Most of us get a bit of heartburn after powering down a dish like an enchilada with three-pepper heat, right? If it’s bothersome, we take an antacid and move on. This is exactly what Carlos Parra did, shrugging off that uncomfortable burning sensation and carrying on with his day-to-day. But more than two years ago, that burning sensation just got worse and he had a hard time eating anything at all.
The Burnaby, B.C. man had never had any health problems (except a cyst in his neck that was removed when he was five), he plays in a men’s soccer league, and has a job he loves as a flooring sales consultant for contractors, designers, architects and retail customers at a showroom. By all accounts, he was in great shape.
But his wife Ana, who is his “rock,” pushed him to see his doctor. He did and got a prescription medication for heartburn and acid reflux. He even tried to figure out what he could and couldn’t eat, but nothing helped. His symptoms only intensified and he knew there must be something wrong.
“It became this very odd feeling, like there was this pressure,” Parra, 63, says of his symptoms. “It almost felt hard. And I couldn’t eat, so I would get full really fast and it felt like food was not going down, like it was getting stuck. I thought maybe it was a blockage.”