I put my choking on food down to a chest infection and sore throat – it was a ‘man’s disease’, I have ‘months to live’
A WOMAN who struggled with indigestion and found swallowing food painful, has now been told she may only have months to live, after doctors discovered a 6cm inoperable tumour.
Cheryle Brandon, 51, had always downplayed her health concerns, but she’s now been diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer.
In April 2022, she began experiencing some indigestion and went to the doctor who prescribed her a course of anti-acid.
“The criminal law advisor from Surrey said: ” “The course actually did work. So it wasn’t until about six or seven months later that I started feeling a little tightness in my throat,” the criminal law advisor from Surrey said.
“It didn’t feel like anything too serious, more like I had swallowed too much or that feeling you can get when you eat too quickly.”
As her ability to swallow became more difficult, Cheryle did what most others would do – she rationalised her pain.
“I noticed that when I had steak, I would choke on it. Intermittently at first but eventually I started to choke on food once a week. So, I cut out meat,” she recalls.
“I had a chest infection and a sore throat simultaneously. So, you know, I just thought it was that. I hadn’t connected the dots at that time.”
As the incidents of choking increased, Cheryle contacted her doctor who booked her in for an endoscopy – a medical examination where a long, flexible tube with a camera is inserted into the body for internal examinations.
Doctors discovered a growth near her windpipe and ordered a biopsy which revealed the growth to be oesophageal cancer.
“I’d never heard of oesophagus cancer,” Cheryle says.
“Stereotypically, it is a man’s disease and affects those that are 65 and above. And it is one of the most difficult cancers to treat.”
The Oesophageal cancer charity Action Against Heartburn has uncovered that only 15 per cent of adult oesophageal patients survive this cancer for five years or more.
While the UK has one of the highest incidences of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in the world, Cheryle fears that it is largely overlooked – and wants her experience to give hope to others after she was told her cancer was terminal.
‘I dropped from a size 16 to a size 10’
“They then had concerns that Geraldine, the name I gave my tumour, had infiltrated my windpipe,” she recalls – explaining that naming the cancer made her health fight more personal.
“As she was too close to my heart, they couldn’t operate. They were saying months, do you know what I mean?
“When I started my journey, I was a size 16 but after being unable to eat properly, I had already dropped to a size 10. I’d lost so much weight, I needed to be fitted with a feeding tube.”
In February 2023, Cheryle started a brutal round of chemotherapy – with doctors telling her they had one chance to fight the disease but warned her to manage her expectations.
“They were trying for curative. But with potential for palliative,” she recalls.
“I was to prepare for the worst. We had the whole DNR conversation, and I was told to get my orders and affairs in order. I was downloading my funeral songs. But all the way during this, not once was I angry. Not once did I say, ‘Why me?’ I was very stoic about it.”
Treatment complications
Following chemotherapy infusions, Cheryle would spend days sleeping for up to 20 hours, completely exhausted.
But while the medication left her drained, she slowly managed to eat more solid food.
Her second-to-last chemo infusion was followed by five weeks of radiation, which hit her body immediately, leaving her unable to walk or swallow.
She lost even more weight, dropping to a size 6, despite having a feeding tube.
She also suffered from dehydration, developed urine retention due to damage to her autonomic nervous system, and her blood pressure was reduced to that of an 80-year-old as peripheral neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy left her dizzy and lightheaded whenever she tried to stand.
When her feeding tube became infected, Cheryle was called in for a CT scan.
In a pragmatic approach, and noting a follow up with her oncology team was due a few days later, Cheryle suggested her team also use this scan to get an advanced look at her tumour – leading to unexpected news.
“I got a phone call from the oncology team and someone who I’d never spoken to before told me that the CT scan that I prompted them to look at, showed no signs of cancer,” she recalls.
“I believed she had the wrong file in front of her, basically. And I didn’t think that this information should be coming to me over the phone by someone I hadn’t had any dealings with.
“I also thought that because the CT scan had been checking a different part of my body, it might not have caught the whole oesophagus. But she said, ‘There’s no trace of trace of disease.’”
If you are thinking, ‘Hang on a minute. I’ve got a problem that’s not being taken seriously.’ Get your ass to a doctor and get an endoscopy now.
Cheryle Brandon
Blindsided by the positive news, as well as feeling “completely annihilated” by the treatments, Cheryle found the emotional toll of her ordeal manifested in an unexpected way.
“I had Geraldine in my life for so long. She was a huge, huge part of me for nine or 10 months. She swallowed everything – every waking minute, every sleeping moment – and then to be told that she’s just not there? It was like I was ripped out of a narcissistic relationship, and I was still in love with the narcissist. I felt the closest I might ever feel to Stockholm Syndrome.
“Some people say it’s survivors’ guilt, some people say it’s a form of grieving. I felt like this for a very, very, very long time.”
Since being told there is no trace of disease, Cheryle – who will continue to receive six monthly check-ups – has been raising awareness and funds to help others fight the condition.
Last month, she organised a rave fundraiser and has paired with the charity GUTS UK to share her story – hoping her words can help others push for earlier testing.
“If you are thinking, ‘Hang on a minute. I’ve got a problem that’s not being taken seriously.’ Get your ass to a doctor and get an endoscopy now,” she urges. “Use my story.”
The warning signs of oesophageal cancer
OESOPHAGEAL cancer is a cancer of the food pipe.
It affects 9,400 people in the UK every year, and most people are over the age of 60.
Smoking increases your risk of the disease, as does being overweight, drinking alcohol and having conditions like Barrett’s oesophagus, where the cells lining your oesophagus have become abnormal.
Only 12 per cent of patients survive for 10 or more years after being diagnosed.
There are around 8,000 oesophageal cancer deaths in the UK every year – or 22 every day.
Early diagnosis is key, so recognising the symptoms is vital. The most common include:
- Difficulty swallowing
- Unexplained weight loss
- Indigestion or heartburn that doesn’t go away
- Pain in the throat or behind the breastbone
But some people also experience a cough, hoarseness, dark poo, tiredness and food coming back up after swallowing.
Source: Cancer Research UK