For the past month or so food and drink has been seeming to go down there he's slowly... In the lower part of my throat and the top of my chest. Today I had a barium swallow and even the x-ray technician said it was definitely leaving the esophagus and going into the stomach more slowly than it should. What does that mean? I'm terrified of esophageal cancer but I'm only 36. She said it could possibly be a motility problem? Just wondered if anybody had any advice.
Thanks!
Motility means the process if food going down your digestive tract. It might be because of the muscles not working properly, or some kind of blockage, which might have been seen with the barium swallow test. The next thing should probably be an endoscopy to continue the diagnostic process. It could be a number of things, not necessarily cancer, but you need the further tests to find out.
Thank you! The lady also said she didn't see much of a narrowing but she also said she's no doctor. She said the barium pill went down no problem. I seem to have problem with both food and drinks but especially thick liquids or soft mushy foods. I'm just hoping that doesn't mean I have esophageal cancer. I have an endoscopy in 6 days but I'm terrified of it. I hate all the time I'm wasting worrying because I have three little kids that depend on me!
One thing I almost forgot... I seem to have extra saliva these days? I don't know if it's anxiety doing this to me but when I Googled extra saliva a few things came up including esophageal cancer... It's really freaking me out.
For what it is worth, I personally have never heard of extra saliva being a sign of oesophageal cancer, so it is probably not a warning sign in its own right. A bit more likely to be a side effect of reflux or anxiety perhaps.
But I am not saying that these symptoms should not be properly investigated by a doctor of course.
Thank you for your reply! That makes me feel a little better. I've been having a food stuck in my shoulder or chest feeling since Christmas but it doesn't seem to be getting worse... More like intermittent. Also have chest pain but have had that for a while. I had the barium swallow on Friday but haven't heard back from it yet. I'm getting an endoscopy on Thursday. Hoping for good results! I'm almost 37.
Thanks again!