HEALTH
My Doctor Said My Precancerous Throat Cured Itself
But I’m not sure I believe that
Doesn’t look pretty, does it? I was diagnosed with Barretts Esophagus more than a decade ago. It comes from GERD, which is acid reflux. In my particular case, the acid leaks by the flap that is supposed to keep it away from your throat. It’s hereditary; my father had that bad flap and our youngest daughter has it as well.
The cells in your throat don’t like acid. You and I call that heartburn and it’s a common enough experience that most of us think little of it. However, esophageal cells exposed to enough acid try to protect themselves by turning into stomach cells. That would be a pretty clever trick if it weren’t for the fact that in doing so they are more likely to become cancerous.
The typical treatment for this disease is to take an acid blocker like Nexium. There are other treatments; the bad cells can be burned away and an operation can attempt to repair the malfunctioning valve, but apparently that repair has its difficulties.
So, I was put on Omeprazole. That weakens the production of acid, but doesn’t treat the precancerous cells. I was also advised to avoid certain foods, to eat small meals, and to have regular endoscopic examinations.
I learned from those examinations that I fall asleep very quickly with propofol, the drug that killed Michael Jackson. When I wake up, I not only feel no ill effects, but usually find the world has changed while I was sleeping and has become a very beautiful place populated with very beautiful people. For a few wonderful moments I am in love with every female doctor or nurse I see. Such a nice way to wake up!
My most recent exam was two weeks ago. Usually I hear from the doctor about the results fairly quickly, but this time I didn’t hear until today. She called me while my wife and I were out enjoying a cup of ice cream at a roadside stand. I almost did not answer, but I was afraid that it was bad news, so I put down my cup and picked up my phone.
My doctor apologized for taking so long to get back to me. She told me that she had not at first believed the results, and had spent several days talking to the lab technicians and reviewing their findings. I…
