My DM (84) generally keeps relatively good health given her age. She has had a hiatus hernia for years, with symptoms but managed them.
Recently she has been having symptoms which she says is the hiatus hernia, however it has got quite worrying and I am starting to wonder if there is more to it. She has lost a lot of weight, and is starting to look quite gaunt in the face and her arms in particular are very thin.
She is eating very small amounts (which I know is typical of a hiatus hernia), bringing up stomach acids, feeling bloated after food, breaking loud wind regularly.
She claims her osteoporosis aggrevates it and makes it worse. Her GP have her a stool sample kit to hand in but she hasn't done it. She is as stubborn as hell and only goes to GP at crisis point. I don't know about her toilet habits as I don't live with her, and she wouldn't tell me truth either way if I ask.
Has anyone had an elderly parent with a hiatus hernia? Does this sound extreme, or normal? I have tried to get her to hand in a sample as I am worried it might be cancer.