Less than a month now 'till my operation

BenjiSayers said:
At least you can be happy knowing that with the operation the quality of life for you two will improve. That in it self is something to look forward to! :)
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It is yeah. Thankfully, as long as the op goes well, I should be alright within a couple of months. And out of hospital after a night.
 
Hi m8, I'm going to make a quick post because i'm at work at the moment...

I can say that I suffered from this problem for a large portion of my life, up until I was about 22 or so ( this was when I had my first of 3 operations to widen my oesphagus ). I went through my childhood and shcool life not being able to swallow food properly, it wasn't pleasant at all. And to be truthful, it made me feel really depressed and unsocial when it came to going out with the family or friend(s) for a meal. I'd always come up with different excuses not to go. I know now that I missed out on a lot.

I really do understand the feeling of sitting down with a group of people and having difficulty swallowing food, especially when they're looking at you and you're getting embarrassed. Even worse when the people don't know what's wrong.

I can really relate to your problem and it's very rare that I come across somebody who has, or had the same problem. You won't believe the confidence and other improvements to your life when you have this fixed. It turned my life around.


I wish you well and goodluck.


/appoligies for the rushed reply.
 
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Sabotaj said:
Hi m8, I'm going to make a quick post because i'm at work at the moment...

I can say that I suffered from this problem for a large portion of my life, up until I was about 22 or so ( this is when I had my first of 3 operations to widen my oesphagus ). I felt really depressed and it ruined any social aspect of going out to eat with family and friends. I know the feeling especially when people are sitting across from the table and you're having difficulty swallowing and they are looking at you...

I can really relate to your problem and it's very rare that I come across somebody who has, or had the same problem. You won't believe the confidence and other improvements to your life when you have this fixed. It turned my life around.




I wish you well and goodluck.
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Thanks for the post mate. It is a nightmare eating out - and worst of all it really does my head in when people go 'oh, are you suffering?' I know they're just being nice, but I feel like telling them to '**** off', lol, when it's obvious when all I've ate is 3 chips. A big part of it for me is definitely psychological as I just sometimes wolf my food before I've realised I didn't struggle.

Even going to the pub is equally irritating. Alcohol usually eases the condition, and after a few it numbs and I can drink normally. But that first pint might take an hour :(

May I ask what procedure you had?
 
I'm not sure I can go into too much medical detail here mate.

I had problems drinking alcohol or anything fizzy. The first pint would take longer to drink than the others, and that wasn't because I was drinking slow. It was as if my oesphagus was numbing ( like you said ) and it also felt it was widening.

Friends use to be concerned for me, like, on a night out we'd pop into the local maccy's or burger king. They'd finish their meal in no time at all and i'd still be sat there trying to eat as fast as I could. It wasn't enjoyable because I'd get annoyed with myself and feel embarrassed.
 
Sabotaj said:
I'm not sure I can go into too much medical detail here mate.

I had problems drinking alcohol or anything fizzy. The first pint would take longer to drink than the others, and that wasn't because I was drinking slow. It was as if my oesphagus was numbing ( like you said ) and it also felt it was widening.

Friends use to be concerned for me, like, on a night out we'd pop into the local maccy's or burger king. They'd finish their meal in no time at all and i'd still be sat there trying to eat as fast as I could. It wasn't enjoyable because I'd get annoyed with myself and feel embarrassed.
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Sounds very, very familiar. Just wondered about the procedure you had purely becuase you mentioned that you had 3 operations. The op I'm in for, which is keyhole, is generally a one off if successful which it mostly is. It's to open the muscle to my stomach, which is different to your oesphagus needing widening.
 
Hope the op goes well and you can go back to enjoying your food afterwards.

Curiousity is getting the better of me though and I would like to ask, if they open the muscle to your stomach so that food can simply fall through, then what stops everything from coming back up when you lie down? Am I missing something?
 
that condition would be very hard for me to imagine.

im glad your getting the op soon and i wish you all the best with it :)
 
SiD the Turtle said:
:eek: What a strange condition, I can't even imagine how you cope with that. Hope it all works out for you once you've had the op! :)
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It's more common, apparently, in older folk but easier to treat when younger.

Had a rough night last night. We had chilli for dinner and always make enough to save - I couldn't resist a spoonful of it before sorting it out whilst doing the pots at about 8.30. Well, it blocked my throat (although I didn't realise) and even though I hadn't had a drink, my own saliva was choking me last night 'till about 5am when I visited the loo. Up all night coughing, 2 hours kip, got 6 classes to teach (including 3 bottom sets)... I'm knackered! :o
 
I feel like this today, only mine is caused by a "lump in the throat" from a throat infection.

Seems like a real nightmare.. hope all goes well! :)
 
Good luck with the OP, not long to go.

One of those things that you just take for granted. I can imagine the sleep deprivation is the worst.

May I ask, does eating food with olive oil on (say salad with an olive oil dressing) make it easier?

All the best for the future.
 
melbourne720 said:
Good luck with the OP, not long to go.

One of those things that you just take for granted. I can imagine the sleep deprivation is the worst.

May I ask, does eating food with olive oil on (say salad with an olive oil dressing) make it easier?

All the best for the future.
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Thanks again all.

No, unfortunately, olive oil on things doesn't seem to make a difference. Salad is one of the trickier things to swallow for me, too. This is a total pain as I love salad :(
 
melbourne720 said:
My good idea out the window.

Are you having the OP at the QMC?
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Lol, but thanks for the suggestion! :) As I posted ealier, it seems to be only the grease on a kebab or takeaway pizza which doesn't cause too much issue! :D

Yeah, QMC. The guy who is operating does most of these operations for the midlands, which is a confidence booster.

Really struggled tonight with my tea, only actually hung on to a few chips and pieces of scampi. :mad:
 
Was a relatively good day today. Managed to eat all of my meals, so it feels great when I put the cutlery down to an empty plate. Even managed a bowl of soup in 10 mins this lunch time!

Starting to really look forward to the operation, which sounds kinda perverse I suppose. I can't imagine having this problems for 22 years, like you Sabotaj.
 
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I think it makes sense to look forward to it. It's going to improve your life so much that you will be a lot happier once it's over. :)
 
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