Completely Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy

Ok , this post is for all those out there that might be researching. When I was trying to find info on this particular operation it was very difficult and I ended up having to piece together what I could find from different websites. The University of Pittsburgh, where  Doctor Soukiasian trained, gave me a good start, but it still had the large incision in the chest. Dr. Soukiasian trained at Cedars-Sinai in minimally invasive thorasic surgery after that,  where , as I understand, he combined the two procedures to create a surgery with only small incisions, the largest being at the neck, but still nowhere near as large as the previous surgeries had called for. The other thing that makes this surgery unique is that Dr Soukiasian does not cut the pyloric valve (as mentioned in previous blogs) . He injects it with botox, which allows a more natural healing process and GREATLY reduces the if not eliminates the "dumping" problem that has so plagued EC patients in the past.

Assisting Dr Soukiasian with the surgery was Dr. Miquel Burch, Dr Soukiasians partner. Assisting with the chest portion, was Dr. Clark Fuller,  and the anesthesiologist was Dr. Karen Sidor. A top notch team I might add. Also on Dr. Soukiasians  team was his fellow, Dr Jacquelynn Parker ( Not sure on spelling and I need to make sure I get her name right for future searches. Will come back to this one) She was amazing, sharp as a tack and just so spot on. His intern's name was Peter Sidor. He was a excellent at what he did, and I ended up feeling bad for him when he kept apologizing for "hurting" me during various owie procedures.There were others, but these are the ones I dealt with the most.

I have too say having made it through the hardest parts, this is NOT an easy operation to recover from and there were times the pain was difficult to control, BUT I am alive. I am getting better every day. The pain will fade. I will live. Unless there had ever been that doubt in your life, the power of that simple statement can easily be overlooked. I sit here, writing this with tears in my eyes, knowing I will see my boys graduate from High School and then college. I will see my grandbabies. And I am so very grateful. Yet all these words seem so pale compared to the feelings behind them. The pain will fade. I will live and I will live well.