Continued problems swallowing a year after surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm new to group. My son was diagnosed with achalasia a

year ago at age 17. He had the Heller myotomy and wrap, which

opened up the LES. So getting food down is no longer a problem

for him. Before that, it got to where everything was coming up, and he lost 30

lbs (he has since gained it back). However, he still seems to be having problems

swallowing.

I have several questions for the group.

1) I've searched the comments, and people talk of having to have the procedure

multiple times. It seems to me that trouble swallowing, since it's likely

neurological, would probably not go away just because the LES gets opened up.

But the " hole " is still there - was surgery needed again because it closed back

up? Or is it somehow related to swallowing difficulty, for which I don't see an

obvious connection.

2) The surgeon said for most people, the trouble swallowing does go away. Is it

likely after a year for that to happen?

3) Why would it go away just because the LES gets cut? The nerve problem hasn't

changed. Would that just be because the esophagus " retrains " itself somehow?

4) Is continued problems swallowing (but not getting the food down, and so far

not GERD) somehow dangerous? Should this be looked at? Given more time? Ignored?

Right now it's fairly minor but happens pretty much with every meal - at the

beginning of the meal, then seems to get better as he eats.

5) I may try acupuncture (sure worked for my back, so I know it's not voodoo). I

did read several posts on that, but any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Thanks for any input. Not having had the disease myself, my questions may be

naive, but I'd really like to understand this. My son is now technically an

adult, but at 18 he of course just wants to ignore this whole thing instead of

being proactive, and as his mom I think I'm going to have to help him manage

this for awhile.