Had an endoscopy last January after vomiting up blood. Was diagnosed with grade two oesophagitis. Ongoing severe discomfort in stomach, so given a gastro specialist consultation. Told everything was fine. Nothing to worry about.
Feeling suspicious, I requested to see the letter she sent to my GPS. Written there was an epigastric abdominal discomfort, not radiate, but constant. Worse with stress. Not improved by PPI.
Bowels open with type 2/3 stool. No PR blood or mucus. Increased urgency and frequency of urine. She wrote I do have early satiety, but that I deny bloating or borborygmi. On examination my abdomen was soft and non-tender and she thought I had a palpable colon in the left iliac fossa, very sluggish bowel sounds. Normal thyroid function and calcium, as well as full blood count, U and Es and LFTs. My reflux disease is well controlled. Advised me to wean down the PPI to two 20mg omprazole a day . Also suggested I might be suffering diverticular disease, so increased the laxatives I take. She does not think, at present, that I am at risk of developing oesophageal cancer. She was reluctant to send me for further tests due to the ongoing stress in my life, but would be happy to if the doctor felt it necessary..
Just need to know if anyone knows what any of this means? Have been advised not to look things up online as they give inaccurate information. So, knowing there are experts and people who have suffered these type of diseases on this forum, am seeking out information from here. Any advise...?
Written by
Lydia1960
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Your GP is the best person to advise you, as these reports do use medical language. Oesophagitis is an inflamed lining that is usually addressed by reducing the acid through medication, usually Omeprazole or equivalent.
Reduction of stress sounds like it would be of benefit, and perhaps a review of your diet, with trying to achieve good transit of food through the whole of your system.
They have not closed the door on further tests, but there is quite a lot there that should be reassurance.
I have spoken to my doctor and she didn't seem to think there was anything to worry about. Read online that some of these conditions and symptoms could be indicating cancer. So extremely worried, especially as I am aware that, being 56, my health will not be seen as a priority to them. Sad fact of life with the NHS. So if there is reason to be concerned, they might feel that my life isn't important enough to waste valuable NHS resources on? That's my worry these days. How to get them to take me seriously...?
I can understand that you might be worried about possible cancer, but I imagine that the doctors will separate out your worry about this and concentrate on the possible signs and symptoms that might indicate potential cancer from a medical point of view. The recent NICE Guidelines were calculated on referring people for tests when there was a 3% chance of it being cancer, so that seems fair. And you yourself have had a specialist examination that has been negative for cancer.
The only query I might have in your situation is to ask whether there was any sign of Barrett's Oesophagus. This is not cancer, but is an indication of the cells lining your oesophagus changing, and, in due course, there might be a precursor condition, dysplasia, that might develop. This is predominantly about the damage that can be done, long term, by stomach acid, and you are apparently reported as having your 'reflux disease well controlled'.
I suppose that in one way, it all depends on whether you can bring yourself to trust the reassurance given by your doctor.
Thank you for your clarification. You're correct that I need to speak again with my doctor on this matter. Also think I will ring the Macmillan helpline to gather up some information on this topic so that I will know more what each detail is representing in that specialist's letter so I can clarify things better that way. The NICE Guidelines gives me reassurance, but just need to find out more about these conditions so that, if I am not at risk from them now, how do I protect myself from them developing in the future and what signs to look out for, should that happen.. Those are the details I am needing. .
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