Doc Steve

[Guest guest]

Hey Steve - you can also look up the stories of , in Thunder Bay,

Ontario - who is also very athletic, in WV, , Isabella - over in

Europe, and myself. We have all been there and done that. has had the

worst complications I can think of and continues to battle. Isabella and I had

to do quite a few dilations after our surgery - I was doing them monthly for

about 6 months due to scar tissue build-up - my body was in hyper-healing mode.

Otherwise, I'm comfortable in saying that we are all very happy with our

outcomes. I can eat just about anything - no OJ - moderate amounts of coffee and

chocolate - that's due to dumping. I can SWALLOW anything - I chew well and take

small bites. I eat about 2/3 to 3/4 of what I used to pre-op but I'm at my ideal

weight and feel great. I do make sure to take a good chewable multi-vitamin and

I'm currently taking a liquid iron supplement due to mild anemia but I'm going

to be fixing that shortly (girly things).

I had some fairly serious complications post-op and was in the hospital for 18

days instead of 5 like I originally planned. Like you, I could eat well, just

lots of water and sleeping elevated but I had bad spasms very regularly and was

ready to be done with them.

I did not have surgery with Dr. Rice; although I did speak with him on the phone

and he told me about what you heard - based on the results of the swallow I had

sent him - I needed an ectomy but I could wait a few years. I opted to wait

about 6 months until after the holidays so I could spend my recovery time home

when it was cold and dreary outside anyway.

6 months after my surgery, I went on a 7 day cruise - ate everything all day

long, drank copious amounts of wine and had the best vacation ever!!

I was 39 when I had my surgery and my daughters were 2 1/2 and 5 at the time. we

had spoken with them in advance and talked about mommy's boo-boos and they were

great. My little one (mommy's girl) liked to look at my 'boo-boo's' every day

and would tell me that once they got better - then I could pick her up! We just

had to snuggle on the couch, I would sit down and she would crawl into my lap

and that worked great.

Be comforted that you are seeing the best of the best AND you have the

experiences of the people here to help you understand what you'll be going

through.

I hope some of this helps. It is very overwhelming and there are STILL days when

I think - holy cow - I have no esophagus -how crazy is that??

Keep us posted and ask away - that's what we are here for.

~ in NC

achalasia free since Jan. '08