POEM Surgery

Hello Wendy, I'm having poem done tomorrow morning at NYU MEDICAL CENTER in Manhattan. I agree with you as my doctor told me the procedure would take about 90 minutes and 1 night stay for observation. He did not tell me anything about clips??? How are you doing now? One quick question... will I be able to take my medications the day after. Oral meds that is. Thanks. Hope you are doing well. I hope this helps the pain in my chest.

I too had the POEM procedure at Stanford.  Procedure was less than 2 hours, liquid diet 48 hours prior and and nothing 8hours before surgery.  The clips used come out on their own once the esophageal incisions are healed and are passed.  I spent one night in the hospital although my surgeon gave me the option of going home same day, I was just too groggy from anesthesia.  I have been doing great ever since having POEM.  My achalasia symptoms came on suddenly and progressed rapidly over the course of 10-12 months starting with what I thought was GERD.  I had an endoscopy, manometry study and barium swallow all of which diagnosed my achalasia.  

I'm glad you're doing well. How many days after surgery could you eat reg food again? My surgery took 3 hrs said the muscle was tough to cut through. I said can you imagine the pain it caused? Should go home today. Like you was a little out of it to go home same day. Here's to all of us getting relief. Thanks for answering so quickly.

I had to crush and disolve my meds, capsules sprinkled on applesauce , I returned to a regular diet 2 weeks post-op takes lots of liquids for some food, just remember to take it slow

Hi.  I'm considering having the POEM surgery at Stanford with Dr. Rivas.  Is that who you had it with?  Would you recommend him?  How are you doing now?  

Hi Amy,

Yes, Dr. Rivas performed my POEM procedure at Stanford. He was wonderful and I would highly recommend him. I am doing great and it's been just over a year and a half since my POEM. I don't have any of the residual spasms that I hear some people speak about and I had severe spasms prior to surgery. I will occasionally have a little bit of heartburn if I eat too soon before bed, but Zantac is all I have needed for those times. I have been able to return to a completely normal diet but Dr. Rivas did warn me about eating bread and lots of starchy foods right away. I do notice that if I eat dry bread, I will on occasion feel that "slightly stuck" feeling but a few sips of water and it goes right down. I guess it's a casual reminder of what it was like before only not anywhere close to where I was before my POEM. Good Luck! Let me know what you decide to do.

Thank you very much for your informative and reassuring reply.  I'm happy to hear you're doing so well!

Hi Chess02552,

Thanks for your message.

It is very comforting to learn that you do not experince spasms after the POEM surgery. 

My 16 year old daughter is scheduled for POEM during the first week of Feb-2017, at Univ of South Florida. And I am hoping her spasms will go away after the surgery. 

Good Luck and Wishes for your good health.

Robert , is your Dr , Haber? If so he did mine back in June. He's a good dr but couldn't deal with his staff. My first visit my wife and I sat for 5 hrs waiting to talk to him. He was with Lenox hill hospital at the time . He just moved over to NYU about 8 months ago. If you wanna know more about him let me know

Hello Chess02552, thanks for your post. I'm just wondering when you have had the surgery at Stanford. May I ask if your manometry and egd were done back to back on the same day? Hope you are doing really well.

Hello Ravavi, Hope your daughter is doing well after the surgery. Could you please let me know what made you go with the surgery option rather than try to manage it longer? How long did she suffer from achalasia before the surgery? Wishing your daughter and your family all the best.

Hi d69818,

Based on what I have learnt, the more you delay treatment, your esophagus keeps getting dilated, and it cannot be brought back to its original size/shape. The excessive food waiting? to go down each day , expands your E. Hence the earliest we get a myotomy of the LES , the better. Myotomy by Heller method or POEM is a choice and depends on the experience of the surgeon, but please don't delay treatment. Wishing you good luck.Please feel free to share your number, and I will be more than happy to talk to you.

Hope this helps answers your question.

Thank you very much for getting back to me Ravavi. My thinking was that giving the fact that even the best surgery outcome could only last 10-20 years until the symptoms surface back up again, maybe it's better to manage it, especially in younger patients, using some other techniques or life style changes that would be very tough of course. Sounds like it was a good choice in your daughter's case to go with surgery and glad to know it went well for her. Any advice from you for before and after the surgery would be highly appreciated. How long has it been? What do they do to make sure to prevent acid reflux after POEM? Wishing your daughter very very best🍀??

Hello D69818,

It sounds like you have a child who may be experiencing Achalasia. It is devastating for us parents to see our children suffer in pain. I wish him/her the best of wishes. Your questions:

How long has it been?

My daughter has been experiencing difficulty? swallowing for about 2 years, but severe for about 6 or 7 months prior to the surgery?.

She had surgery during last week of Feb-2017. She is now eating pretty much everything (but needs water to assist).

What do they do to make sure to prevent acid reflux after POEM?

POEM does not have any provision for anti-reflux. From what i have learnt about POEM, it will preclude the patient from doing a "wrap" later on in life, if the acidity levels are high. My daughter is supposed to get the PH study done in September-2017 (6 months post surgery follow up). We wont know until then from lab results perspective. But physically she does not seems to dispay any signs of reflux at this moment. But you never know, that is a risk we were willing to take. She was prescribed PPI (Pantaprozol) for a few weeks right after surgery. and since she did not show symptoms of acid reflux, she has been taken off of them.

a. I have bought a sleep number bed (Inclined bed/ raised head-rest to about 8". I am thinking that at is helping her reflux down.

b.No eating 2 hours prior to sleeping is also helping.

3. We are staying away from spicy or highly acidic foods at this time.

Hope i am able to answer your questions. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have more questions. I will be glad to share my experience.

If you are considering POEM for you daughter or son, I would highly recommend it, rather than HM. You can always go back for HM if ever needed, later in life. Please refrain from ballon -dialation or Botox for your child, since that could damage the E tissues and make any surgical procedures very complicated.

Wishing you and your loved ones the very best.

Correction:

From what i have learnt about POEM, it will "NOT" preclude the patient from doing a "wrap" later on in life, if the acidity...

That's very very kind of you Ravavi, thank you! Although one can never be ready for this, I try to learn and be prepared to make an educated decision when time comes. Since we've not had a definite diagnosis yet, I am somehow in a state of half denial, as you can imagine, but all the symptoms so far point to that could be the case. So your posts, timely responces as well as other friends replies have been very helpful. I can't thank you all enough especially for your tips and encouragement. Wishing your daughter a continue best luck for a full recovery🍀 I'll keep you posted and I'm afraid I might need to bother you with more questions ilater.

Hi Ravavi

My brother's treatment of achlesia is scheduled in next week by POEM surgery. Can we connect this will help me. Hope your daughter is doing well now. How much time to took her after POEM surgery. Pls. connect me/text me on 8008882963.