Alex's Story
Living with a Tracheo Oesophageal Fistula
My food pipe connected to my windpipe, this issue has been the most difficult for me medically.
It was originally corrected after birth however my oesophagus would close up regularly meaning most of my childhood was spent in and out of hospital having the fused section removed and repaired.
So my life began with regular ‘stretches’, where a tube was pushed down to stretch it open in between the repair surgeries.
During this time I was unable to eat solid foods, meaning I was fed through a gastrostomy into my stomach or had to have blended food/liquids. I mostly ate instant mash and gravy.
At the age of 14 my surgeon retired and I was assigned a new doctor who looked for the cause of the issue rather that correcting the effects. He found that I had a double hernia which was causing acid reflux which was burning my oesophagus and resulting in the extreme narrowing/closure.
This surgeon spent over 9 hours removing all the scar tissue from all my previous surgeries and then corrected the hernia and performed a Nissen Fundoplication. This means he wrapped the top of my stomach around the base of my oesophagus to create a muscle so that food could move down into my stomach but acid could not travel upwards into my oesophagus. Since this surgery I have had no eating issues and not needed further surgeries.