This week I was given the bad news that I had Esophageal Cancer, squamous cell carcinoma. I am 54 year old male that was a pack a day smoker for almost 40 years. It started a couple of months ago. I couldn't swallow anything, I would try and dislodge food that was stuck down my throat with water. But this would work and sometimes not. It's more of a discomfort than pain. I got myself to the emergency at the Civic Hospital in Ottawa. They xrayed my chest and first said it was probably a digestive issue. 2 weeks later I received a call wanting me to come in for an endoscopy test. They said that the chest xrays they had taken was showing a dark grey area on my left side of my stomach. last week I had the endoscopy done and they took samples (biopsies) and the results came back positive for cancer of the esophagus. 2 days ago I had to go in and have a CT Scan done and they are awaiting for those results to see if it has spread any where else in my body. I have a feeling once the results are in, probably early next week, I'll be called in for surgery within a week maybe 2.
Since I received this bad news, I've been reflecting as to why me?, why do I have cancer. No one else in my family has had it. This is what I've come up with, I am sure what I am going to write here was the cause of it all.
Like I mentioned, I am 54 years of age, male, I have been a smoker for close to 40 years. I've been wanting to quit smoking but the willpower just wasn't there. I was always a fat kid growing up, eating garbage food, chips, pepsi, fried foods, burgers sweets. anything that's not good for you I ate.
About 15 years ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. For awhile I had changed my diet. I was careful what I ate and exercised a bit more, but that only lasted a short time. I was back to my routine again. The last few years my diet has consisted of waking up early morning, having 3-4 coffees with a bunch of cigarettes on an empty stomach, taking my diabetes pills along with blood thinners and cholesterol medication, all on an empty stomach. And when I did eat a meal, I always overdid it, eating more than my stomach could take. I'd get heartburns like crazy and just fed rolaids to it. The rest of the day I would never drink anything once the coffee pot was empty, the odd sip of water and that was it. I never drank anything during my meals and if I did it was soda pop.
At night I would eat a whole bag of chips, salt and vinegar was my favorite chips. I would then go to bed with a lump in my stomach from all the junk I had put through my mouth night after night. I would be in discomfort all night, burping and almost throwing up every night. I was overdoing it big time. Because of my diabetes, my mouth and throat were always dry, but I would keep forcing food down just to satisfy my appetite.
I dranl alcool like a fish for at least 25 years of my adult life, maybe now I may had about 12 beers a year. I did the drugs when I was younger but have stopped that many years back.
About 7 years ago I dropped 100 lbs, no I wasn't dieting or exercising but i went from 310 lbs to 210 lbs in 1 year, I got checked by the doctor and he couldn't find anything wrong with me only to say that maybe it was my body changing, a change of life he called it.
I started feeling much better about myself and even joined a gym for about 6 months. I was taking my diabetes medication on time and eating a little better. But because of family stress in my life, I went back to my old ways, didn't care about the foods going in, still smoked like crazy and sometimes I took my medication and sometimes not. As long as my head and body felt fine and I didn't feel I was in a diabetic cloud all the time I thought everything was going good.
Then I got the bad news. I don't even know if my smoking, eating habits, being dehydrated all the time has anything to do with the cancer, but I'm positive it's not helping matters. In all the years, my throat has felt like a burning inferno, spicy foods, smoking kept my throat dry all the time. I even noticed my voice was changing, it even hurts when I speak.
So if you know someone that is doing the exact thing I did then tell them to change or they will become a candidate for throat or Esophageal Cancer.
That's all I have to say and if there is any questions you'd like to ask me about my story then email me at ***@****
I'm not looking forward to what's to come, but I'll take my lumps if I have to and hopefully I'll come out of this allright. there is no one to blame for this but myself.
So please, take care of your diet, stop smoling immediately and change your lifestyle, this seems to be working for some people, it's worth a try.
Thanks for listening
Yvon