I may have Esophageal cancer

stevenpepe
stevenpepe Member Posts: 234
in Esophageal Cancer #1

I am a survivor of tongue cancer that spread to both sides of my neck. I've been posting in that forum for years now.

Went for scans this week for the first time in two years thanks to Covid. Doc said I need an endoscopy because my esophagus is lighting up.

Now that I've been told of this situation, I'm realizing I may have had this issue for about a year. If I breathe deeply, I can feel a bit of pain in the chest area, which could be a variety of things.

My question is, does EC produce extra mucous? I know the esophagus produces mucous but in the past year, I find myself spitting up clear mucous a few times an hour. I know it's not coming from my lungs. Now I'm thinking a possible tumor may be forcing the mucous into my throat. 

I'll know soon enough if it's cancer but I'm hoping others may be familiar with these symptoms.

Comments

  • Deathorglory
    Deathorglory Member Posts: 364 Member
    edited July 2021 #2
    Hello Steven

    Hello Steven,

    I'm sorry that you find yourself here.  Sounds like you've already been through enough.  I didn't have any real issues with mucous myself, but I'm sure it could work the way you're describing.  This site is pretty dead these days, so i wouldn't be expecting a lot of responses.  Paul is on another site, Smart Patients.  He suggests it to new folks as an option where there's a lot more participation from other patients.  Sorry I can't be of much help to you.  

    Best Wishes,

    Ed

  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,392 Member
    #3
    Typical symptoms of EC are difficulty swallowing and hiccups

    Hi Steven,

    Sorry you find yourself here. It sounds like you have already paid your cancer dues. Typical symptoms of esophageal cancer include, difficulty swallowing, hiccups while eating, dull pain just below the sternum, and a sudden unexplained weight loss. Excess mucus production can be caused by irritation in the esophagus from a number of different issues including “thrush”. 

    As Ed has observed, this site does not get much activity recently, I would suggest posting your question at Smart Patients. https://www.smartpatients.com

    In the esophageal cancer forum and you will receive much more interactive feedback. 

    Best Regards, 

    Paul

  • josh r.
    josh r. Member Posts: 264 Member
    edited July 2021 #4
    "Possible Second Battle"

    Hi Steven,

    I certainly hope that you don't have to fight a second time with "The Monster". I finished my second war with "It" this Fall and do not recall mucous as being a major problem, but choking certainly was as Paul and Ed have pointed out. They also pointed out the limited activity on this site so you might seek out others. I just received a follow-up "All Clear" PET Scan last week which has me "walking on air" and I couldn't be more grateful. Let's pray that you are all clear and won't have to go through any treatment at all. Best wishes to you and all our brothers and sisters, josh r.

  • tomswift
    tomswift Member Posts: 8 Member
    #5
    Hi Steven... Had acid reflux

    Hi Steven... Had acid reflux for many years, didn't think much of it, tums and rolaids for temp relief. 2018 was feeling very fatigued much of the time, then i noticed my bowel movements were black and greasy, that got me to the doc, turned out i'd lost enough blood from a bleeding ulcer to become anemic and then diagnosed with stage 2b esophageal cancer. Up till that point never had a problem with mucous...

    Had esophagectomy september 2019. A few days after surgery i had a fistula complication. Stent was put into my esophagus in an attempt to help the fistula heal on its own. It didn't heal and about four months later i had another surgery to repair the fistula, all went well and thankfully still doing good today. Not sure this has anything to do with your situation but for the four months waiting to see if the fistula would heal on its own, my biggest problem was my saliva, during the day i would continually spit it out but when i attempted to sleep, i take a bucket to bed with me and if i was able to fall asleep, i'd continually wake up because i'd need to spit out very clear saliva. Docs said they didn't understand why i was needing to continually spit but i belive it was because when i laid down, even using a wedge pillow, my saliva would get past the stent and make its way into my windpipe. Towards the end of the four months, it was so bad i wasn't getting much sleep and in the morning i have a waste paper pal 1/3 filled with saliva...

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