Some of the only concerns the average high school student deals with nowadays are the upcoming AP test next week, and whether or not the cafeteria will be serving chicken tenders.
But not for Katheryn Garcia, 17, of Woodbridge, who recently underwent an innovative procedure to help her continue her daily life.
In July 2015, Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. became the second Children’s Hospital in the U.S. to perform Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM), a procedure that is used to treat pediatric patients with achalasia, a a disorder that can affect the movement of food from the esophagus to the stomach. It can cause heartburn, chest pain, back flow of food, couching. and weight loss.
Garcia, a senior at Woodbridge Senior High School, is the first patient treated at Children’s National Hospital with this new procedure.
Garcia developed symptoms about Thanksgiving during her sophomore year of high school. She was originally diagnosed with acid reflux and even given a prescription to treat this, but her symptoms prevailed.
Garcia saw countless doctors until she was finally diagnosed with achalasia and referred to Dr. Timothy Kane, the Division Chief of General and Thoracic Surgery at Children’s National. He specialized in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgeries and was the maestro behind Garcia’s surgery.
“I felt the pain get sharper every time; I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop coughing. Plus, I began to develop acid reflux which burned, especially at night,” she said.
Her surgery was scheduled for May 19, 2015, but unfortunately, her esophagus wasn’t clean enough, so the surgery was postponed.
“She’s a great kid. She couldn’t do the surgery the first time, but she was so patient. One of my colleagues and I, we went to Portland, Ore. to learn the procedure from the surgeons who started doing these here in the U.S. Not many pediatric surgeons really complete this. There’s only one other surgeon who works for Stanford, who has done some POEMS, but he’s the only pediatric surgeon,” said Kane.
Nevertheless, Garcia was in good spirits, as she was more excited than afraid. She began to prepare for her surgery with an extensive liquid diet beginning July 1st. Her surgery was scheduled for July 8th, and she arrived at the hospital at 6 o’clock in the morning.
The surgery ran its course with little complications. The only unexpected event was when Katheryn experienced difficult breathing, resulting in a prolonged hospital stay.
“Those few minutes had to be the scariest ones. It was unexpected, and my mom nor I knew what that to do.” she said.
Luckily, everything turned out to be fine. In fact, Garcia’s convalescence was under one month. In order to recover safely, she should avoid solid foods and would drink an amalgam of smoothies, juices and essentially anything liquid. Garcia followed a strict liquid diet for about three weeks.
It’s been six months since Garcia’s surgery, and she’s doing very well.
“I feel so relieved. I can now sleep at night without waking up surrounded in throw up. I can now eat in public, without having to make these weird facial expressions. I’ve seen and feel major improvement. I am beyond grateful for having the opportunity to have had the surgery and for the people supporting me,” she said.
Garcia will be graduate from high school this upcoming June and is planning on attending Radford University this fall. She is interested in majoring in Criminal Justice.
