Achalasia

The one thing you don't want to read when you are delving deep into the mysteries of medicine are the words, "rare and incurable disease."  Yep that's right folks those are some deep words, and apparently I have that type of disease.  Now mind you it won't kill me.  As a matter of fact some of the side effects are malnutrition and weight loss.  I could almost live with that if it wasn't so miserable to sleep, and eat most of the time.  So let me explain my story and then you will understand what Achalasia is.

After Ava was born I had some serious problems with what I thought was Acid Reflux.  Looking back I'm sure it started while I was pregnant, but I was so miserable that I didn't notice it that bad.  Well, when Ava was about 3 months old I finally went to the doctor and he hooked me up with some great acid reflux medicine.  It seemed to do the trick for awhile.  I went back, got on a new medicine about 3 months later, and then about a month and a half into that medicine, I went back.  Nothing seemed to be working.  I would lay down at night to go to sleep, and things would just come back up.  It was miserable!!  Eating hurt, and I stopped eating or drinking anything after 6 in the evening, hoping that I would be able to sleep.  Finally the doctor sent me to the gastrointestinal doctor.  Of course getting in to see him was like a gazillion year wait, and even then I only saw the PA.  He thought I had a quick fix, and scheduled me to come back for a test where they look down into your esophagus and stomach. 

I went back for the test, and this time I saw the doctor.  I talked to him for a whole minute before they knocked me out, and he told me that he thought I had something more serious.  While I was coming to, I hear the nurses making an appointment for another test that I had at the hospital, and an appointment with the elusive doctor for the next week.  I knew it wasn't good at this point.  2 days later I am at the hospital for a pleasant test.  They stuck a tube down my nose and into my stomach (told you PLEASANT!!), all while you are awake, and have you drink water.  It was a lovely morning, but it told them what they needed to know that things just weren't working there.  Oh I forgot to mention after the first test I was put on a liquid diet.  Lovely!!  I did my best but there are only so many protein shakes you can drink.  Those things are gross!

So I went back to the doctor on Tuesday and I learned my fate.  Achalasia.  Only about 1 in 100,000 people have this, and there is no explanation as to why people get it.  It is basically where your muscles in your esophagus stop working.  The nerves in them disintegrate, so it no longer works.  Therefore all the muscles in my esophagus have given up, and food cannot get to my stomach.  It eventually gets there, but most times it is very painful, and takes forever for things to go down.  I can just feel it sitting there waiting for the tube going into my stomach to open.  So I am trying to be good.  He told me I could eat again, but to be careful.  There are 4 ways to treat this, but we are opting for surgery which I will do in Salt Lake once I am done with preschool for the year.  They are basically going to go into my chest and snip the muscle fibers that work my esophagus so it is just always open.  Then they will tighten the opening to my stomach so food stays down.  I can't wait!!  I am just grateful that there is a way they can somehow fix me if you want to call it that.  So for now I will thoroughly enjoy my Jamba Juices, and maybe lose some more weight in the process.