I’m sorry to learn of the issues your husband is having. I had Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) of my esophagus in February of this year, and had symptoms very similar to your husband.

Some background- I have never had any staged cancer, although have had some pre-cancerous tissue (dysplasia) in my esophagus.

I have had chronic acid reflux for most of my life, and in 2015 I had an issue swallowing food (I had to run to a bathroom and throw it up). An endoscopy showed well developed Barretts and I had my esophagus dilated, and was painful for about a week afterwards. I then had an ongoing schedule every 3 years to have an endoscopy, plus 40mg daily Omeprazole. Then, in 2024, a biopsy sample showed some tendency for dysplasia. So, endoscopies were now every 6 months.

A new GI guy did a 6-monthly endoscopy late in 2025, and wanted to send an additional biopsy sample to have it tested in a different way, which showed that dysplasia and cancer were eventually highly probable, and so he scheduled the RFA, which occurred in February of this year.

Sorry if the background info was too long. So, back to the RFA and your post. My new GI guy repeated to me probably a half-dozen times that this would hurt and be very unpleasant for at least a month and maybe more. But, as he indicated, the alternative was to not do it and take a chance with the cancer- not an option for me.

For the first two weeks I had trouble swallowing even water and saliva (gradually getting better over those 2 weeks), and I ate very small meals more frequently and had to chew every mouthful for over a minute to avoid the feeling that food got stuck in the area of the ablation. This went on for over 6 weeks from the procedure, getting better all the time, and I would say that at the 7-8 week period I was back to normal.

My new GI guy warned me that it’s rare to get rid of all the Barretts in one ablation, and at least two or even three may be required (including the first one). Luckily for me, when I went in for my second ablation, only some “touch-up” was needed and there were no further problems.

The thing about Barretts, dysplasia and esophageal cancer, according to my new GI guy, is that it’s largely asymptomatic. It’s not until Stage 3 or 4, where other organs are involved, that symptoms occur, hence the high mortality rate. I can fully sympathize with your husband’s condition and trouble, at least from the RFA perspective. Feel free to message me back, or at brucekn@me.com