Colonoscopy next month. A little concerned...

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Dea16
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:26 pm

Colonoscopy next month. A little concerned...

Postby Dea16 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:48 pm

Hi everyone. I'm new here and looking for a little advice/ideas. Sorry in advance for the long post.

I'm a female and I turn 28 this week. I've had a really strange pain in my stomach for a little over a year and a half. It started when I was about 5 months pregnant. It is in my upper abdomen, right right of center, below my ribs. The pain is constant and sometimes gets worse with movement or after eating. My OBGYN thought it might be my gallbladder so she sent me to have an ultrasound done. It was normal, so she said it was probably just regular pregnancy pains.

After my daughter turned 1 and I was still in pain I decided to go see my PCP. She basically dismissed me and told me it was reflux or H. pylori. She had my stool checked and it was negative for H. pylori and even though I knew it wasn't reflux I agreed to take a PPI for a few weeks to see if it helped. Of course it didn't. She then referred me to a GI specialist.

At the GI office I saw a nurse practitioner who also thought it might be my gallbladder. She sent me for a HIDA scan, which showed my gallbladder ejection fraction was 32%, normal being 35% and above. I met with the GI doctor yesterday to discuss my results and he isn't convinced that it's my gallbladder at all. He threw out the word "cancer" and I've been freaking out ever since.

The doctor told me that while my HIDA scan results are abnormal, those results can change day by day. If I were to do the test tomorrow I might get a 40%, for example. And while some of my symptoms sounds like gallbladder issues, my pain shouldn't get worse with exercise or movement. I also mentioned to him that I have had issues with pretty bad constipation lately (the last 3 weeks or so) and I had previously been seen at this office (2009) because of frequent and unexplained diarrhea. In fact, I've had issues with diarrhea ever since then that I've just sort of dealt with.

The doctor seems pretty concerned and recommended an EGD and colonoscopy. He said colon cancer is a possibility he wants to rule out. I don't think I have a history of colon cancer in my family. I've had relatives with lots of different cancers and some with what my mother said was "stomach" cancer but she could very well mean colon (English is not her first language nor the first language of the relatives that had cancer).

My appointment is March 20 and I'm so anxious. Something is definitely not right with me, I just never in a million years thought cancer, especially colon cancer, was a possibility. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for me? Thanks in advance.

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: Colonoscopy next month. A little concerned...

Postby Lee » Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:22 pm

Dea16 wrote:
I met with the GI doctor yesterday to discuss my results and he isn't convinced that it's my gallbladder at all. He threw out the word "cancer" and I've been freaking out ever since.

The doctor seems pretty concerned and recommended an EGD and colonoscopy. He said colon cancer is a possibility he wants to rule out. I don't think I have a history of colon cancer in my family. I've had relatives with lots of different cancers and some with what my mother said was "stomach" cancer but she could very well mean colon (English is not her first language nor the first language of the relatives that had cancer).

My appointment is March 20 and I'm so anxious. Something is definitely not right with me, I just never in a million years thought cancer, especially colon cancer, was a possibility. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for me? Thanks in advance.


First your need to know, cancer is just ONE possibility out of a possible many. We all tend to focus on that word when we hear it. Many year ago, my mother ended up in the ER, serious stomach pain and rectal bleeding. They were looking for cancer. No cancer, not even a polyp. Just a bad case of diverticulosis. Me I had no pain. Just bleeding hemorrhoids. Every test that should have been a warning flag for cancer came back negative or normal. Yet I had cancer.

The fact you will not be scoped until March 20 is telling me, the Dr is not real worried about cancer either. They can bump those appt up when they feel it's a concern.

During the mean time, avoid Dr. Google. Hang out here is you need a place to vent. Believe me, we have all walked in your shoes.

Keep us posted, Butt try not to worry to much!

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!

Dea16
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:26 pm

Re: Colonoscopy next month. A little concerned...

Postby Dea16 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:36 pm

Sorry I've been ignoring this thread! I've been trying to keep my mind off it!

Thank you for your reply, Lee! I found it really helpful.

I just had my EGD/colonoscopy this morning. The prep sucked! My doctor had me take 4 dulcolax, drink a bottle of magnesium citrate, and then do a split dose MoviPrep. The MoviPrep, I tried to tell myself, wasn't so bad...for the first 8 oz. At the end I could not physically swallow the last half liter of the stuff and was literally in the bathroom all night with no sleep. The prep was really effective though.

So, the doctor found a polyp during my colonoscopy, which was removed. He also said I had internal hemorrhoids and a "weird" colon. I think he meant twisty, I don't really remember because I was still a little loopy. On my EGD he saw a lot of irritation, but nothing else.

I should have my pathology results by next Tuesday hopefully. For some reason I'm not really worried, which is good. Hopefully my gut feeling is right.

Thanks, everyone, for letting me vent!


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