About a year ago I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus. What on earth is that, you ask? Well it's a pre-cancerous condition caused by severe chronic acid reflux. What happens with acid reflux is the stomach acid is constantly splashing up and irritating the lower portion of the esophagus. Over time, in an attempt to protect themselves from the acid, the cells that are affected basically turn into the same type of cells that are in the stomach lining. Great, now they're protected and better able to handle the acid right? Nope, because of the change it kind of makes those cells wig out and they have an elevated risk of turning cancerous. Barrett's Esophagus is a condition that will never go away, I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life. The only thing that can be done is closely monitoring the situation and diligently controlling the acid reflux. So to monitor the doctors put me out under general anesthesia and slide a small camera through my esophagus. So not only do I get to have a doctor root around in my nether regions every year merely because I happened to be born female, I also get to be knocked out every year and have a doctor shove machinery down my throat! Yeay! So much fun, two thumbs way up! ;)Today I get to go in for my second scope since the diagnosis. I'm kind of nervous because the last time they said it took longer than it was supposed to in order to bring me out of the anesthesia. And no matter how many times I tell them I react strongly to any medication, they still give me the regular amount which a normal person won't feel the effects of after about an hour but I get to spend the next 8 hours or so feeling totally cracked out!
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1 comment:
Hey - didn't know you were so special!! Good luck with the "procedure" and hope it all goes well!
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