I Was Having Trouble Swallowing and Now I’m Waiting to Find Out if I have Esophageal Cancer

Like many of us, I never gave much thought to esophageal cancer. It didn’t impact me or anyone I knew. Then, all of that changed when I had to go in for testing and get biopsies done to see why I was having pain and trouble swallowing. I started doing research on what some of the issues could be and what I could possibly be facing.

The esophagus is the muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach. Esophageal cancer forms in the tissue lining of the esophagus. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, an estimated 19,260 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2021.

One of the symptoms of esophageal cancer is experiencing dysphagia, or trouble swallowing. All too often, it feels like food or pills are getting stuck in the middle of my chest. I have to quickly drink water to help flush the stuck food or pill down my throat and into my stomach. It’s an uncomfortable feeling and painful when the pills get stuck. While I haven’t found a way to help with the food issue, other than taking my prescribed pills, I am now able to swallow those pills more easily thanks to the new pill coating called MEDCOAT. It helps pills slide down the throat, without getting stuck.

So, as I wait for the pathology results to come back and hope for the best, I’m happy to know there is help out there for people who are going through these incredibly difficult times and who are just trying to take their medications without any added pain.