Finally, A Diagnosis

Finally, a Diagnosis
Do you realize how we take eating, swallowing and our digestive system for granted? Of course, I guess, until one has medical problems, everyone takes the way their body works for granted.

Remember about a month ago when I wrote about an “aborted” test. A test that I had, that wasn’t a success? It was an esophageal manometry (Esophageal function test). Well, this week I attempted to have the test again. The last time, there was food at the bottom of my esophagus, which should have been digested previously, so we could not complete the test. The Dr. sent me for a “Barium swallow” x ray the next week. I thought I wouldn’t have to go though the manometry a second time after this x ray. However, after looking at the x ray, the doctor needed me to have the manometry to confirm his diagnosis to the surgeon. Ahh…since it’s an icky test to go though, I was determined not to have to do it a third time. So since my esophagus seemed not to empty food into the stomach in a timely manner, I went on a liquid diet for three days before the test. This time it was a success! Thank goodness. And thank goodness, the test showed a positive diagnosis for my problem. At last, a diagnosis!
I’ve been dealing with a lot of symptoms for a long time, the Dr. told me I have probably learned to “deal with”. It came to a head 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, when I couldn’t eat anything except very soft stuff, soups and liquids, without having very uncomfortable results. One night about midnight, I thought I was going to choke to death. Another time, I felt that food was stuck for 2 days, with accompanying pain, after eating meat. That’s when I decided to never eat meat again! It wasn't the first time that happened, but it was the worst time. Both things happened the same week and finally drove me to the doctor…as I was scared! Wednesday’s test confirmed what my barium swallow test showed two weeks ago, and what my primary doctor suspected that I had. I have a primary esophageal motility disorder called Achalasia. As my sister commented, boy that is some name! What it really means is that I do not have the muscular contractions in my esophagus. The muscles that push the food down into the stomach do not work. I did some research on the internet and found that the doctors do not know why anyone gets this disorder. Achalasia develops in about 2,000 people in the U.S. annually. There is no particular race or ethnic group affected, and it does not run in families. So…no one knows where it comes from or why. I thought it was because I’ve dealt with acid reflux for about 10 years, but actually the technician told me that is not the case, this is completely separate from reflux. In fact, I was told the pain that I always suffered was not from the acid, but from the muscles working hard trying to do their work, and the muscles would spasm, causing the pain! The technician told me that after a while the muscles got tired of trying to work unsuccessfully, so they just decided to “quit”!

I will have to have a surgery called a Myotomy. Apparently the last two times I had an endoscope, to look at the esophagus, the doctor did a pneumatic dilation, hoping that would work, he also injected botox, which paralyzes the muscles of the valve between the esophagus and stomach. These are the two treatments for achalasia that are tried first, before surgery. It’s not possible to restore the function of the esophagus completely to normal, even with the surgery, but the surgery is supposed to help one to carry on a “nearly normal lifestyle”. Well, I sure do hope so! My research said that 95% of patients who have surgery experience relief of symptoms for many years after the operation. I know I will have a lot of questions to ask the surgeon, when I finally get to see him…. I am still waiting to hear from the office, when that appointment will be. It seems the wheels of medicine in the doctors offices can move slow at times, especially this time of year. I realize the doctors are very busy, with the holidays coming up, but boy, I sure do hope I will have an appointment set before the weekend, so I have some time frame for when I get some relief and know when I can eat normally again. In the meantime, here comes another holiday meal that I won’t be able to enjoy. My daughter is going to make her homemade “squash” soup for me to eat on Christmas Eve. The only good thing about all of this is that I’m losing weight,not the way I wanted to lose. The bad thing is my energy level is very low these days. I am ready to get some action taken to fix this!