Matt Roloff suffers from a different type of dwarfism than ex-wife Amy and son Zach, creating different health challenges for him.
TLC’s Little People’s Big World follows Matt, Amy, and their son, Zach Roloff, who were all born with dwarfism.
Due to their limited stature, they’ve faced various medical issues less common in people of average height. The family has navigated numerous health challenges over the years. But now that Matt and Amy are getting older and are both in their sixties, they’re starting to run into more issues more frequently.
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During Season 25, Matt had a health scare after a routine upper endoscopy went awry, and there were concerns he had esophageal damage. How is Matt doing today, and what is his current health status? Plus, a look into Matt’s medical history, which included several corrective surgeries throughout his lifetime, and how his dwarfism is different from his ex-wife and son’s dwarfism.
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What happened with Matt Roloff’s esophagus?
In May 2023, Matt visited the doctor for a routine endoscopy after experiencing a sensation of his esophagus closing off, and producing a significant amount of phlegm. He described the phlegm as bubbling up like a volcano. This particular incident was shown in an episode of Season 25 of Little People, Big World.
In response to these symptoms, Matt underwent a routine upper endoscopy, a procedure that uses a thin, camera-equipped tube to examine the upper digestive system.
But just a few minutes into the procedure, doctors alerted Matt’s fiancée Caryn Chandler, that there had been a complication. She was told that they were afraid they had perforated the wall of Matt’s esophagus.
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They quickly ran some tests to check his esophagus and, fortunately, were able to confirm that Matt’s esophagus had not been punctured. However, doctors made another shocking discovery: Matt’s esophagus was too large for his body.
As a little person, Matt was expected to have a small esophagus, but doctors noticed he actually had a normal person-sized esophagus.
In a confessional, Caryn explained to Matt, “It’s kinked. So a normal esophagus goes straight down, then you have a diaphragm, then your stomach. So [the doctor] said yours is longer than your body can handle, so it’s pushed to the side. …. poor little esophagus all crammed in there and kinked over.” The doctors also said that Matt has a lot of damage from acid reflux.
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During this procedure, doctors did stretch out Matt’s esophagus so it wouldn’t feel crammed anymore, but it seems like this was only a temporary fix.
Matt implied that this new insight about his esophagus would require him to receive additional medical attention. However, he didn’t elaborate on what exactly that entailed.
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How is Matt Roloff feeling?
Matt seems to be doing well and is in good health as of late. In March 2023, he and Caryn went on a cruise to Curaçao. He also shared an update on the house he has been building for Caryn and him, and it seemed like it was almost done.
Matt appeared to bounce back quickly from his health scare involving his esophagus, only taking a few days off from work. At the time of it, he discussed it on Instagram. “It turns out I have some unexpected twists [and] turns leading down to the stomach. The good news is … I didn’t need the computer chip and monitor installed,” wrote the reality star.
“[The] scary news is more work to be done. [The] worst news is I had to take a few days off working and lay low. Back in action today,” he wrote on Instagram on May 22, 2023. Prior to Matt’s endoscopy, his health had been stable.
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Matt Roloff has had 15 corrective surgeries in his lifetime, but still can’t walk without crutches.
Matt suffers from Diastrophic Dysplasia, a rare hereditary genetic disorder affecting cartilage, which in turn contributed to his dwarfism. Amy and his son Zach also have dwarfism; however, they have Achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder that is caused by a genetic mutation.
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Because they have different types of dwarfism, they face different challenges. Matt needed many operations as a child on his limbs. In 2018, Matt revealed that he had had 15 surgeries in his lifetime on an episode of the podcast Reality Life with Kate Casey. Many of these procedures were performed when he was a kid.
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“I had a rough childhood. Not from a family perspective but just from orthopedic surgery, spending long periods — sometimes months — in a hospital with very limited access to your parents,” he said. “It was just the way they did it back in those days and going through some very painful operations. So I do think all of that sort of built up a muscle of resiliency and gave me a sense of can-do and tenacity.”
Despite the various corrective surgeries that Matt has had, he still can’t stand up straight or walk without the help of his crutches.
Matt’s parents are of average size, and so is his sister. However, his brother, Sam, has the same form of degenerative dwarfism. His other brother, Josh, passed away from severe heart and lung problems right after he was born.
Watch Little People, Big World on TLC.
Source: https://www.distractify.com/p/matt-roloff-health-update