Eppiglottitis, Esophagus, Hernia? HELP!

Cirugìa de hiato, HERNIA PARA ESOFAGICA (Photo credit: Antonio@GDL)

Last week I went for the dreaded barium test (forgive me if I gag just thinking about it) although it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I imagined slugging  the entire thick, chalky mess down in two or three large gulps and finishing it but that was not the case. Luckily it was more like take two sips and swallow. This type was not even that thick. It’s not that I would order it in a restaurant but it was manageable. I highly recommend the radiologist who was soothing and comforting and told me “it wasn’t a big deal.” Thank you.

When I finished Dr. Radiologist came out and told me I had a hernia in my esophagus. Huh? Yes I had a hernia in my esophagus which was fairly common and probably could account for me swallowing the wrong way, quite often and coughing a lot. But, oh, my epiglottitis followers, what automatically came to mind??? There has to be a connection between the eppiglottitis and esophagus hernia, no? It seemed genius to me. Could this be a clue in solving the mysteriously painful illness that we know so much about? Of course I thought I was brilliant and could tell my people (YOU, my fellow eppiglottitis sufferers)  that we could prevent eppiglottits in the future but sadly that is not the case as far as I know.

I have an appointment scheduled with my ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) on Monday and yes, I will beg him for a correlation even though I’m pretty sure there isn’t one. I just wanted to give all of us some hope. If there is ANY I will post the results on Monday, I PROMISE. Wouldn’t you think there would be a connection? I mean it does sound nutty enough.

Leave it to me to have the weird diagnosis, but believe me I am NOT complaining. With all the testing that they did, I am gloriously happy that the only thing wrong with me is this hernia. After losing forty pounds, having digestive issues (really bad digestive issues) and looking gaunt and pale as a ghost, I can cheerfully deal with this. I’m having a colonoscopy in a few weeks, maybe an endoscopy is needed as well? I have no idea. But if there is any hope of a connection between the dreaded eppiglottitis and this hernia in my esophagus, I want to be the first to tell you. And, you know I will. Let’s keep the faith although even I know the odds are against us. Let’s wish each other LUCK. We need it.