it's worth, my GI is very much opposed to the wrap.

> He says in his experience they create problems down the road.

>

>

> He also recommended a thoriac surgeon for a VAT for me at UAB

>

>

>

Maggie:

Thanks for your information and for sharing your experience. It helps me feel

as confident as possible in my decision. Both Dr. Ippoliti (who made UCLA

7th in the nation for treating achalasia before he moved to Cedars a couple of

years ago -- they are 25th) and Dr. Fuller made the same argument against

the wrap. We don't see much information on VATS out there but it is good to

know MDs are beginning to think in this direction.

I for one, want them to develop a pacemaker for this muscle!

Peggy

P.S. Wouldn't a summer vacation in Beverly Hills be nice? A little surgery, a

little shopping.....