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OK, campfire family...a little serious talk about to be thrown down: Hopefully it may wake someone up!!!

Recently I had a upper GI scope/enlarge my esophagus done. They did biopsies due to the erosion and rawness of the area. Biopsies came back as esophageal cancer. I'm not a tobacco user and not a drinker (maybe 6-8 beers a year). I don't eat "right" but have been getting better over the years and now that I have been diagnosed I have ceased drinking sweet tea/soda and QUIT taking Goody's powders. I have had GERD (acid reflux) for probably about 20+ years which is one of the causes for cancer. I should have been taking some sort of acid reflux medication but never stuck with them. I use to get my esophagus stretched every few years due to the erosion and trouble swallowing. This last time, I waited 5 years to have it done (stupid move). I probably should have been going every year!!! My symptoms that shot me to the DR was heartburn like I had never had before (actually felt like fire in my chest) that came and went. I also noticed my stool was black and tar like (upper GI bleed). I attributed it to probably a stomach ulcer. Both symptoms only lasted about a week or 2. Went to my primary care physician and got sent to my gastro DR.

Good news, all the DR's I have talked to are believing it's in the early stages but of course more testing to determine a course of treatment. Actually going today for a PET scan. More then likely, chemo/radiation followed by surgery is the course. I had cancer when I was 19 and then again when I was 20 and went through surgery/chemo and almost died so I know what I'm in store for.

My purpose for this post is to wake guys/gals up to health issues. Most guys hate going to the DR's office and by all means when you discuss scopes (upper/lower GI's) they avoid them like the plague!!! If me going through all I am/will be going through wakes just 1 person up to seek treatment to help save their life, I'D DO IT MULTIPLE TIMES OVER! Please people, listen to your inner self and body!!! GO TO THE DR!!! Be honest to your DR, and LISTEN to your DR. If you want a second opinion, go for it but do not play with your health! I am not a lover of medications but I GUARANTEE you I will now be on a strict use of relux medication!!!!!!!! So do it for yourself, most of all do it for your family!!!

I'm a firm believer that GOD is working in my life like he has since I was saved when I was 17. So any of ya'll that are believers can include me in their prayers or on their prayer lists with their churches. Anyone that is not a believer, that is your choice but if you are "on the fence" I pray that you seek GOD while he can still be found!

Thanks for all your support/prayers and PLEASE if you want to know more but don't want to throw it out here direct message me and I will talk to you more!!! It's my goal to save someone a longer/harder road!!!

THANKS, and GOD bless all!

I'm wishing you an easy course and cure.

Well said, Jason. Cancer sucks.

Good luck. I have mild GERD, and take medications, and have to watch what I eat. We often ignore obvious signals that something isn't right.

Good luck Jason, hoping for a quick recovery and elimination of the cancer.and thanks for the advice.

Ten years ago I complained at my annual physical that I had a lot of acid reflux. The doc scoped it and said I had a lot of erosion and that continuation of that put me at high risk of esophagus cancer.
He put me on anti acid meds and I have been on them since. And I have almost zero acid reflux. He scoped me two years later and the erosion was gone.
I never smoked, light drinker, minimal soft/sweet drinks but I eat too much.
If you have regular heartburn, you best tell your doctor and get it checked out.

Prayers for a quick and painless treatment of the situation Jason...

Thanks for coming forward...

Sad thing of the campfire, many of us are not spring chickens anymore...

and despite difference among us....I always pray for Good Health to all of our campfire brethren.

its sad to think of some of the good guys we have lost to poor health over the years...
and even the ones that some one thinks isn't such a good guy...

Poor health and the loss of anyone to it, even if it a fact of life... sucks...

God be with you as you go thru this.. and give you strength....

cheers and best regards...

I have that cshit too.

What's called GERD is a serious problem, for sure, and I hope and pray for your full recovery (prayer sent), but I'd prefer people realize that it's a reaction to a bad diet rather than something that results from inadequate doses of drugs. We don't get GERD from a drug deficiency, but from a diet that the human metabolism just didn't evolve to process.

The main culprits are starch and sugar. Cut those to a bare minimum, and you will find that you've "cured" yourself of GERD, along with a whole array of common chronic conditions that a diet high in those things causes (The key factor behind them all being generalized inflammation).

Doctors don't tell you that because drug companies don't make any money off of people learning it, so don't train doctors to know anything about it. You see, modern medical schools are essentially Big Pharma institutions of learning.

Just an fyi, but GERD can also lead to laryngeal cancer.

I have had heartburn off and on for some years.

At least I know its directly related to the POS city that I work for and all its politics. When I realize its happening, doc said go on Omeprazole for a few months, which I do.

It is much better to go in if you think you have something going on.

And a checkup now and then never hurts, at 53 in about a month, this coming year I want a heart cath, upper GI, a scan for midsection, take care of small belly button hernia and I think that will probably make me feel a bit better. Colon was done last December with a polyp benign. SHould be good there a few more years.

Appreciate you trying to educate folks!

Thank you for sharing and I wish you the best with your treatment.

I started having a problem with acid reflux about 10 years ago no matter what I ate. I cured it by not eating for 3 hours before I went to bed.

While I discovered the connection between GERD and a sugary/starchy diet quite by accident many years ago, I'm certainly not the first to come to the realization. Just Google "Atkins diet cured me of GERD." and see what pops up.

Thanks for all the words and support folks.... Diet has alot to do w/ GERD but in my case, my 1st bouts w/ cancer led to alot of puking which wiped out my sphincter muscle at the top of my stomach so if I ate late at night it would come back up when I went to bed. My diet is changing for better now along with the reflux meds... Thanks again!!!

Here's the connection. A high starch/sugar diet promotes a high potential for inflammation throughout the body, sometimes showing up as multiple points of inflammation simultaneously, e.g., combination of arthritis, skin irritation, enlarged prostate, hemorrhoids, and irritable esophagus. Any combination of those, or all plus others, are common reactions. Sticking with the esophagus for the purpose of this discussion, the irritable esophagus interferes with the esophegus's natural defense against stomach acid, which is to secrete a defensive coating. Absent that coating, it's vulnerable to being burned by ordinary levels of stomach acid seeping in and up.

Now you have a vicious cycle of damaged surface area resulting in further reduced ability to defend against further damage. That cycle is broken in one of two ways: 1) by drugs, which artificially reduce stomach acids to the point where there's not enough of it to find its way into the esophagus, or 2) put a stop to what's generating the cycle to start with, i.e., the diet which promotes a high potential for generalized inflammation.

Either will work, but one is obviously a healthier approach than the other. Big Pharma would quite obviously prefer you choose meds, but the problem with that approach is it reduces stomach acid levels to below what nature prescribes for proper digestion, so certain essential nutrients aren't getting sufficiently processed for absorption, resulting in a potential for other health issues further down the road.

Thank you for sharing your story, Jason. I, too, am guilty of not wanting to go see a Doc for any issue.

You have my prayers.

Ed

JasonR,

BEST WISHES for a successful treatment, a good cure & NO more similar problems later.

yours, tex

You have only one choice Jason, become a 3 time cancer ass kicker!

Many years ago I was diagnosed with Barrets esophagus, and I preach the same sermon, most just listen and move on but a couple I know take it seriously.

Good luck on the ensuing journey, Prayers for you and your family.

Well Jason, I wish you a complete recovery.

Here is my experience with esophageal cancer. My step mother was a smoker for years, but had quit for around 15yrs when she was diagnosed. She also had acid reflux for some 20yrs. Don't take this as gospel, but I recall her not being able to be treated with radiation, because the esophagus tissue is too soft. I think chemo was scheduled, but I cant recall if she actually had to go through chemo. She had the procedure done to remove 4-6 inches of the esophagus, and have the top portion of her stomach cut away. End result, she no longer has the "sphincter" of the top of her stomach to control stomach contents from coming back up. This created the necessity for a hospital bed so she could sleep in an up right position. Her stomach is now 6 inches higher in her chest. It was a hell of a surgery, and a hell of a recovery. (of course, new procedures may not necessitate this drastic procedure)

Now the good news. She has been cancer free for 13 years. She was actually in the hospital the same time my youngest son was born. (2 miracles?)

I will say, she has many challenges, and is a trooper. Has to really pay attention to her diet, and obviously the issues with sleeping in a horizontal position when she travels. (Has to prop up the bed and or pillows)

Other than that, she has been doing really well considering.

I wish you all of the best.

Clyde

JasonR ,

Prayers for you - wishing you all the best too .

I'm in Okaloosa county - if there's anything I can do for you anytime please PM me bud ...

Best to you and Family - hope you have a Merry Christmas ..

Mike