Adriana Servare first began having stomach problems about five years ago. It started with severe stomachaches in the middle of the night and then progressed to choking on food. At the time, her mother was being treated for cancer, and Adriana chalked it up to stress.
"After my mom passed away, I started trying to take better care of myself," says Adriana. "I was eating better and trying to solve this problem, but nothing was helping-my symptoms just kept getting worse and worse. It finally got so bad, that by last summer, I was vomiting everything I tried to eat. It was awful."
Diagnosed with Achalasia
After a few visits with her primary care doctor, Adriana was referred to the gastroenterology (GI) team at Boston Medical Center. They performed several tests to try to find the problem. When Adriana met with Adnan A. Khan, MD, an advanced endoscopist at BMC, he told her she had achalasia. This is a rare condition that affects the esophagus, the tube connecting the mouth and the stomach. Dr. Khan explained that she would need a procedure to correct the problem.
Adriana was happy to learn what was causing to her symptoms, but she was nervous about having a procedure. She started reading everything she could about her condition and what to do. “I learned that there are many different procedures to treat this disease, but everything I read said that the most efficient was peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). I knew that if I was going to have surgery, that was the one I wanted.”
As the months went by, her symptoms continued to get worse. "I was just making soups to see what I could keep in my stomach," she says. "Every time my husband or friends wanted to go out to eat, I had to say home because nothing would stay down. It got the point where I was having only water, coconut water, and popsicles."
Because Adriana could not eat, she started to feel weak. "I had lost 50 pounds, and I had no energy. I could barely walk." she says. "That's when I decided to have surgery, and I got my life back."
Moving Forward with Treatment
Adriana and her husband met again with Dr. Khan, so she could ask questions about the POEM procedure and his experience performing it. She was pleased to hear that Dr. Khan had specialized expertise in this complex procedure that uses a flexible endoscope to relieve the obstruction in the esophagus without making any external incisions. “Dr. Khan told me he had extensive experience in performing this procedure and that made me feel much more comfortable,” she said. She scheduled the procedure for December 10, 2025.
Adriana was in the hospital for just a half a day and was pleased with every aspect of her care. "Everyone who took care of me at BMC was so kind, including Dr. Khan and all the nurses. They explained what I should expect before and after the procedure-the care I got was truly amazing."
After the procedure, Adriana felt better almost immediately. She followed Dr. Khan's instructions and had only liquids for the first two weeks, and then she started introducing regular foods.
"On Christmas Day, I was able to eat regular foods again, and it was amazing. It felt like such a wonderful gift to be able to eat without gagging."
Back to Feeling “100%”
By New Year's Day, Adriana had most of her energy back. And now, a few months later, she has gained back 20 pounds and is feeling like herself again. "I can walk and exercise and do all the things that I wasn't able to do when I was sick," she says. "It was like I had to stop living, because I had no energy-and now I feel 100%."
She says she is grateful for Dr. Khan. "He really changed my life. He was calm and patient, and he gave me confidence to go through with the procedure, even though I was very scared. I'm very happy now to have my life back."
Adriana's only regret is that she didn't have the procedure sooner. "I lived with this condition for so many years, and I let it get so bad that I couldn't eat anymore. I would tell others that if you have a problem like this, don't wait, see Dr. Khan to get it treated as soon as possible and change your life."