Very worried about esophageal cancer

[Hypo27]

Hey guys sorry for the late update. The doctor is referring me to a gastro doctor. My appointment is the 12th of march like 3 weeks. I truly hope this isn't something bad..

[Carys]

Glad you've got a referral Hypo, that was the aim wasn't it. Did your doctor give you an examination and take lots of details ?

[Hypo27]

He said it could be a few things, but didn't think it was cancer. He said an endoscopy would be able to tell me what is wrong which I knew that.

[Carys]

He said it could be a few things, but didn't think it was cancer.

Well, thats very encouraging isn't it.

[WiseMonkey]

He said it could be a few things, but didn't think it was cancer. He said an endoscopy would be able to tell me what is wrong which I knew that.

Wow! Listen to the Doc, looks like there will be a very good outcome

[fizzymoon86]

I’m going to weigh in on this again because I’ve just caught up on the last few pages of posts.

Reason for your nausea? Anxiety.
Reason for the awful taste in your mouth? GERD made worse by anxiety.
Reason for trouble swallowing? Ever heard of Globus Hystericus? (I think that’s how it’s spelt. It’s caused by anxiety and gives you the feeling of food or something stuck in your throat and when it’s really bad it can actually affect the swallowing mechanism.

I have GERD and have been taking Omeorazole for 9 years. I also suffer with anxiety which makes my stomach feel terrible. I’ve been nauseous for weeks but I know that it is likely down to the anxiety and a little due to a reaction to antibiotics I had to take a few weeks ago.

[WiseMonkey]

Hi,

I'm hijacking this thread to say thanks to those people who wished me good luck for my procedure today. The ENT specialist couldn't perform the Trans-nasal esophagoscopy as my nasal passages were too small (suspected deviated septum) so I'm booked in for a gastroscopy 21 March.

The specialist is pretty sure I have an esophageal motility disorder (as I originally thought). She doesn't think there's anything sinister like EC but she just wants to check things out as part of the work-up and also check the throat and sphincter muscles.

The lower esophageal sphincter (or LES) is a muscle that separates the esophagus from the stomach and that determines how much reflux etc comes back up. The upper sphincter (UES) opens to let food pass down the esophagus from the throat, then closes to prevent food/ acid coming back up. If the LES stays open too long, acid/food/burps can regurgitate causing the UES to clamp shut tight, hense the throat symptoms.

Signals between the 2 sphincters can get confused, especially when peristalsis (esophageal muscles action) gets out of kilter or slows down. The regurgitation and excess burping have been caused by this confusion.

So the following day after the gastroscopy, I'm having a barium meal observation.

In the meantime, I'm to keep taking the Domperidone med before meals, which helps delayed gastric emptying and also helps esophageal motility. I don't need any acid suppressants as I have low stomach acid. She said to continue with the apple cider vinegar before meals and the digestive enzymes.
So all round good news. I'll let you know how the gastroscopy goes, I'm expecting it to be all clear

[pulisa]

That's very good news, WiseMonkey and thank you for updating us. Understanding the nature of your condition, knowing what meds aid peristalsis and believing in the doctors who are treating you must be so helpful and reassuring. You sound very positive and rightfully so. I'm sure the gastroscopy will just be a formality and how refreshing to hear that you believe this too. You are certainly an inspiration to those fearing the worst case scenario regarding the oesophagus and all things reflux-related.
As an aside, my son was born without an oesophagus!! (one less organ for him to worry about should he develop HA!!)

[WiseMonkey]

As an aside, my son was born without an oesophagus!! (one less organ for him to worry about should he develop HA!!)

Thanks for your kind words Pulisa

Wow! so your son has no esophagus, so is his stomach somehow connected to his throat or did they put in a feeding-tube-type set up?

[pulisa]

He had a gastric interposition in 1986 to draw the stomach up to the back of his throat when he was 6 months old. He was fed by gastrostomy tube up until then. It was a huge op followed by months of struggling to get food to go down past the anastomosis and stay down! He's fine now-just has the occasional dilatation and no motility problems despite the doctors' concerns.