Re: Suprise Heller Myotomy!

January 28, 2012

Congratulations Devin! Â Sounds like the last days have been no less than a

challenge - but so glad you were able to get an HM quickly and have a good

outcome. Keep us posted on your recovery.

Quick Healing!

Kim

________________________________

From: devin aeh <devinaeh@...>

achalasia

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 8:03 PM

Subject: Suprise Heller Myotomy!

Â

Hello everyone. I am going to keep this brief as I am in the hospital and tired.

I met with Dr. Melvin at OSU Medical Center this past Friday and he scheduled me

for a Barium Swallow Study and an upper GI scope. He told me I did not have to

do the manometry again! Yay. Best news ever. I went for the barium study Tuesday

morning and guess what happens when someone who can't swallow drinks a bunch of

barium? Yep, it gets stuck. So I had not been able to get ANYTHING down at all

from Monday evening to Wednesday morning. No water. I was very dizzy and weak

and could feel the barium was still in there. I regurgitated so hard I blew a

bunch of blood vessels under my eyes but the barium would not budge. Called Dr.

Melvin and he said to come back to OSU (2 hour drive for me) and be admitted for

IV fluids and a chest X-ray. I laughed to myself while interns tried to tell me

it was not possible for the barium to still be in there and that this was just

the natural

progression of my disease. Low and behold, the X-ray showed there was, infact,

still barium in my E! So I was schedule for an emergency myotomy the next

morning. I am now a little over 24 hours pre op and doing great. Quite sore,

lots of gas in the shoulder pain, but I got to eat tomato soup and pudding today

with no struggling! It was like heaven.

I am a little concerned that Dr. Melvin didn't get to do the scope to check out

my E tissues, but he said he couldn't see anything through the barium anyway and

if I want to come back in a few weeks he will take a look.

Dr. Melvin was having a team of surgeons come up from Chicago to teach him how

to do the POEM surgery, and I wanted to be a part of that, but the barium study

showed that I have a sigmoid achalasia with a moderately distended E, so I was

not a candidate for that. Anyone wanting to get the surgery done soon in Ohio

could call his office and volunteer for this new procedure, it sounds amazing. I

was quite disappointed I had to go the old route. But I can swallow now and that

is what matters.

While Dr. Melvin's bedside manner wasn't wonderful, he seems to be a very

competent and knowledgeable surgeon and I would recommend him to friends.

Hoping to go home tomorrow! Take care everyone.

-Devin

January 28, 2012

Hey, Devin, so glad you got a resolution on this! So much for waiting til

November, eh? I think part of the problem for us is, by the time it gets *bad

enough* for us that we have to do something about it, coupled with the problems

getting your average GI to even recognize what they're dealing with, WAY too

many of us end up as REAL emergencies.

I own my part of letting it go for years, til it went to critical mass. Now if

the GIs would own their part: not recognizing that once we've gone critical, it

is an EMERGENCY!!! Interestingly, the surgeons seem to recognize urgent much

quicker than the GIs do.

About the referred shoulder pain from the CO2 -- see if you can get them to

prescribe Roxicet: it takes care of it just dandy. It lasted for me a good full

two weeks, and was absolutely the most uncomfortable part of the surgery. It's

MUCH easier to prevent than to treat once you can really feel it. Initially I

was on every four hours, then I moved it to every six, then eight, and finally

to every twelve before I quit at three weeks (last week was taking it at night

only).

And yep, for me, my first cup of coffee at the hospital was as close as I've

ever come to heaven: To feel that warmth in the mouth, moving down, all the way

into the stomach! Just WOW!!

Keep us posted! Lotsa good listeners here.

xox,

>

> Hello everyone. I am going to keep this brief as I am in the hospital and

tired. I met with Dr. Melvin at OSU Medical Center this past Friday and he

scheduled me for a Barium Swallow Study and an upper GI scope. He told me I did

not have to do the manometry again! Yay. Best news ever. I went for the barium

study Tuesday morning and guess what happens when someone who can't swallow

drinks a bunch of barium? Yep, it gets stuck. So I had not been able to get

ANYTHING down at all from Monday evening to Wednesday morning. No water. I was

very dizzy and weak and could feel the barium was still in there. I regurgitated

so hard I blew a bunch of blood vessels under my eyes but the barium would not

budge. Called Dr. Melvin and he said to come back to OSU (2 hour drive for me)

and be admitted for IV fluids and a chest X-ray. I laughed to myself while

interns tried to tell me it was not possible for the barium to still be in there

and that this was just the natural progression of my disease. Low and behold,

the X-ray showed there was, infact, still barium in my E! So I was schedule for

an emergency myotomy the next morning. I am now a little over 24 hours pre op

and doing great. Quite sore, lots of gas in the shoulder pain, but I got to eat

tomato soup and pudding today with no struggling! It was like heaven.

>

> I am a little concerned that Dr. Melvin didn't get to do the scope to check

out my E tissues, but he said he couldn't see anything through the barium anyway

and if I want to come back in a few weeks he will take a look.

>

> Dr. Melvin was having a team of surgeons come up from Chicago to teach him how

to do the POEM surgery, and I wanted to be a part of that, but the barium study

showed that I have a sigmoid achalasia with a moderately distended E, so I was

not a candidate for that. Anyone wanting to get the surgery done soon in Ohio

could call his office and volunteer for this new procedure, it sounds amazing. I

was quite disappointed I had to go the old route. But I can swallow now and that

is what matters.

>

> While Dr. Melvin's bedside manner wasn't wonderful, he seems to be a very

competent and knowledgeable surgeon and I would recommend him to friends.

>

> Hoping to go home tomorrow! Take care everyone.

>

> -Devin

>

January 28, 2012

Thanks for the well wishes! I'm home now. I am still able to swallow liquids and

soup, but I have had two episodes of spasms, the second one lasting for several

minutes. I used to gulp water to get the spasms to stop, but can't do that now

while my E is healing. I left a message at Dr. Melvin's office asking if he

would give me and Rx for that medicine you put under your tongue to stop spasms

(can't remember what it is called.)

I also have lots of gas trapped in my stomach, I can hear it gurgling but I

can't use my abdominal muscles hard enough to get it out! For me, before

surgery, a gassy stomach led to spasms. So I'm wondering if that's why I'm

getting the spasms now or if it's just because my muscles are traumatized and

trying to contract.

I am exhausted but excited about how my life is going to keep changing!