Hey all! My father in law was just told he has pre cancerous cells in his esophagus from when he for gastric bypass. The doctors say its because the cutting of the stomach and something about acid?!? I have my date and now I am freaking out! Anyone else hear anything about this?!?!?

He must have Barrett's esophagus. It's pre-cancerous changes to the lower esophagus tissue due to stomach acid (GERD). My surgeon prescribes a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) for the first 3 months post-op to deal with acid issues. I don't know anything about the rate of incidence in bypass patients, I've seen a number of lap-banders with Barrett's, and some VSG patients after surgery develop GERD. Barrett's can also develop in people who do not have surgery but who have GERD. As long as the acid is controlled, Barrett's can be prevented.

Sounds like Barret's. It's not because of the gastric bypass, or because of cutting the stomach. It's because the tissues in the esophagus have prolonged exposure to stomach acids (i.e. reflux) and over time they change from "regular" esophagus cells into "stomach" cells to cope with the acid exposure. That's a greatly simplified explanation, but the gist is there.

Hey all! My father in law was just told he has pre cancerous cells in his esophagus from when he for gastric bypass. The doctors say its because the cutting of the stomach and something about acid?!? I have my date and now I am freaking out! Anyone else hear anything about this?!?!?

I agree with Barrett's esophagus. It is common in people with GERD and isn't specific for WLS patients.

Thank you everyone! So wls does not "cause" cancer?? My husband is having major second thoughts.... I'm only 21.

For me it actually kind of cures it. My family has a genetic disorder for stomach cancer. It is an autosomal recessive gene. When my dad died from it, my mum got us all screened. Turn out I not only have the gene, but it is active in my body and should theoretically cause stomach cancer at some point. My brother has it too, he just had little polyps that had to be removed. But he is only 24.

Anywho, my oncologist told me that now that 85% is removed, my chances of having an actual tumor have greatly decreased because the cancerous cells could have been on that portion.

Absolutly does not cause cancer. I was diagnosed with Barretts espohagus a couple years pre-surgery. I had horrible acid reflux which was due to a hiatal hernia and being overweight. My dr put my on Prilosec 2x per day and I had another endoscopy a year later. Come to find out I was misdiagnosed but it was clear that all of the acid had been having and effect on my esophogus for them to even misdiagnose in the first place. During my sleeve surgery they fixed my hiatal hernia and since I have not had any problems with acid. I'm still on prilosec for a few more days but really don't anticipate any problems after I stop taking them. For me I feel like having the surgery and getting the hernai fixed helped prevent me from getting Barretts in the future and it possibly turning into cancer.