Kim Kardashian has undergone surgery to remove irregularities from her esophagus, a health development she revealed through her family’s reality series, “The Kardashians.” The concern carried a deeply personal connection because her father, Robert Kardashian, died of esophageal cancer in 2003.

During Thursday’s episode, Kardashian, 46, said she had recently been feeling sluggish. She initially believed her busy schedule might be responsible, but throat pain added to her concern and prompted further medical attention.

“I’ve been feeling a little off lately. My throat is like killing me today,” Kardashian said in a confessional.

Early in the episode, a doctor told Kardashian that her esophagus appeared to be inflamed. He noted that she could have esophagitis, which left the reality star facing uncertainty about what further examination might reveal.

Kardashian acknowledged that the situation had been weighing on her. “So, I’ve seen a couple of doctors, and it’s been heavy on my mind lately,” she said in another confessional.

The doctor recommended that Kardashian first take a round of medicine. He then wanted her to return for a procedure that would provide a clearer look at what was happening and help determine whether additional action was necessary.

Kardashian said she had shared the health concern with only a limited number of people. She explained that the diagnosis was particularly difficult to confront because of her father’s illness and death.

“I haven’t really told too many people about this just because I think it’s, you know, something that really hits home for me, and I just don’t really want to go there with my dad having passed away from esophageal cancer,” she admitted to the camera. “Hopefully I can just take medication, and this will go away, but I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Robert Kardashian died of esophageal cancer in 2003. He was best known for representing O.J. Simpson during Simpson’s murder trial, but his fatal illness remained the central concern for his daughter as she faced her own esophageal diagnosis.

The preview for the following week’s episode revealed that doctors had identified irregularities requiring removal. “The doctor says my esophagus has these irregularities and I have to have them cut out,” Kardashian said in the preview. “That’s the same thing my dad had.”

The preview also showed Kardashian at the hospital wearing a hospital gown and surgical cap. Her mother, Kris Jenner, was shown beside her as Kardashian prepared to address the condition doctors had discovered.

The episode followed an earlier public disclosure from Kardashian about the diagnosis. She first revealed that she had esophagitis one month earlier in the trailer for season eight of “The Kardashians.”

In that trailer, Kardashian was getting her makeup done when she spoke to a producer about the condition. The producer immediately connected the diagnosis to the illness that had killed Kardashian’s father.

“I have something called esophagitis,” she told a producer while getting her makeup done. “Didn’t your father, isn’t that what he died of?” the person asked.

The exchange reflected the same fear Kardashian later described during the episode. Although doctors initially discussed medication and further examination, the preview showed that the situation progressed to the discovery of irregularities that needed to be cut out.

Kardashian’s comments repeatedly returned to her father as she processed the diagnosis and the recommended procedure. She said the issue had been heavy on her mind and admitted that she did not know what would happen after the initial treatment.

Her hospital appearance with Jenner marked the next stage of the health scare documented by the series. The surgery removed the irregularities from her esophagus after doctors first identified inflammation, raised the possibility of esophagitis, and recommended a closer examination.

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