Scarlett81
New member
Hi Guys,
As if we Cfers didn't have enough to deal with......
I had my endoscopy the other week, and during they took a bioposy. Routine practice. The phone rings this morning-the gastro doc says the results came back. It shows I have a condition called Barrett's Esophagus. What is it? Its an abnormal growth of intenstinal type cells lining the esophagus-obviously intestinal type cells should only be in the intestine, not the esophagus.
What does this mean? It is a condition that is serious b/c it can turn into esophagial (sp) cancer.
Cancer. The "C" word, right?
Here's a link that goes into this condition further.
www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs40.htm
Here's what pissed me off big time-if my prior Cf care centers had ordered routine endoscopies on patients with acid reflux(like myself, I've been DX with it since I was 12)-they would have spotted this years ago, and prevented it. And I wouldn't have this today for sure. By the way, my current center orders them on all cfers with reflux-its standard cf foundation procedure.
There are things I can do to prevent this from being a bigger issue in my life. Up my acid reflux med to a 2x a day dose, as my doc prescribed. And start changing my diet. Cutting out coffee, and acid filled foods. uggg. But hopefully those things will be enough.
There is a .4 to .5 % chance per year that a patient with Barrett's will get cancer. That chance doubles each year. I'll have to have routine endoscopies from now on to keep checking it.
He said this is no reason to stall or rule out a pregnancy. He said women have this condition, or don't realize they have it and do it all the time. So that's a relief.
I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm sick of running into Manhattan to see 2,000 different specialists!
My questions are-Does anyone out there have this condition?
And, has anyone out there taken the antacid medication Protonix while being pregnant? I know its in the "B" class of safety for pregnancy. My gastroenterologist told me to take it, and its safe enough. Safe "enough". I don't like that phrase when it comes to a developing fetus. Maybe Amy wouldn't mind sharing her opinion on the Protonix.
Thanks for listening-and my advice to you is-if you have acid reflux, even if its under control with meds or whatever-have an endoscopy please! Just to be safe! They said this condition is a result of years of antacid meds and years of just living with relfux. So who knows?
As if we Cfers didn't have enough to deal with......
I had my endoscopy the other week, and during they took a bioposy. Routine practice. The phone rings this morning-the gastro doc says the results came back. It shows I have a condition called Barrett's Esophagus. What is it? Its an abnormal growth of intenstinal type cells lining the esophagus-obviously intestinal type cells should only be in the intestine, not the esophagus.
What does this mean? It is a condition that is serious b/c it can turn into esophagial (sp) cancer.
Cancer. The "C" word, right?
Here's a link that goes into this condition further.
www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs40.htm
Here's what pissed me off big time-if my prior Cf care centers had ordered routine endoscopies on patients with acid reflux(like myself, I've been DX with it since I was 12)-they would have spotted this years ago, and prevented it. And I wouldn't have this today for sure. By the way, my current center orders them on all cfers with reflux-its standard cf foundation procedure.
There are things I can do to prevent this from being a bigger issue in my life. Up my acid reflux med to a 2x a day dose, as my doc prescribed. And start changing my diet. Cutting out coffee, and acid filled foods. uggg. But hopefully those things will be enough.
There is a .4 to .5 % chance per year that a patient with Barrett's will get cancer. That chance doubles each year. I'll have to have routine endoscopies from now on to keep checking it.
He said this is no reason to stall or rule out a pregnancy. He said women have this condition, or don't realize they have it and do it all the time. So that's a relief.
I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm sick of running into Manhattan to see 2,000 different specialists!
My questions are-Does anyone out there have this condition?
And, has anyone out there taken the antacid medication Protonix while being pregnant? I know its in the "B" class of safety for pregnancy. My gastroenterologist told me to take it, and its safe enough. Safe "enough". I don't like that phrase when it comes to a developing fetus. Maybe Amy wouldn't mind sharing her opinion on the Protonix.
Thanks for listening-and my advice to you is-if you have acid reflux, even if its under control with meds or whatever-have an endoscopy please! Just to be safe! They said this condition is a result of years of antacid meds and years of just living with relfux. So who knows?