Back in july I had a yearly female checkup and I mentioned to her at the time that I had been experiencing some dull pain in my right lower abdomen, bloating in my belly and showed her some stretch marks that had developed over the area that was. I also mentioned that I had been feeling bone tired and a little lethargic, She was more concerned thought that both of my legs were very swollen–I hadn’t even noticed that. She tested me for diabetes and told me I should see my gp if i was still not feeling well. I didn’t even think of mentioning that I’d been having issues with my movements. I thought if anything I had an ovarian cyst. The tests for diabetes came back normal and I didn’t really give it any more thought.

Flash forward to the beginning of November and I had what I thought was a stomach flu that just would not go away–vomitting and diarrhea. I finally went to the doctor and repeated my story about the pressure in my lower right abdomen, and he got me in for a CT scan immediately thinking it could be an appendicitis. He called me a few days later and let me know that he wanted me to get in for a colonoscopy and was referring me to a gastroentologist because they found what looked to be a 2.5 cm "bilobulated Mass" near the cecum in my ascending colon. He was reluctant to answer my questions and said he thought it would be best if I saved them for the Gastroentologist. When I spoke with the Gastroentologist he started talking about something they saw with the small intestine (jejunum?) that he thought might be a duplication cyst on the left side of my upper abdomen. He seemed to not even be aware of the mass. When I asked about it he said that it might just be a problem with the CT scan and said he would have them schedule me as a priority but not an emergency. Well the first "priority" colonoscopy I could get was 12/15– a month later. I at this point was not worried, after all if it was really urgent they would have gotten me in sooner and the duplication cyst didn’t sound like a big deal. He did however want me to have a small bowel follow through done to check out the "duplication cyst" ASAP. When I went in for that test, the radiologist painted a different picture. He said that what they saw on the left side was thickening of the folds and was almost certainly NOT a duplication cyst. Then he asked me what I knew about the mass. I told him what I knew and he said that what they saw looked like it was on the outside wall of the colon, if that was the case the colonoscopy may not show anything which would mean surgery. He asked if I had been loosing wait which I had. I think that is when I started to get scared. I asked if they thought it was cancer and he said they can’t tell anything until they get a biopsy. That was 3 weeks ago and I still haven’t gotten the results for it and my colonoscopy isn’t for 2 more weeks. I emailed my doctors office but have not heard back. I’m afraid I’m overreacting to all of this and do not want to turn into a hypochondriac. I’m just so tired, achey and now the pain is different. I’ve never dealt with anything like this before and I don’t want to talke to my friends or family because I don’t want them to know how worried I am. Can anyone help me make heads or tails out of this, please?
Thanks for the responses. I actually received and email from the doctor and I got an earlier appointment – wed. The small bowel follow through was normal. And he ordered a ton of blood tests

In answer to your question Denisedds, those were actually two different things he saw–the thickening of the folds was on the left side. What looked to be on the outside of the colon was the mass they saw on the ascending colon on the right side. I am with Kaiser and have not actually seen the report myself–only what the different doctors have told me they don’t post those types of tests. I had blood work drawn last night and already have the results. Everything is normal except my sed rate which is high and my transferrin saturation which is low. Any idea if this means anything?

The mixed blessing with Kaiser is that they post results on line for blood work–think I’ll drive myself crazy trying to figure them out this weekend.
On a separate note–so sorry to hear about your cancer crossstitchkelly. I’ll keep you in my prayers. I hope your treatment is going well. I am experiencing very similar things to what you mention–No bleeding though. I’m holding on to that because the more research I do the more I am seeing that as a "hallmark" sign. Best of luck

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Filed under: Colon Health Questions