September 24, 2009 5:52 AM
Dr. Jon LaPook undergoes an upper endoscopy to evaluate the possibly damaging effects of his occasional heartburn. Dr. Mark Pochapin performs the procedure.
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My husband Nick had heartburn for years; he took a little baking soda diluted in water to relive the symptoms. Finally he went to the Doctor in August of 2003 and the Doctor referred Nick to a GI Doctor. Nick had an Endoscope which detected Gerd and Barrett's Esophagus, he was told to take Aciphex indefinitely by his primary Internal Medicine Doctor and his GI Doctor. The biopsy showed no cancer. The primary Internal Medicine Doctor continued to prescribe Aciphex, but never once discussed Barretts, nor any discussion of Acid Reflex, Gerd, or Barretts, nor any notes in the file to schedule another Endoscope, even though the GI doctor gave the primary Internal Medicine Doctor copies of the report that Nick should have another scope in 2-3 years.
Nick?s Doctor failed to counsel him about the illness, no surveillance or preventive measures were made by the Doctors. We assume Doctors read the charts, medical reports, test results in the file of a patient that has a pre-cancerous condition. The Medical Board of California has ruled that the Internal Medicine Doctor failed to comply with the standard of care and the case is now with the Attorney General?s office.
What happened for Nick is the Aciphex worked great, the primary Internal Medicine Doctor continued to prescribe the Aciphex and my husband was able to eat and swallow in most cases with comfort. The Aciphex actually hid the severity of his condition, his Doctor neglected to treat or inform him that he needed to be re-tested periodically with an Endoscope.
In May of 2007 Nick began to have problems swallowing. The GI Doctor performed an Endoscope in hopes of stretching the esophagus. We were shocked when he awoke from the procedure and the Doctor told us that he was in stage 4 esophageal cancer, which is terminal, and he might live 6 to 16 months. Nick had Chemo & radiation. He fought a tough battle as the cancer continued to spread to his lungs, brain and liver. Nick past on February 13, 2009.
Nick would want me to tell the world that you must be very pro-active with your own life. Take good notes and research everything your Doctor tells you. You see, Nick feels he was never given a chance to save his own life. His primary health care physician failed to comply with the required "Standard of Care" and therefore was the direct cause of his deteriorating medical condition and death.
I had Barretts esophagus discovered 19 years ago by an upper endoscopy. Since that time I have had 26 upper endoscopy procedures. My initial diagnosis was severe dysplacia and over the 19 year with proper medication and all the endoscopes I have no dysplacic cells, a fact that my local pathologist confirmed with Mayo Clinic.
It's soo simple to have done...my 2nd proceedure... my doctor asked how I was doing and I said ok..he said "give her some more" LOL "It's how ya doin', who's your driver?"
I found this very interesting. I think the more we know about ourselves the better we can participate medical decisions. It would be helpful to have you describe candidly, how you felt during the procedure. How much medication did you receive? I loved your exercising your vocal chords during the process. It is amazing how versatile these seemingly simple structures are.
I am glad that things appeared so normal.
Thanks for being willing to share this with us all.