The 40th birthday present (All names are fictitious )
Gene: “Adam, let’s get a few people around for your 40 th this weekend. I’ll make sure to cook healthily, so
you don’t have to compromise your fitness goals.
Anyway, it’s only Wednesday and you’ve already clocked 28 miles on your bike. You’ll do the remaining
12 miles by Saturday, no problem. What do you say?”
Adam: “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s do a small dinner this Saturday. Although, the food I’m eating is still
occasionally sticking in my chest. A couple of days ago, it seemed like I’d have to be sick to get the food
out, as even water wasn’t helping dislodge it.”
Gene: “OK so maybe, I’ll do some light salads for Saturday. We can have fruits for after. That should
help.”
Adam: “True, this new thing is a pain, especially as my heartburn seems to have disappeared over 10
years ago now. Can’t believe it was a constant partner for a full decade, until it went for good.”
Gene: “Yes, Rennie’s should have given you a commission for the amount you consumed daily for 10
years!”
At the dinner party, Adam started coughing after he had a bite of an apple, after his main salad. He
complained to Gene and the guests that it must have been a greedy bite of the apple, as the apple
wouldn’t go down and was stuck in the chest. Even water wasn’t helping.
Nothing more was said, and another 6 weeks went by with food sticking in the chest more frequently,
until Gene convinced Adam to go to the G.P.
Adam’s G.P. put him on the two-week FastTrack pathway for a gastroscopy, followed by a C.T. scan.
Adam received his results, convinced that he would probably need to take daily pills to help with the
constant irritation of the food sticking in his chest.
The results showed he did need treatment, but not as pills, but as chemotherapy for oesophageal
cancer, which had already spread to his liver and lungs.
If he had only gone to his G.P. 20 years ago, when he first started suffering from heartburn, he may have
had an early diagnosis. But having ignored the problem, for 20 years, there was nothing that could be
done.
Six weeks after the diagnosis, Adam was no more.
A super fit, slim, 40-year-old physics professor, who had no other complaints, left his wife of 20 years for
good, in less than 2 months, because of what he thought was heartburn.
“I never worry about action, but only inaction.” Winston Churchill
Roger is 55 years old and comes from a family of seven siblings. Three of his brothers have Barrett’s
disease.
Barrett’s disease is the pre-cancerous stage of oesophageal cancer and re 1 quires regular monitoring of
the condition.
Roger doesn’t have any symptoms of Barrett’s disease. But his G.P. still refers him for surveillance to the
gastroenterologist, due to his family history.
The gastroscopy finds nodules in the oesophagus, which triggered a biopsy of the nodules and a C.T.
scan.
The result showed the cells were cancerous, but the C.T scan indicated that these cells hadn’t spread to
the oesophagus.
Roger was referred to Leeds for treatment. This required the removal of his oesophagus.
Roger has been under monitoring for five years since his operation and the cancer hasn’t returned.
He caught it early, so his treatment was successful. He only managed to do that because of his
awareness of the disease and his G.P.’s vigilance.