Dominic’s P.O.E.M Achalasia Surgery

Dear Friends and Family.

As some of you know, my husband Dominic has been battling multiple health issues one of which is a rare condition called Achalasia for over 30 yrs as well as being diagnosed in 2021 with a very rare blood cancer and needs to have an important surgery. Without it, before too long, he could lose the use of his esophagus and have to spend the rest of his life on a liquid diet. The good news is that there is a pioneering surgical technique that can have excellent success in helping save his esophagus . The bad news is that it’s very expensive. This GoFundMe is a way for us to reach out and ask for help to ensure that Dominic can get the treatment he needs.

As a young child Dominic was diagnosed with a rare condition called Achalasia. This is a serious disorder that affects the esophagus, making it hard to eat and drink normally. He also suffers from severe acid reflux and we fear because of him aspirating at night when sleeping he will develop pneumonia from food and water reaching his lungs.

If you have Achalasia, your esophagus does not sufficiently push food or liquid into your stomach and the valve at the bottom of the esophagus (the lower esophageal sphincter - LES)  doesn’t relax enough to let food pass normally.

This is why Dominic needs to drink 1-1 1/2 litres of water with each meal to help push the food through his LES.

There is no cure for Achalasia, but symptoms can be managed with surgery, and Dominic has already had 2 previous major surgeries (Heller Myotomy) dating in the late 90’s and beginning of 2000’s as well as multiple dilations that were managing the condition well for a couple decades.

Unfortunately, Dominic’s symptoms and condition have progressed and routine tests at the beginning of this year and late November revealed a hernia in his esophagus, he has developed Barrets Esophagus as well as discovered through a Manometry test he has no more mobility left in his esophagus and that he needs corrective surgery as soon as possible.

The procedure Dominic needs is called POEM (Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy). POEM was first performed in 2008 by professor Haruhiro Inoue from Japan. Only about 1500 of these surgeries have been performed around the world to date. All the experts we have consulted are telling us that Dominic’s condition is now at a stage where POEM is the only and best option Dominic has.

Which brings us to this fundraiser.

Because Achalasia is very rare, and the need for this surgery is rarer, the whole surgery alone is going to cost a life changing $30k-$40k, which our health insurance will not cover all of as well as aftercare

This is very humbling for us as most of you know Dominic was once a very successful business owner. Unfortunately due to recent diagnosis’s he is unable to take on any new jobs based on the progression and the multiple doctors appointments. So we are very grateful for all donations and shares.  

Our goal is to raise money to cover the cost of the surgery as well as aftercare.

And here is a link to an animation of the POEM procedure:

http://www.achalasia.ca/poem.html

We want to thank you for your support, we will update this page regularly as the journey progresses.