Robin Meeks, 56, poses with a mural she painted in a community school in the The Bronx.
Robin Meeks, 56, visits Dr. Milan Amin at NYU Langone Health in New York City.
Robin Meeks, 56, suffered from a severe dysphagia and was unable to swallow solid food order for over a decade. A surgery in December 2024 changed her life.

Robin Meeks hasn't enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal in over 10 years. "Thankfully," she said, that's about to change.

The 56-year-old from The Bronx couldn't swallow solid foods for over a decade due to severe dysphagia, which is the medical term for difficulty swallowing, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Dysphagia is a common disorder, affecting approximately 1 in 25 Americans annually, with a wide range of symptoms and causes, said Dr. Milan Amin, chief of laryngology and director of the NYU Langone Health Voice Center, who treated Meeks.

The condition can occur at any age, but is more common among older adults, and can sometimes be caused by neurological disorders like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, Amin said.

In Meeks’ case, the food would get stuck in her throat until she was able to spit it out. Sometimes, the food would shrink enough to fit through her narrowing esophagus. However, in one instance, the food was lodged in her throat for two straight days.

“I was scared to even go to sleep because I didn’t know what would happen,” she said, fearing she would choke.

Over the 10 years, Meeks survived on a liquid diet consisting of blended chicken, potatoes and assorted vegetables. The liquid diet never satiated her hunger and restricted her social life, which impacted her mental health.

“I limited myself to going out and it was hard,” she said. Although it was isolating, Meeks kept her spirits up by focusing on her career and art.

Throughout the years, Meeks bounced around from specialist to specialist who said her dysphagia couldn’t be treated. Finally, in December 2024, she was introduced to Amin, who leads a multidisciplinary team that took a better look at her condition.

The team discovered there was a webbing of scar tissue in her esophagus. Although it’s unclear what caused Meeks’ webbing, Amin said it can sometimes be caused by trauma, such as food scraping through the esophagus or a pill getting stuck.

To fix the problem, Amin implemented some old surgical techniques. Instead of using flexible instruments that can sometimes make it difficult to get to the problem area in Meeks' throat, he used rigid instruments. This allowed him to insert a balloon and stretch it out.

The procedure took a little more than an hour and Meeks began swallowing solid food two days later. The first solid meal she had was a lasagna made by her daughter. While pasta is her favorite thing to eat, she’s looking forward to her first Thanksgiving meal without having to liquify her foods.

What’s on the menu? Turkey, string beans, yams, potato salad, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and of course, a little pasta on the side.

“This is a miracle,” she said. “I am so thankful each and every day.”

Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: She couldn't swallow food for 10 years. This Thanksgiving, she'll finally have turkey.

Reporting by Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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