CISSNA PARK — Picture a table filled with Thanksgiving dishes — a plump turkey, creamy pumpkin pie, spicy dressing, potatoes, vegetables and rich onion-based gravy.

Now, imagine what will happen if you eat some of those foods, the ones made with spices and onions — imagine a red-hot poker in your chest.

That dream meal becomes a nightmare.

That’s what Elizabeth Wilkening, 68, of Cissna Park went through for nine years — watching others enjoy a holiday meal while gastroesophageal reflux disease restricted her choices.

Today, for the first time in years, she’ll be able to eat some of those previously forbidden foods — thanks to a new procedure that corrected the problem leading to heartburn.

“It’s a godsend,” Wilkening said of the surgery called Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF).

While she can eat more today, Wilkening is going to take it easy. After the surgery, she was on a restricted diet for 12 weeks, and got into the habit of eating less.

Besides, she still struggles with irritable bowel syndrome — something she’ll have all her life — and doesn’t want to overdo it.

First signs

Wilkening first noticed acid reflux problems nine years ago. She couldn’t consume anything acidic, such as orange juice and tomatoes. Avoiding the latter was a hardship because her garden produces nice tomatoes, and her husband, John, is a farmer.

She couldn’t eat at restaurants because she didn’t know how the food was prepared (whether onions or MSG were used, for example). When buying food at the grocery, she had to read the labels carefully.

“You don’t know what’s going to kick it (heartburn) in,” she said.

If she ate something that caused heartburn, such as spicy food, “It was like a red-hot poker in my chest,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my enemy.”

She had trouble sleeping and used two pillows to keep her head elevated.

Her doctor put her on Nexium. Two years ago, she was still having trouble, so the doctor increased her pills to two a day.

Not only was that an expensive option — at $5 a pill, 60 pills a month — but it didn’t seem to be helping, either.

The past year was the worst, she said, and her diet was down to oatmeal. She lost 20-25 pounds.

Finally, in July, Wilkening heard about the TIF procedure on WHPO-Radio in Hoopeston, and thought, “There’s got to be a better way. I’ve got to get some relief.”

She met with Dr. William Bowen, a general surgeon whose office is at Danville Polyclinic.

He is the first specialist in East Central Illinois to be trained on the TIF procedure, and Provena United Samaritans Medical Center is the first hospital in the area to offer it.

“He is fantastic,” Wilkening said. “He’s easy to talk to. He’ll answer questions.”

No sore throat

In August, Wilkening was admitted to Provena overnight for the procedure, which is performed transorally (through the mouth). That means no incision, so there’s less pain and a quicker recovery period.

She explained the procedure: a device tilts the esophagus to the side; it’s repaired and then put back in place.

Bowen said in an earlier news release that GERD is an anatomical problem. Medication can help relieve patients’ heartburn symptoms, but doesn’t solve the underlying problems or prevent further disease progression.

The TIF procedure creates a valve between the stomach and esophagus, restoring the natural, physiological anatomy to prevent gastroesophageal reflux, he said.

“Even on standard medications many patients are still unable to eat the foods they want or have to sleep sitting up to reduce nighttime reflux,” he said. “In addition, recent studies have shown long-term use of these medications can lead to inadequate absorption of minerals, such as calcium, and can result in bone fractures.”

After the EsophyX TIF procedure, clinical trials show most patients can eat and drink foods they avoided for many years.

Wilkening said she didn’t have a sore throat afterward, but she was put on a soft-food diet for 12 weeks. She couldn’t eat meat or meat products. (That diet ends just in time for Thanksgiving.)

“Once you’re on a limited diet for 12 weeks, your stomach shrinks,” she said, explaining why she’ll eat small portions today.

Still, she’s looking forward to today’s feast — for the first time in nine years.

FYI

To learn more about GERD and the TIF procedure, visit www.provena.org/usmc/GERD, or call Dr. William J. Bowen’s office at 477-4734.