@bill5 i was diagnosed with a paralyzed left diaphragm last fall and couldn't tell from your posts if that was your diagnosis. I went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack and had a lot of tests, etc. My symptoms were chest pain, breathlessness after climbing a flight of stairs, fatigue and no stamina. An x-ray showed my left lung was elevated. After a short stay in the hospital and several more tests, including a "sniff test" to see if the nerve that controls the diaphragm was functioning, I received the diagnosis. It wasn't working, and I had a paralyzed diaphragm. Did you have a "sniff test" -- maybe that was the barium swallow test? The thoracic surgeon I ended up being referred to wanted to schedule plication surgery right away, where he would use a robot to sew pleats across my diaphragm to keep it in place and keep my other organs from floating up into my chest cavity. He told me the condition was not life threatening and people could live with it. I'm doing breathing exercises and building up my stamina and hope to avoid needing surgery. I think I got really lucky with the medical care I received from literally walking in off the street and hope you have the confidence in your doctors that I have in mine. It's pretty scary when you can't breathe properly, are dealing with other medical issues, live alone, and can't do everything that needs doing on your ranch. I hope you have people to help you! Is the doctor who recommended and would be doing your surgery a thoracic surgeon? How many of these surgeries has he done? Why does he think you need surgery? I'm sorry if you explained this before, I might have missed a previous post of two. I didn't have an endoscopy so think you must have something different from what I have. I'm really sorry for all you're going through. Since you're dealing with at least two major medical issues, would it be possible to go to a major medical center like the Mayo Clinic to get treatment for both? Please take care...and I hope you'll find out more after the endoscopy. Nancy