Young New Member Seeking Support!

[Guest guest]

Hello, I'm Aileen Monroe, and I've had achalasia for six years now,

since I was twenty. I've been diagnosed via endoscopy, barium

swallow, and that gross tube test, and I've undergone several botox

injections, several balloon dilations, and medications.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to have laparascopic

surgery this summer. I'm aspirating regularly, and I've thrown up

some of my food immediately after swallowing (or trying to) it. I'm

feeling very low right now, which is why I searched for and joined a

support group.

Surprisingly, I find it easier to pop pieces of junk food into my

mouth all day rather than attempt to eat healthy food. I love fruit,

but nothing will go down any longer. I love meat, but that's more of

a struggle than fruit is. I used to live on breads, but that's over

now, too. Consequently, I cannot motivate myself to maintain a

healthy diet. My weight is OK, but I know my body is thirsting for

nutrition. What's worse, I teach high school, so I'm on my feet all

day and only get a twenty-minute break at lunch time. I tried

slimfast drinks, but they're gross. Any recommendations?

I have to have the three tests all over again in the next month

because my surgeon refuses to do anything until he has seen recent

tests. I hate going through the test with the tubes up the nose and

down into the stomach. Any suggestions on how to deal with that? Is

child labor as bad? If so, maybe I won't have children!

I'm afraid of the surgery. Have people had it? Is it successful most

of the time? I researched numerous case studies on this surgery and

found some disturbing facts. Perhaps the most unsettling is that it

is not uncommon for surgeons to have to open up patients in the

middle of the operation. I think I'm just petrified because it will

be my first major hospital experience.

I read the welcome letter and some of the other documents in the

files. I was excited to hear about ways to suppress spasms. Mine

hurt so much. My doctor has me on nifedipine to help with the pain.

I plan to try some of the techniques one of the files offered.

-Aileen, a 26-year-old from Boston