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Endoscopy fears

Posted , 7 users are following.

mellymc22
mellymc22

Hi all, for the past 3 weeks I've been having intermittent dysphagia. I had some pain in my right shoulder blade and right chest also. I've got old gerd for a decade and have taken Prevacid and Protonix. I'm terrified that I have esophageal cancer as I've lost a few pounds. The trouble swallowing comes and goes but it's mainly with solid food. My regular doctor is sending me to do a barium swallow this Friday. I was glad to get to do that because I am terrified of an endoscopy That Could perforate my esophagus. Now I went to a new GI doctor and she said that you have to have an endoscopy to rule out esophageal cancer. My question is, can a barium swallow not show esophageal cancer? Should I have an endoscopy before the barium swallow? I'm wondering if I can get by with just the barium swallow for now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated because I have three little kids who desperately need their mother back and I'm so anxious from all of this.

1 like, 18 replies

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  • mick02352
    mick02352 mellymc22

    Posted

    Get the endoscopy dine ASAP. My dad had barium which did not show cancer but later he has the endoscopy which showed cancer. By the time he has the endoscopy it was too Kate for him. So get the endoscopy done. Likely that you have Barretts and not cancer.
    • mellymc22
      mellymc22 mick02352

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply! I'm very sorry to hear about your dad!

      I have the swallow Friday & am planning for the endoscopy the next week. Hopefully that's not waiting too long. I'm terrified of the risks of the procedure but it sounds like the swallow doesn't show everything 😔

    • mick02352
      mick02352 mellymc22

      Posted

      Hi mellymc22, even if the barium showed any lumps in the esophagus, you will still have to have an endoscopy to get a biopsy done.

      Has anyone else in your family got a history of esophageal problems ? Particularly barretts esophagus?

    • mellymc22
      mellymc22 mick02352

      Posted

      Hi there

      Oh that's good to know... I have gone ahead and scheduled the barium for this Friday and the endoscopy for next Thursday. Hopefully they won't find anything scary. No one has had Barrett's or esophageal cancer that I know of but me and my dad both suffer from GERD. I've been on PPIs for almost 10 years. Esophageal problems are so horrible and I hate that anyone has to go through them! thanks again for your replies

    • mick02352
      mick02352 mellymc22

      Posted

      Good luck for Friday and Thursday. Will be praying that everything is ok.
  • ron03801
    ron03801 mellymc22

    Posted

    Don't delay any longer. A endoscopy can be done under anaesthetic and is painless and done as an outpatients clinic. there is nothing to fear but a whole lot to gain. Early diagnosis is essential for  treatment and it could be give you peace of mind if no cancer is found.

    • mellymc22
      mellymc22 ron03801

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply! I'm 36 but still scared of cancer. I just keep feeling like either food or gas is stuck in my throat with lots of burping. The risks of an EGD terrify me but maybe I should bite the bullet & do it next week. Will the barium swallow show anything? Thanks again

  • ron03801
    ron03801 mellymc22

    Posted

    I don't know what is shown with barium but I know that endoscopy is full proof and will detect anything abnormal.

    Good luck

  • becky7624
    becky7624 mellymc22

    Posted

    Don't be worried about the endoscopy, I've had about 20 of them so far and the worst problem that I've ever had is a bit of a sore throat for a few hours afterward, and that doesn't happen every time.

    If you have 3 children then you definitely want to do whatever it takes to either rule out or confirm cancer. If you do have it, you want to catch it early so that you can deal with it. Sometimes people just need to have their esophagus stretched every so often.

    Good luck, and don't worry. As procedures go, an endoscopy is a piece of cake.

    • mellymc22
      mellymc22 becky7624

      Posted

      Hi there! Thank you for your reply! I actually just had it on Thursday. The doctor said no cancer but she still took biopsies... Can she say no cancer without knowing what the biopsies are? She removed a couple benign polyps and took some biopsies for other things... She said it actually looks pretty good despite some gastritis and GERD. Does that sound right? It's still kind of sore when I swallow in my sternum and she said that was because of the biopsies and gave me Carafate. I'm hoping everything turns out ok! Thanks!

    • becky7624
      becky7624 mellymc22

      Posted

      Of course, she won't know for sure until the biopsies come back, but she must feel fairly confident. I wouldn't worry about it for now. If she gives you medication, be sure to take it so the GERD won't be so bad. Also, look at ways to control that by watching what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, etc.

      Good luck. It's good to know that you got a great report.

    • mellymc22
      mellymc22 becky7624

      Posted

      Thank you! The biopsy waiting makes me nervous but I'm trying not to think about it. Would she be able to see cancer?

      Yes she gave me Protonix & Carafate which I'm taking religiously.

      My doctor studied at the Mayo Clinic so hopefully she's knowledgeable.

      Thanks!

    • maria78604
      maria78604 mellymc22

      Posted

      HI, i'm waiting for biopsy results as well, it's making me very nervous too. (I had some trouble with certain foods, mainly bread that went down very slowly ) Unfortunately i can't really remember what my doctor said as i was still drowsy. Only remember a few words. So i only have the gastroscopic report which doesn't tell me a lot, they took biopsies to rule out eosinophilic oesophagitis. Never ever heard of that.  Do you think if they found anything sinister they would have written it on the report? Tried to call them but you can't speak to an NHS doctor, i just have to wait.

      Scary times

      Good luck!

    • chris55934
      chris55934 maria78604

      Posted

      Maria how did you get on with your results? I'm waiting on an endoscopy in the next couple of weeks and very worried. Im 32 so been told chances are very low it's anything bad but my symtoms have got me thinking the worst...

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