Barrett's esophagus is a serious complication of gastroesophageal (GERD) reflux disease. In Barrett's esophagus, normal tissue lining the esophagus, which is the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach, changes to tissue that resembles the lining of the intestine. About 10% of people with chronic symptoms of GERD develop Barrett's esophagus. Thus, I’m one of the 10% people. Barrett's esophagus increases the risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is a serious, potentially fatal cancer of the esophagus.
If you are not suffering from it, you can never understand how painful Barrett’s esophagus can be especially if it does not stop for the whole day. Any amount of food or water you take can trigger the nasty heartburn, the sour salivating, the burning sensation, heavy coughing, laryngitis, and nausea. There were moments that you could not sleep at all.
I recalled one particular incident of a bad Barrett’s esophagus moment with me, yes, I was standing in praying and the reflux was so bad that it threw out all the food that I had from my stomach to my mount. It was disgusting to mention the list, let me not described the horrible instant vomiting that accompanied that incident, as well as the pain.
I was told that this happened because with the frequent reflux that I have, thus making the normal cells in my esophagus being eventually replaced by cells that are similar to cells in the intestine to become Barrett's esophagus.
Anyways, I am due for treatment in Singapore; however, this is not happening now due to some unforeseen circumstances. I don’t want to be running out of time sooner than I would have anticipated, therefore, like I mentioned above I’m now just like a chicken with no head, scattering around, fishing and looking at what’s the next best option that I can have to have the treatment that I needed at the earliest.
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