Re: Re: lost for words...help!

[Guest guest]

I too am overweight and cannot lose weight. I only lost some weight after

they did the botox injection, then I started to shed inches like crazy, it

slowed down and has stopped since food is starting to go down hard again. I

didn't lose a lot of weight but I did lose at least one pant size.What these

doctor's don't understand that we cannot diet like a regular person because

most of the foods that they want us to eat are difficult to swallow. I hope

that you find an understanding doctor who will think of your needs first.

S

-- Re: lost for words...help!

Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so

long has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to

could not understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he

1st told me to lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat.

What I meant was how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like

salads. He just looked at me with amazement. He had asked me to come back

in 3 months to see if I lost weight. I didn't. In those three months. I

had lost my contract and my insurance, and my new job I got did not offer

insurance. I didn't think it was important because besides the achalasia

and being obese; I am healthy.

Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in

better shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It

makes me moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days and

I have bad days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat.

There are days in which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know

you were the same place I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike it

is amazing. Well today I got a job. I will start in a week. They do have

insurance. I will go back to my life of pretending that I am ok, when I am

not ok.

Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the

surgeon who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I

could not even make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was so

frustrated. I tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who

cares enough. I am praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can get

a combo Heller Myotomy and gastric bypass surgery.

Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so

long has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to

could not understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he

1st told me to lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat.

What I meant was how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like

salads. He just looked at me with amazement. He had asked me to come back

in 3 months to see if I lost weight. I didn't. In those three months. I

had lost my contract and my insurance, and my new job I got did not offer

insurance. I didn't think it was important because besides the achalasia

and being obese; I am healthy.

Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in

better shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It

makes me moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days and

I have bad days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat.

There are days in which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know

you were the same place I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike it

is amazing. Well today I got a job. I will start in a week. They do have

insurance. I will go back to my life of pretending that I am ok, when I am

not ok.

Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the

surgeon who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I

could not even make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was so

frustrated. I tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who

cares enough. I am praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can get

a combo Heller Myotomy and gastric bypass surgery.

---

[Guest guest]

Lorna wrote:

>

> There are a few cases where pt's have gotten both surgeries at the

> same time.

>

Surgeons that do both gastric bypass and myotomies may be more

comfortable doing a myotomy on an obese patient. The risk of problems is

greater when the patient is obese and it can be harder to do the

surgery. If there are other health problems that make surgery a risk,

obesity may be one condition too many. A surgeon that does gastric

bypass works in the same part of the body and should be more comfortable

with doing a myotomy in the same situation. As you noticed, some will

even combine gastric bypass with a myotomy. Some surgeons may not

understand how hard it can be to live with achalasia and think the

obesity is the main issue and that the achalasia is helping helping you.

notan

[Guest guest]

I hope you find a qualified surgeon who can assist you in making the best

choice for you.

-- Re: lost for words...help!

>

> Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so

> long has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to

> could not understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he

> 1st told me to lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat

> What I meant was how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like

> salads. He just looked at me with amazement. He had asked me to come

back

> in 3 months to see if I lost weight. I didn't. In those three months. I

> had lost my contract and my insurance, and my new job I got did not offer

> insurance. I didn't think it was important because besides the achalasia

> and being obese; I am healthy.

> Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in

> better shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It

> makes me moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days

and

> I have bad days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat.

> There are days in which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know

> you were the same place I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike

it

> is amazing. Well today I got a job. I will start in a week. They do

have

> insurance. I will go back to my life of pretending that I am ok, when I

am

> not ok.

> Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the

> surgeon who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I

> could not even make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was

so

> frustrated. I tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who

> cares enough. I am praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can

get

> a combo Heller Myotomy and gastric bypass surgery.

> Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so

> long has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to

> could not understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he

> 1st told me to lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat

> What I meant was how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like

> salads. He just looked at me with amazement. He had asked me to come

back

> in 3 months to see if I lost weight. I didn't. In those three months. I

> had lost my contract and my insurance, and my new job I got did not offer

> insurance. I didn't think it was important because besides the achalasia

> and being obese; I am healthy.

> Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in

> better shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It

> makes me moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days

and

> I have bad days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat.

> There are days in which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know

> you were the same place I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike

it

> is amazing. Well today I got a job. I will start in a week. They do

have

> insurance. I will go back to my life of pretending that I am ok, when I

am

> not ok.

> Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the

> surgeon who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I

> could not even make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was

so

> frustrated. I tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who

> cares enough. I am praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can

get

> a combo Heller Myotomy and gastric bypass surgery.

>

> ---

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Lorna,

I have not visited this site in two weeks, so I just read your email.

My doctor figured out why many people with Achalasia manage to be overweight.

When healthy people swallow their food, it arrives in their stomach within 8

seconds of swallowing. This continues for a normal portion of food, and very

soon, they feel full and stop eating. The stomach sends a message to the brain

that they have eaten enough. With Achalasia, the food remains in the esophagus

for hours, never reaching the stomach in order to send the message of fullness,

so we remain hungry and eat too much.

Although I am not obese, I have been overweight for an Achalasia patient.

However, the first time I had a dilation, my esophagus functioned more normally

for a while, and I lost weight without trying.

It makes sense to me that this could be the reason why some Achalasia sufferers

are not skinny.

I wish you comfort.

Bonnie

________________________________

From: Lorna <sherryl2700@...>

achalasia

Sent: Sat, May 7, 2011 11:03:30 AM

Subject: Re: lost for words...help!

Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so long

has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to could not

understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he 1st told me to

lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat. What I meant was

how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like salads. He just looked

at me with amazement. He had asked me to come back in 3 months to see if I lost

weight. I didn't. In those three months. I had lost my contract and my

insurance, and my new job I got did not offer insurance. I didn't think it was

important because besides the achalasia and being obese; I am healthy.

Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in better

shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It makes me

moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days and I have bad

days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat. There are days in

which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know you were the same place

I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike it is amazing. Well today I

got a job. I will start in a week. They do have insurance. I will go back to

my life of pretending that I am ok, when I am not ok.

Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the surgeon

who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I could not even

make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was so frustrated. I

tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who cares enough. I am

praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can get a combo Heller Myotomy

and gastric bypass surgery.

Thanks for answering my post Joann. I have suffered with Achalasia for so long

has really been hard for me. Even the surgeon that I was referred to could not

understand how I was suffering and still be overweight. When he 1st told me to

lose weight, I asked him how can I do that and I cannot eat. What I meant was

how can I do that and I cannot eat low fat things, like salads. He just looked

at me with amazement. He had asked me to come back in 3 months to see if I lost

weight. I didn't. In those three months. I had lost my contract and my

insurance, and my new job I got did not offer insurance. I didn't think it was

important because besides the achalasia and being obese; I am healthy.

Joan, you know 1st hand how it is to be a nurse to a patient that is in better

shape than you. Achalasia affects me in very different ways. It makes me

moody, crackly and depressed, to name a few. I have good days and I have bad

days. There are days in which I bring up everything I eat. There are days in

which I just lie in my bed and do nothing. Wow, to know you were the same place

I am 23 years ago. Our stories are so much alike it is amazing. Well today I

got a job. I will start in a week. They do have insurance. I will go back to

my life of pretending that I am ok, when I am not ok.

Because just this past December, I tried to get an appointment with the surgeon

who wants me to lose the weight before I can get the surgery. I could not even

make an appointment. They wanted a referral, etc. I was so frustrated. I

tried to do what you did. I just didn't have a doctor who cares enough. I am

praying that I can either lose the weight; Or I can get a combo Heller Myotomy

and gastric bypass surgery.

>

>

>

> Twenty three years ago I was in your situation. I was a nurse with severe

>achalasia. Mega sigmoid esophagus feeling I was about to just die. I find that

>Dr.'s who see pts with achalasia who are not ultra skinny from malnutrition

they

>don't believe how much you truly are suffering. (I did early on almost starve

to

>death.) The barium swallow changed his mind very quickly. I was no longer able

>to work. I cried in his office telling him I had no insurance and no money to

>pay for surgery. But I could not live much longer vomiting most everything I

ate

>or swallowed. I cried because I had no insurance or money but also because of

>the toll it took on my life and I was tired of living suffering so much. He was

>very kind. He sent me to the financial aid office and actually because I was

>unable to work and had zero income I was able to get covered by medicaid and it

>paid the ENTIRE bill! Being broke and poor can wind up being a blessing. Many

>forms to fill out but I qualified. My surgery was prior to the lap surgeries

>they are doing now. I had the full thoracotomy cutting through my ribs and

>cracking them open. It was a nightmare of a recovery. I was in the hospital 3

>weeks. Now it is done so much easier and with great pain control. I just want

to

>encourage you to go to the financial office and see if you are eligible for

>government assistance. It paid over $13,000 and I did not pay a dime of it. It

>also saved my life. I hope this encourages you a bit. What stopped me from

>having the surgery for so long was being told it would not cure it, only help

my

>pain. Had I not waited so long it would never have gotten as bad. I still have

>my very diseased esophagus and deal with eating difficulty every day. But

>nothing like before. And I go for dialations which help when things get really

>bad. I have this disease 34 years, it is a way of life. I don't intend on

>loosing it either. I deal with it as I go along. I pray God blesses you and

>helps you along your journey. Joann

>