Help Bridget Evict Her Esophagus
Donation protected
Who is Bridget and why does her esophagus need to be evicted?
Bridget is my dear friend -- she's a dog mom, a chicken mama, and cat whisperer; she's always generous, eager to help her friends, and the BIGGEST advocate for accessibility and inclusiveness; she loves makeup, cosplay, cooking + eating delicious food, and singing.
After a long battle with Achalasia (15 out of her 30 years on this Earth), her dead esophagus is causing her a LOT of pain, making proper nutrition extremely challenging, and really interfering with her quality of life. She has done an amazing job seeking out experts and resources to help her feel her best, but being chronically ill is exhausting...physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.
This upcoming August, Bridget will have to undergo major, lifesaving surgery--an Esophagectomy with Gastric Pull-Up. Not only is her impending surgery high risk, but the recovery will be grueling and she will be unable to work for 5 months while she recovers. Despite having a job with good health insurance, her savings has been depleted from medical expenses and now she doesn't have a safety net to keep her afloat while she recovers.
How will donations be used?
- One of Bridget's biggest expenses will be Cobra Health Insurance—instead of insurance being taken out of her paycheck, she will have to pay out of pocket to maintain her current coverage.
- Nutrition will be another major challenge physically and financially because she will require High Protein Dysphagia foods that you can only buy in bulk. She won't be able to have soft foods (scrambled eggs/omelette, finely ground meats, cooked/canned fruits, mashed potatoes, cooked/puréed vegetables, yogurt, mild cheese if tolerated, cereal if tolerated) until approximately 4 months post-op.
- And of course there will be other normal living expenses outside of her esophagectomy recovery like rent, car insurance, phone bill, etc.
How can you help?
- Donate to this Go Fund Me!
- Purchase items from her Amazon Recovery Wishlist
- Share Bridget's story with your friends using #EvictBridgetsEsophagus
Let's show Bridget some love and help her healing journey without the burden of debt so she can focus on her recovery. Surely we can do better than Rose and Jack in Titanic--we can make a life raft big enough for her to climb on.
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Interested in learning more about Achalasia & Bridget's Achalasia Timeline?
Here's some more info:
What is Achalasia?
- Achalasia is a rare chronic progressively degenerative neurogastroesophageal motility disease. This means that it continues to worsen throughout a person’s lifetime due to the nerves in the esophagus degenerating, which causes severe dysphagia and an inability to eat normally.
- There is no cure, only palliative treatment options to try and improve quality of life.
- It is most often seen in middle-aged patients, but can occur at any age.
- It requires specialized care by a Neurogastroenterologist- of which there are few across the world. It is common for Achalasia patients to fly to other states or countries to seek the care they need. Because access to these physicians is so limited, the financial burden of seeking care is far greater than the average illness.
- Achalasia severely impacts and limits a person’s ability to eat, and causes extreme pain and discomfort due to spasming in the esophagus.
- Because the esophageal nerves that create Peristalsis have degenerated, the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) begins to close, causing additional pain and issues eating. The average person’s LES opens between 10-15 millimeters when eating. An achalasia patient is lucky if they can retain an LES larger than 5 millimeters.
- Less than 5% of Achalasia patients progress to end-stage, and generally they have had at least one, if not multiple, failed surgical interventions.
Bridget's Achalasia Timeline:
- 2007 Symptoms begin and build slowly.
- 2012 Misdiagnosed with Acid Reflux
- 2013 Misdiagnosed with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
- 2017 Diagnosed with Type 1 Achalasia. Zero peristalsis AKA all nerves in esophagus are dead and can’t move food down into stomach. 100% gravity reliant to eat. Liquid/blended diet. Lower Esophageal Sphincter only opens to 1.8 millimeters.
- 2018 Heller Myotomy- first failed surgery to improve ability to eat and lessen spasm pain.
- 2019 Symptoms return and worsen, causing insomnia from extreme pain. Liquid/blended diet.
- 2020 Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy- second failed surgery to improve ability to eat and lessen spasm pain.
- 2021 Symptoms return and worsen.
- 2022 Diagnosed with Endstage Achalasia with a Tortous Esophagus and diagnosed with Stage 1 Gastroparesis, a comorbid motility disease. Eating ability and pain worsens. Esophagus has a kink in it AKA “sink trap” preventing gravity from assisting in food delivery to stomach. No surgical option to correct anatomy. Esophagus is a high perforation risk and unsafe to remain in body. No salvageable esophageal tissue to use, so colonic interposition AKA replacing a portion of esophagus with a portion of intestine is unsafe. Esophagectomy with gastric pull-up is the only option, AKA reshaping the stomach to take the place of the esophagus.
- 2023 Diagnosed with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) due to trauma and pain caused by forced eating to maintain body weight. Roughly 60 pounds lost over the prior year. Given Pyloric Botox via Endoscope to attempt relief from Gastroparesis symptoms.
- August 2023 Esophagectomy with Gastric Pull-Up to take place
Organizer and beneficiary
Katherine Bagby Underwood
Organizer
Oakley, CA
Bridget Oyen
Beneficiary