Had myotomy, 8/2

[Guest guest]

Hello folks,

I haven't posted much on the list, and haven't read much for the last

year or so, until recently. I had my myotomy with a dor wrap on 8/2

with Dr. Haluck at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in PA. I figured

it would be a good time to share my surgery story since there's not

much info on this list about Dr. H.

Pre-surgery I was doing ok swallowing, but sometimes it was a chore,

and sometimes things would get stuck to the point where I coughed or

gagged to get it unstuck. On rare occasions I would have to

regurgitate, but I always tried very hard not to do that. I just

don't like throwing up so I avoid it at all cost. I finally

consulted with Dr. H. and had a barium swallow which showed my slow

swallowing and stretched out esophagus. I knew at that point I was

done waiting and needed to do something before things got worse. I

weighed the skill of my surgeon and the ease of in-network insurance

and also travel and the time I'd need to be away from work during the

busiest time of the year, and decided to let Dr. H. do the cutting.

I don't remember a whole lot of what was told to me during my stay in

the hospital... the time sort of blended together. I woke up in

recovery with a tube in my nose and I was in considerable pain and I

was SO cold. I was pretty out of it but I think I was nearly

hysterical. I was given blankets and introduced to the pain med

button and the next thing I know, I'm awake in my room. I was told

that the surgery went well and Dr. H. repaired a small hernia while he

was in there. However, my esophagus was apparently pretty

uncooperative so they really beat it up getting the scope in. I

-think- that is why I had the tube in my nose. Due to the tube, I was

not allowed any food or liquid until the next morning after the tube

was removed.

The next day, they tried to tell me what I was going to be staying

another night, but I was having none of that. My sister was only

staying with me for one more day, and I wanted to make sure I could do

whatever I needed to do at my house while I had her to help me.

Before my surgery I never had trouble with liquid. I had a scare

during lunch the day after where I thought I was not able to swallow

the liquid I was drinking. After much stress, It was determined that

the liquid was going down fine, but I was having issues with saliva.

I spent about 8 hours that night spitting up saliva or wretching. I

was very concerned about my incisions - I figured that was probably

pretty bad for them, but the nurses weren't concerned. I almost

turned down my discharge and stayed for the second night, but got

things under control at home.

Now, just shy of 4 weeks have gone by. I am still having a bit of

trouble swallowing, but Dr. H. is pretty confident that I will

continue to improve. I seem to have been making slow and steady

progress, but it hasn't been as swift as I had hoped it would be. At

this point I don't consider myself " worse than before surgery "

anymore, but it's more like " different " . I definitely don't need as

much water to push food through, and it seems that I can usually

position myself so that I can " rumble " , at which time I can feel the

stuckness subside. As best I can figure, my rumbling noise is what

happens when the pressure between my esophagus and stomach equalizes,

and is probably more like a burp. But I've never been able to burp

except by accident so it's hard to tell.

My followup appointment was yesterday and I expressed my concerns of

slow progress to Dr. H. He was confident that he cut enough to open

me up. He also doesn't think the wrap was too tight since it was only

a partial, but did mention that perhaps the hernia repair could be a

little tight. He put me on Protonix in case I have acid irritating

things and causing issues. I'm trying not to worry about it too much

and trust that things will improve. I will followup with him again in

two months (or before if I have concerns) and if I still have not

progressed we will do another barium swallow and see what's up. I'm

able to eat, albeit slowly, so waiting won't be too terrible.

All that said, I'm wondering if it's at all common for progress to be

this slow. I know some have had success with a dilation after their

myotomy, and I guess I hope that if I don't improve more, that's all I

will need. I guess only time will tell.

--stacey