About this site

History

Printed editions

In 2008, three people met in a pub and discussed a support group for patients with Barrett's Oesophagus.

In 2009 Barrett's Wessex was born. Initially it was part of a national charity Barrett's Oesophagus Campaign (BOC) but, with their blessing, became an independent charity in 2012.

Meanwhile, in response to requests, in 2011 Barrett's Wessex produced a series of photocopiable masters entitled "Burning Questions" which (recently updated) are still available from this link: Burning Questions.

Other requests continued via the BOC forum and, other than continue writing FAQ sheets, Chris Robinson decided to compile a book providing information for patients.

All the facts had to be thoroughly checked to ensure accuracy with the chapters written in straightforward language accessible to lay patients, which took several months.

By October 2015, the book was ready and 100 copies printed and bound by Chris were ready in time for an inaugural meeting of a new branch of the charity in Bath. (Edition 0)

The books went like hot cakes; it was obvious far more copies would be required than could be home produced.

With help from a grant from Southampton City Council, the first commercially produced edition was printed in 2016 (Edition 1) . At the same time, the pages were copied into a website created for the purpose.

In 2017, with Edition 1 fast selling out (though it was always free but donations welcomed), with some additions and minor revisions Edition 2 was published.

Edition 3, again with a few additions and minor revisions, was published in 2019 as Edition 2 again sold out.

In Spain, Barrett's Wessex's counterpart, Asenbar, had the book translated into Spanish with the aid of a grant, for its members. Apaga Tu Ardor 2019

Edition 3 (DWA3) was always intended to be the last print edition with sufficient printed to meet the expected demand at meetings over the two years deemed to be the lifespan of the work as scientific understanding may be superseded.

The website was revised to be an on-screen version of DWA3.

Unfortunately, all planned meetings where DWA3 would have been made available, had to be cancelled due to Covid along with other avenues of distribution. Although many copies continued to wing their way to various locations worldwide, in 2022, the majority of the remainder were despatched to the local amenity waste site.

The Website

The website was becoming increasingly the focus. When DWA had been mentioned on BBC Radio and in national newspapers, visitor numbers to the website rocketed.

The online BOC forum, which Barrett's Wessex had taken over, had closed with many members transferring membership to the BarrettsEsophagusAwareness Facebook group Chris was now managing.

Now more questions were increasingly being asked leading to the creation of new material and Extra Pages were added.

Other additions have been made to some of the main chapters though the integrity of the initial encyclopaedia was not compromised.

The future

With Covid having seen the closure of BOC and Barrett's Wessex charities, Barrett's Patient Support was established to continue to manage the website and the Facebook forum whilst still providing telephone and email support for those with the condition.

The website will slowly undergo some changes with the addition of new diagnostic tools and treatments, and superseded science replaced with new research findings.

An additional advantage of the online medium is any appropriate video clips may be provided.

From Chris on the first website of the book:

I spend much of my time answering questions on acid reflux and its complications on various on-line forums and facebook groups.

Ignorance is supposed to be bliss but it can be fatal. The principal aim of the charity I co-founded, Barrett's Wessex, is "to reduce the number of deaths to oesophageal cancer through raising awareness of its predominant pre-cancerous lesion, Barrett's Oesophagus." In addition, many misconceptions about reflux and its associated conditions and risks continually recur that I feel need addressing.

I decided it was time a book was written about it in layman's language sharing what I have learned through study and research over a number of years and guided by my own experiences (which may be read in appendix 4 ).

So this site is a version of a book which I want to be freely available.

However, I am not a doctor and this book is not intended to provide medical advice.

Chris Robinson

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