Or just an upper endoscopy. Lol (I'm an ER RN.)

I'm 36 years old, and I actually just had one myself, because for quite a few years now I've been prone to esophogeal impactions and have been to the ER twice for them now. It's when food gets stuck in your esophagus and it won't go down. Terrible feeling. You can breathe, but you can't swallow your saliva (and if you try, it just causes you to gag and try vomiting), and burps and vomit won't come up, either.

Turns out I have inflammation in my esophagus, and I got gastritis and erosion in my stomach, too. They have me on a PPI for a month to see if the inflammation is from GERD or from allergy-related origins. Better nip this gastritis in the bud now since that can predispose me to stomach cancer. A history of gastric inflammation that goes on for long enough to cause the gastric lining to shrink (aka atrophy) raises your risk for acquiring stomach cancer, and most cases of gastritis are caused by infection from a specific bacterium called H.Pylori. 25-50% of the US population is infected by this organism without even knowing it, and a simple breath test can confirm their presence, and an antibiotics and PPI course later, you've just decreased your chances of getting stomach cancer. I took a breath test years back when I had upper abdominal pain that turned out to be my gallbladder, and it was negative then but working in an ER I could've easily acquired it since then.

Stomach cancer used to be the leading cause of cancer in the early 20th century, because a lot of the meats we consumed were brined and salt-cured to preserve them before refrigeration became a thing. Those kinds of foods along with processed meats like sausage, salamis, etc. predispose to stomach cancer.

There's an old saying: "You don't go to a hospital to get better."

Best of luck
 

Hope they are able to get you good as new, soon Greg!!

Thanks D. I have a great team of loving family and friend's support and an excellent medical staff behind me.

I've had this done probably 10 times over the last 20 years, (in fact doing it again in about 10 days) no big deal, i have scarring from years of acid reflux, (had surgery to repair stomach valve 10 years ago) they like to keep an eye on it as the damage done puts me in a higher risk category