So I sat across from Angel as he ate his slice of pizza and I stared at mine. I looked up into his beautiful big eyes and said, "I'm sick and I don't know what it is." Then I went on to tell him everything even told him about my prayers for deliverance. He listened and said he understood and that he still wanted to be with me and that was no reason to break up and then I fell deeper in love.
He proposed to me nine months later while we watched The Wizard of Oz in my living room. Guess what I said? Yes, of course(Cheesiness ends here)
I continued with the vomitting, choking, chest spasms, fainting spells , etc. during the first years of our marriage.
I carried 2 babies who were high risk due to my mysterious illness, I was hospitalized for dehydration several times during my pregnancies both girls were prematurely born thhrough emergency c- sections.
After the birth of my second child, my doctor said I had gall stones and that was what was giving me all the symptoms. I wasn't so sure because I've had the symptoms for years by this time and wouldn't Gall stones be pretty apparent with all the tests I've taken but I went along. I was desperate. I was down to 70lbs. I looked skeletal. I could barely stand and I couldn't go out because of the fear I would faint.
I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. ugh! It was horrible but while I was in the hospital recovering, I ate the hospital food and the symptoms were still there.
I returned home 2 weeks after my c-section immediately followed by my gall bladder surgery a week later. At home I did the best I could and people around me were growing frustrated that my symptoms were still manifesting.
A week of recovery at home and weepful prayers, I returned to the hospital to get my stitches removed.
While my stitches were being removed my very caring and concerned doctor with the bedside manners of an angel spoke to me. "I have some good news and some bad news." He said
I thought something was wrong with the stitches, perhaps they were infected but he said he had some good news too, what could it be?
"We found out what's wrong with you. We know what's been causing your difficulty and swallowing and your choking."
I knew it wasnt the gall bladder!!!!
All stitches removed he stood before me and explained. If this were a movie , the camera would pan out and you would see a mixture of expressions on my face and the back of my doctors head , of course.
I went from excited to horrified to relieved to scared. This is what he told me.
This is paraphrased
" You have a rare disorder called Achalasia. You have Massive Achalasia. There is no cure. It is a stricture of the esophagus. It is congenital, meaning you were born with it. Your esophagus does not move when it should . It is paralyzed and the stricture (bottom part) is practically closed, the entryway is a thick as a sewing needle (which is why even liquids wouldn't go down) It is a miracle you are alive and carried 2 babies but we have to do emergency surgery because you will not be able to survive with this for long....."
I had the surgery. There were risk because it was a highly invasive surgery and my condition at the time of it was especially frail.
The surgery is called a Heller Myotomy. The surgeon cuts below thhe left breast to under the left arm to the mid back. The surgery is performed by taking the bottom half of my esophagus and cutting it , then wrapping the stomach tube thingy around it to act as the stricture. It was extensive surgery and many times it was touch and go. I was in intensive care for days after and in the hospital for weeks recovering. I have a scar resembling a shark bite on my left side with over one hundred stitches.
Before I ate my first real meal (not liquids) I read a Psalm and prayed. I ate my first meal and to feel the food pass through the esophagus and into my stomach was mind blowing. I cried and thanked God. I was so happy.
I was able to eat well after that and put on weight quickly because my metabolism was shot but I WAS SWALLOWING.
This lasted for 15 years . Then the symptoms began again. "There is no cure." I denied the symptoms for a long time but they were getting worse and worse. Four years ago, now. The doctor said the Heller Myotomy needed to be done again because the Achalasia returned.
I was devastated but knew the results of the surgery were beneficial so begrudgingly I went through with it the second time......
To be continued