Scared achalsia newby 😢

If your surgeon has done 80 of these procedures he is experienced, because it is a relatively new procedure, and achalasia is a rare condition.   POEM is a method of cutting the muscles that clamp tight the lower oesophageal sphincter by passing an instrument through the lining of the oesophagus, rather than actually cutting through the lining itself.   It is only the experienced surgeons who would contemplate the POEM procedure as it takes a lot of training to be able to undertake it correctly.

POEM is an alternative to a more orthodox operation of a myotomy (cutting the muscles) and a fundoplication wrap where the top of the stomach is stapled around part of the base of the oesophagus to re-create a lower oesphageal sphincter to act as a valve to stop reflux rising.   I do not know how POEM achieves this effect; I presume that it is a matter of judgement how many muscles are cut during the POEM procedure.   It is a question that you could ask your surgeon (ie will I suffer from reflux after this operation?)

Good hospitals have modern procedures for surgery regulated on patient  safety issues.

Hi,

  I underwent POEM around June 2013. I had so much of relief after the surgery. So you ll definitely find some relief. But there are certain things you need to follow to have your swallowing functioning smoothly. How is your swallowing now btw? Are you able to eat little by little or its very tight? Good that you're getting POEM done. You ll find much relief after the surgery for sure. Yes and as Alan says if the doctor had done 80 surgeries then he would be a very experienced person. So talk to him about it and say how you feel. 

Here I give you some tips and advices. Any queries, feel free to ask.

Make sure you exercise regularly. Have an active life now and then. Why I say this is that, when you exercise well your appetite will improve and I have experience that your swallowing would function more better when you have good appetite to eat. make sure you split your meals well. 5 meals a day with a gap of 3 hours in between will be fine. You can have smaller quantity every meal. 

And don't do anything while eating. Like watching tv or doing something while eating. Don't have any conversations while eating either. Instead focus on what you eat. Relish every bite you take. Chew well and swallow well before taking another bite. What most achalasia people tend to do is they try to take the food and just push it down by taking another bite. Don't do that. Instead have your consious on eating alone and chew your food, relish it and swallow well. Seperate yourself so you can focus on what you eat.

Make sure you eat more calories than you burn a day. Don't try to eat heavily when you have appetite. When you feel you had sufficient amount of food that would be well enough. Instead of going on and eating because you love the food. Try to avoid that. 

Have a regular eating pattern. And dont worry.

I have gone through this operation which was a great success for a year but then I started eating bread which did not help at all. I now have botox every six months a n d doing fine. Just be careful what you eat and make sure you chew everything. You will be absolutely fine. Please don't rush to eat after the operation, just stick to soft food & liquids for about a month. I do not eat any bread now & ice drinks cause a problem. Milk is a great help. I have now put on weight & it's nice to be able to eat out at restaurants although I always ask for extra sauces.

Please don't worry you will be fine.

Hi all,

I have had the POEM surgery. Must say that I expected to bounce back the following day but its now 5 days later and im still exhausted. I have little pain though which is great and I can swallow now but im very weary.

I will start a new thread discussing it further.

Thank you all for your help.

I am newly diagnosed and am going in for my POEM Procedure on April 15th. I have done a ton of research on POEM and am feeling very confident and actually excited to have this done. A doctor who has done this surgey 80 times is considered to be very experienced. The best advise i can offer is do exactly what they tell you. Think of the joy you can have afterwards being able to drink glasses of water without having them as i put it fall the F&*K out. That is what I am looking forward to. Toiday is the last day i can have any food that is not a clear liquid, not that i do too well with food but you know, its the thought....i have to take an actibacterial mouthwash 4 times a day for the next three days and then i am off to the table. They said if things go really well i will be out same day or may have to stay one night and then home. I will report back as soon as i am able.

Hi Una,

I'm sure you'll have little to worry about, since your surgeon is clearly expeirenced in this area of surgery.  After all, once you've done something complicated 80 times, don't you feel pretty confident about doing it the 81st time...

All the best,

Mick

Thank you all once again 😉

Update for everyone including Una. First of all thanks to everyone who wished me luck. So my surgey is scheduled for this Friday. They put me on a clear liquid diet starting on Tuesday with 5 mls of a anti bacterial, anti fungal mouth rinse that you swallow 4 times per day. so far so good. The clear liquids diet has been less than delightful and its been werid to have a pure liquid diet give you the same symptoms as solid foods. For what its worth here is my list of clear liquids that kind of give me the sensation of actual food.

1. Clear beef broth mixed half and half with clear vegatable broth that includes onions. I heat it up in a copu and sip it.

2. Clear chicken broth done the same way.

3. Jello cups ( i always say jello does not have flavor just colors LOL)

3. Frozen clear fruit juice, apple cranberry or those cheap popsicles

4. Pedia lite oir some such similar product made for babaies comes in a weord variety of flavors like strawberry kiwi and has electrolytes in it.

If anyone else has any clear liquids suggestions opn to hearing about it. one more day after today of the clear liquids and then off to surgery...

Will post afterwards.

Thank you you again to everyone for their kind wishes and for those getting ready to go through the surgey i hope this helps.