A woman told how her indigestion and swallowing problems were actually signs of one of the deadliest cancers.
In April 2022, Cheryle Brandon, 51, began struggling with what she thought were signs of acid reflux, when stomach juices return to the throat.
The criminal law adviser visited her GP, who prescribed the common drug omeprazole, which reduces the amount of acid produced by the stomach.
Mrs. Brandon, who comes from Surrey said this worked briefly, but soon the problem returned, and with a vengeance.
In November, he found it difficult to “swallow meat”, which often led to choking episodes.
But he simply changed his diet to solve the problem, giving up meat and surviving on soft foods like “wheat crackers, ice cream and yogurt.”
Finally, a GP referred her for an endoscopy (a procedure in which a flexible tube with a camera is inserted down the throat to look inside the stomach), which revealed the devastating truth.
Doctors found a 6cm tumor growing in his esophagus, known medically as the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach.
In April 2022, Cheryle Brandon, 51, began experiencing problems such as acid reflux and pain when swallowing food, but was prescribed antacid treatment to fix the problem.
She was given the heartbreaking news that the cancer was inoperable and she probably only had a few months to live.
‘Because it was too close to my heart, they couldn’t operate on me. They said months,” Mrs. Brandon said.
In February 2023, she began chemotherapy in hopes it would help her fight the cancer, but doctors warned her to “prepare for the worst.”
‘They were trying for a cure. But with potential for palliative (care),’ he stated.
‘I was told to put my orders and affairs in order. I was downloading my funeral songs.
Brandon also spoke about the grueling toll the treatment took on his body.
“When I started my journey, I was a size 16,” she said. “But after not being able to eat properly, I had already dropped to a size 10.”
“I had lost so much weight that I needed to have a feeding tube put in.”
However, the real cause was a deadly type of cancer that kills most people diagnosed within 12 months.
Now she is sharing her experience to encourage other people with similar symptoms to take them seriously and visit a doctor quickly.
“If you’re thinking, ‘Wait a minute, I have a problem that’s not being taken seriously,’ go to a doctor and get an endoscopy now,” he said.
Ms Brandon’s story comes as esophageal cancer was named as one of the six “least survivable” cancers, along with brain and lung cancer, according to researchers.
More than half of the approximately 9,300 patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer each year will die within the first 12 months of their diagnosis.
Low survival rates are thought to be because cancers are discovered at later and more difficult to treat stages.
Speaking about her initial symptoms, Ms Brandon said: “It didn’t seem like anything too serious, more like she had swallowed too much or that feeling you can get when you eat too quickly.”
He also mistook the warning signs for a bad cold.
“I had a chest infection and a sore throat simultaneously,” he said. ‘So, you know, I thought that was it. I hadn’t connected the dots at that time.’#
But in June, a scan Ms Brandon underwent to examine the progress of her cancer revealed some unexpected news.
“I got a phone call from the oncology team and someone I had never spoken to before told me that the CT scan showed no signs of cancer,” he said.
At first, Brandon was skeptical and even suspected that the doctor was looking at the wrong chart, but they insisted that the result was correct.
‘I also thought that because the CT scan had been checking a different part of my body, it might not have picked up the whole oesophagus. But she said: “there is no trace of illness.”
Although Brandon will have to undergo checks six months in the future, she has been told there are no traces of the disease that almost killed her.
He added that his experience had given him a new perspective on life.
“Cancer has taught me to be more humble and appreciate life,” he said.
Possible symptoms of esophageal cancer include problems swallowing, nausea, heartburn or acid reflux, and frequent belching.
Other possible signs include a constant cough, change in voice, loss of appetite, pain when swallowing, and, rarely, coughing up blood or black stools.
If you have these symptoms, including the unexpected loss of Wright and if you had heartburn on most days over a three-week period, you are advised to contact your GP.
While these problems are unlikely to be esophageal cancer and are instead caused by a different condition, people are urged to get checked because the earlier cancer is detected, the more treatable it is.