POEM Surgery
Posted , 40 users are following.
Hi, its been 14 months since i have had my POEM surgery and have been very happy with the results. Is there anyone who has had it done longer than 2 to 5 days. I am curious to know if they had to repeat the surgery or do they contiue to be ok.
1 like, 97 replies
fay01199 wendy83249
Posted
Hi Wendy,
I had the POEM surgery Oct 3rd, 2016 at the Shands hospital in Gainesville, FL. I followed all eating instructions as provided by my surgeon. Unfortunately, I am unable to keep solid food down. Last week my surgeon performed another endoscope procedure
Other than taking a few biopsy's from my stomach, everything looked fine. Did you have this complication when you had your procedure?
I hope you are doing well. I have jackhammer esophagus confirmed by High Resolution Manometry.
ravavi fay01199
Posted
Sorry to hear that you are unable to keep solid foods down. Is this something
I wanted to learn if there were any complications during the POEM. My daughter is scheduled for POEM on Feb-02 at USF. And we are very nervous, any advise you could share is much appreciated.
Regards,
fay01199 ravavi
Posted
Hi Ravavi,
So sorry to hear you're daughter has achalasia. You do not say what type, but I would highly recommend POEM if her esophagus does not have peristaltic waves. This action moves the food down to the LES muscle which opens to allow food in and then closes back to normal.
Tell her to wait at least 10 days after the surgery before trying to bend over or whatever is in her stomach will come back up.
The surgery is very safe in the right surgeons hands.
Wishing you're daughter the very best.
Regards,
Fay
ravavi fay01199
Posted
She has Type-2 Achalasia.Thanks for your response. I will share this info with her.
Ravavi
Timeenuf ravavi
Posted
I had my POEM done at the Cleveland Clinic, by Dr. Raja, on 12-23-16.
Three days post surgery, I am doing very good.
I had type 3 A, and my procedure involved cutting not only the muscles around the LES, also some of the inner muscles higher up in my esophagus, because of spasms. Saturday, I had some minor spasms, that I am guessing was where the incision was made.
Since then, no spasms, and only minor pain.
One more day of clear liquids, before moving to a full liquid diet for a week, then introducing "soft" foods a little at a time, over the next two months.
My only suggestion with your daughter, would be to do research and ask the surgeon lots of questions, including how many POEM's have you done, in the past year.
Cleveland Clinic is one of the better places to go, in the US, for Achalasia, and they only perform about 2-3 POEM's a week. Dr. Raja does most of them.
In other words, he he doing over 100 a year.
POEM is not a difficult surgery to perform, according to Dr. Raja, but it can be messed up really quick by someone without the experience of having done multiple procedures. The biggest problem could be a perforation of the esophagus wall, which could require regular surgery to repair.
Again, do your research and make sure that the surgeon is very experienced with performing POEM's.
ravavi Timeenuf
Posted
Sincerely appreciate your response. Dr. Velanovich has performed about 34 to 35 surgeries, based on what I have learnt. So we are thinking we should be in good hands.
Regards,
Timeenuf ravavi
Posted
I wish her the best with the surgery.
larry16330 ravavi
Posted
How did the surgery go. My wife and I are in the consultation phase of the surgery for her. She's had an extreme case with esophageal spasms for over 5 years now. We've been doing the Botox injections which seem to work for a while but now that want to do this surgery. My concern is the after effects with keeping food down and spasms. I was also wondering about the bending over. Can you eventually be able to bend or is that muscle always open causing everything to come out. Increased acid reflux? Hope everything is well
Robert13450 Timeenuf
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larry16330 Robert13450
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Well we are currently seeing a doctor in Hershey pa. I understand he's supposed to be good.
Robert13450 larry16330
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I hope your wife has a good procedure and recovers quickly.
larry16330 Robert13450
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Thanks that's one of the many questions we have
larry16330
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Robert13450 larry16330
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fay01199 larry16330
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larry16330 fay01199
Posted
Wow I'm sorry for all that. My wife has a severe case as we'll we are hoping for a good result. It's been 10 years of misery for her with cycles of some good days but mostly bad ones. They have her on all that plus pain meds. She's on diltiazam for spasms. It's a calcium channel blocker. Maybe that's an option. Our thoughts and prayers are with you
fay01199 larry16330
Posted
I feel for your wife and wish her well, as I know if she is like me the spasms are extremely painful. The doctors at first though I was having a heart attack and performed a bunch of test. All came back normal including cardio cath.
Thank you for the prayers and I will pray for your wife too.
larry16330 Robert13450
Posted
His name is Dr Matthews. He's done about 70 of the procedures and all but one had complications. Apparently he knows the doctor from Japan that did the first one. It sounds really good and we are gonna do it. Praying for a positive outcome. At this point this is all that's left.
Robert13450 larry16330
Posted
Hey Larry, I'm not sure about what you said, all but just one had complications? That's not a very good track record. As far as knowing the Dr from Japan, my doctor is the one who trained with him and brought it from Japan to the United States. That said, if he's done 70 why is he still having complications? What state are you located in ? Unless I misunderstand what you were saying and out of 70 only had one with complications. I truly hope if you proceed with him that everything goes well . Does he use clips and if so how many ? Also find out his diet plan, how long on clear liquids after and how long on full liquids? What's his plans for test after and what's the time frame. You should have these answers before you lay down on the steel table. Good luck I wish you guys well.
pratik20 Robert13450
Posted
My POEM was denied by the insurance. The doctor and the hospital is trying to follow next steps, although I am not clear what they are. I opted for Heller first and then later changed to POEM. Was your procedure denied in the first place? Can you please share your story as well?
Thank you,
Pratik